The Wide World of American Football - 1950 Edition

 

As of the end of the 1950 AFL season, the American football landscape looks like this:


American Football League (AFL)

Chicago Hogs

Cincinnati Rivermen

Cleveland Crows

Columbus Buckeyes

Detroit Knights

Tri-Cities Hawks


Midwestern Football Championship (MWFC)

Chicago Stars

Fort Wayne Generals

Indianapolis Flames

Milwaukee Maroons

Minneapolis Bears

St. Louis Arrows

St. Paul Angels


New England Football League (NEFL)

Boston Bards

Boston Rebels

Concord Wildcats

Hartford Colts

Montpelier Greens

New Haven Lions

New London Captains

Portland Lumberjacks

Providence Bears

Springfield Knights

Worcester Valentines


New York-Pennsylvania League (NYPL)

Baltimore Barons

Bronx Bulldogs

Brooklyn Kings

Buffalo Hammers

New York Dutch Lions

Newark Tigers

Long Island Islanders

Philadelphia Americans

Philadelphia Federals

Pittsburgh Shamrocks


At the bottom of this totem pole of American football is the New England Football League, or NEFL. Although it may be the oldest of the AA splinter leagues, it is not seen as the most prestigious of the successor leagues of the AA. Not many top college players end up going to the NEFL, as it consists more of castoffs from other leagues and any other players that want a chance to continue playing football, much to the disappointment of the two Boston owners. Both Boston owners have become more and more upset with the league in recent years, citing the decline of quality of play and lack of national attention the NEFL has received in more recent years. They might not have the players, but the NEFL has had stability in recent years, being the only major football league to expand after WWII, adding teams in New Haven and New London, CT, and in Montpelier, VT. Although it may seem like the most stable of the leagues on the outside, inside it’s barely hanging on. Both Boston teams threatened to leave the NEFL in favor of the NYPL several times before both leagues suspended operations for WWII. The Boston Bards and Boston Rebels both have been wanting to leave for a better league, but really haven’t had the opportunity since returning from the league’s two year hiatus. Once they leave, it’s really up to the remaining teams as to what to do, as most of them are fine with the current scenario the NEFL is in as the de facto mid-major football league in the U.S.. The reigning champions for 1950 are the Portland Lumberjacks, who won their second NEFL title over the Boston Rebels.


Next up on the ladder is the New York-Pennsylvania League, which started in the same year as the NEFL, but was founded as the New York Professional League and renamed itself in 1929 when two Philadelphia and a Pittsburgh team were added in a span of 2 years. The NYPL also expanded into Baltimore in 1939 and planned to expand into Washington and further south, but WWII came and the league suffered from attendance and players leaving for military duty, and as a result the league suspended operations for the 1944 season following the NEFL’s lead. The league hasn’t really been the same since. Sure, they might have a great talent pool to find players from, but they lost 4 teams in Albany, Fort Drum, Rochester, and Syracuse after the league came back the following year, leaving Buffalo and Pittsburgh isolated from the new focal point of the league along the eastern seaboard with the 6 New York City area teams at the head. Both Buffalo and Pittsburgh were rumored to leave the league and either become independent teams, create their own league, or even join the MWFC at one point. But at this point, they finally went through with their original plans, and announced that they will leave the league after the 1951 season and become independent teams for the time being. The two Philadelphia teams don’t look too hot either, as rumors have circulated where they might merge into one team, with neither seeing very much success, with a combined 1 championship appearance and no titles. Baltimore seems to be the better looking team remaining, having made the championship the year prior and might be on the way up to compete with the New York City teams.  The Brooklyn Kings continued their dominance over the league, winning their 3rd title in 5 years, and 7th title overall, soundly defeating the Newark Tigers in the championship game.


Finally and most importantly, is the Midwestern Football Championship, or the MWFC. Before the split with the AFL, the Championship gathered players from across the Midwest and beyond for some of the best professional football in the nation. Now that the Championship was effectively split in half with 7 teams remaining, the league is scrambling to keep itself stable now that it lost most of its best teams. Commissioner Virgil Bradshaw is looking to expand back up to either 8 or 10 teams and either reclaim some of the lost markets or expand into new markets to at least make the Championship competitive again. Bradshaw has been rumored to merge the best of the MWFC onto the Chicago Stars and apply to join the AFL, but it is rumored he would turn to that option if the MWFC is on its last legs and as a last resort if the AFL’s popularity topped the Championship’s. For now, the Championship will try to play its cards right by stabilizing from being split in half. Bradshaw has made it very clear that the Championship will attempt to challenge the AFL once they get back up to where they once were at, however long or hard it may take them to do so. Their current plan is to attempt to lure the two leaving NYPL teams in Buffalo and Pittsburgh into joining the MWFC following the 1951 season, and it looks like that is their best bet into returning to the popularity they had in years prior. Currently, Bradshaw’s Stars came away with their 10th Bradshaw Cup this year, dominating every other team in the league and beat the Fort Wayne Generals decisively to win the Championship.


Outside of the professional leagues, college football is the still ever-present and popular sport it has been since it was first played all those years ago. Collegiate athletics grew from the first organized games in the late 19th century, ultimately culminating in the American Association of Collegiate Athletics (AACA) forming in 1910 to oversee and govern over the burgeoning collegiate athletic scene. The University of New Jersey Mallards are still a football power since playing in the first ever game in 1869, but now have to face competition from the Massachusetts State (Boston) Panthers, the Brooklyn College Bulldogs, and the Virginia Commonwealth (Richmond) Patriots for some of the best talent in the East. While they are fighting for East Coast Conference championships, the Central Athletic Conference currently houses one of the national champions from last year with the Chicago Christian Crusaders. Tough bouts with the Illinois University (Springfield) Lumberjacks, the Michigan University (Detroit) Beavers, and the University of Ohio (Columbus) Buckeyes provided a decent challenge on their way to a perfect 11-0 season and a slice of the national title. The other claimant of that slice were the perennial favorites to win it all in the University of Louisiana (Baton Rouge) Kings, who also strung together a perfect 12-0 season with wins over Southern Conference rivals Georgia University (Savannah) Lions, Alabama A&M (Birmingham) Steelers, and bitter in-state rivals Audubon (New Orleans) Pelicans. Those three main conferences house many of the top college talent, but there is some competition out west. The state of California is beginning to bring in talent from east of the Mississippi, with the University of Los Angeles Aztecas coming on top of the California State (Berkeley) Grizzlies and the inner-city rivals in the Los Angeles State Bulldogs as of the previous season to win the Pacific Coast Conference. The middle of the country is alright in terms of powerhouses, but is on the decline a bit. The Missouri River Valley Conference is really only dominated by two teams: the University of Kansas City Yellow Jackets and the Nebraska State (Lincoln) Bulls. They’re both consistently in the top 25, but neither have really been national title contenders year in and year out. The other major conference in the middle is the Red River Conference, and unlike the MVAC, they are on the rise. The Oklahoma University (Oklahoma City) Tornadoes are becoming perennial threats for a piece of the national championship, and are facing some tough competition with the Dallas State Mustangs and the Texas University (Austin) Roughriders for winning the RRC. Besides colleges already in conferences, the best independent team is by far the University of Saint Joseph’s (South Bend, IN) Griffons. The Griffons were one of the original powerhouses back in the earlier half of the century, but have declined a bit in terms of trophies. Their biggest independent “rival” is within the state, just down the road in Bloomington with Rogers Clark University Badgers. These two teams have played each other every year since 1891, making it one of college football’s oldest rivalry games. They both competed for national titles back in the early days of college football, but neither have won a title since the 30’s and have been decently competitive as of late.

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