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AFL Spring Meetings 1956

Philadelphia’s Bellevue-Stratford Hotel would be the home of both the league meetings and the upcoming draft to welcome the next slate of expansion teams into the league. The football world around the AFL has been rapidly changing, and the owners were ready to adapt to the new landscape around them. Commissioner Hasenkamp officially welcomed Philadelphia and St. Louis as the league’s two newest teams, and the meetings began with haste. PHILADELPHIA, ST. LOUIS WELCOMED TO LEAGUE The Philadelphia and St. Louis football clubs were officially welcomed as the 11th and 12th teams, both announcing their full identities at a later date. With the two entering the league, it now needed to align itself again like last year. Unlike past years’ struggles with aligning teams, these two teams will slot in without any issue, with Philadelphia joining the East Division and St. Louis the West. Just like the year prior, this season’s expansion draft will see both teams selecting 3 players from each team,
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The Wide World of American Football: 1955-56 Edition

PAFC ENDURES CHAOS, EXPANDS SOUTHWARD The PAFC endured one of its most chaotic seasons and offseasons since the split with the AFL in 1950. Several teams facing financial issues had the looming threat of either folding or relocating to a different city if they could not improve their attendance. The Louisville Colts and Columbus Aviators were the two teams that were affected the most, each not having a single successful season in their short time in the league. Louisville did not have a single winning season since their introduction to the league in 1952 as a hasty replacement for the departing AFL teams, and Columbus was entered in due to the AFL abandoning the city due to attendance but only had 1 “good” season in their 3 short years. With both teams faltering for another year, it was only a matter of time after the PAFC season concluded for both teams to announce that they would be seeking new ownership. The Boston Rebels had been the worst team in the Championship the past two year
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1955 AFL Championship

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A relatively mild mid-December evening allowed for Washington and Cincinnati fans to flock in droves to Washington Stadium, overflowing the stadium to watch two bitter rivals fight it out for the championship. Another title for the hometown Federals would cement themselves as the next-best team behind Chicago challenging them for AFL supremacy, while a title for the Rivermen would put themselves firmly up with the contenders of the league, and their first professional title in nearly 2 decades. Q1 The Federals would start out with the ball after the Rivermen deferred their kickoff to the second half. QB Johnnie Sellers would start out doing what he does best: exploit the secondary to move their way downfield. It was not the immediate start that the home crowd wanted to see, but the Federals were relatively quick, moving 60 yards in about 5 minutes. RB Rip Rooney would run around the end of the offensive line and the Rivermen defense for the final eight yards and the score. K Eugene Hic
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1955 Playoffs: Division Finals

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West Division Final: Cincinnati Rivermen @ Chicago Hogs With the Rivermen’s victory over the Hawks the previous week, the matchup between Cincinnati and Chicago quickly became one of the most anticipated games of the playoffs, even exceeding that of the championship game the following week. Chicago had a chill in the air throughout the week, and the cold was not expected to lift for a very important football game. Gametime had temperatures ranging from the low 20’s to the mid teens, so the offenses could suffer from the chill. That didn’t stop Hogs and Rivermen fans from showing up in droves, splitting Union Stadium into two sides each wanting their ticket punched to the title game. Q1 Chicago would receive the opening kickoff, though they could only manage to move the ball for 20 yards before punting it over to the Rivermen. Cincinnati would get about as far on their first drive, and the ball went right back to the Hogs. QB Nathan Aldenberg would step back to pass on a third and mediu
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1955 Playoffs: Division Semi-Finals

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West Division Semifinal: Tri-Cities Hawks @ Cincinnati Rivermen River Field was hosting its first playoff game in 3 years, and a mild early December day allowed for Rivermen fans to flood the stadium, with plenty of navy blue in the stands. Hawks fans still managed to show up, but were significantly outnumbered by the home crowd. It is a vital matchup for both teams; Cincinnati needs to win to prove they belong with the top tiers of teams, while Tri-Cities needs to prove they are still able to compete. Q1 The Rivermen deferred the coin toss to the Hawks, who were looking to start off against the league’s best defense in points allowed. QB Gilbert Clay would begin to work the Rivermen defense, though the game didn’t start out with a bang like the away fans would have wanted. Clay relied more on his backfield, splitting carries between RB’s Brian Bruce and Spike Roosevelt. The Rivermen would clamp up after a couple minutes of grinding offense, forcing Hawks’ K Gene Fitzpatrick to kick a
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1955 Season

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  East Division The first true expansion teams in the AFL would meet in the first week of the season, with the New York Lions falling at home against the Boston Dragons 19-13 in the first game for either team. Boston would narrowly win against Pittsburgh the following week and they quickly looked like they could be in competition for a playoff spot. However, it all came crashing down that week. The Dragons were extremely unlucky during that game, losing 4 players in their starting front 7 for multiple weeks during the middle of the season. Now starting mostly backups, the Dragons would lose their next 7 games and quickly fell out of playoff contention, only being mathematically eliminated after a loss to the Lions in the penultimate week of the season. The New York Lions on the contrary started out cold, losing their first 4 games though each by a single possession. Their first win in the AFL would come against a hapless Detroit squad, silencing them in a 19-0 trouncing on the road. No
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