Online History of Pro Football
WEEK 3
| The formation of the NFL Date: June 8th 19 66 In an agreement brokered by AFL founder Lamar Hunt and Dallas Cowboys General Manager Tex Schramm , the two leagues announced their merger deal on 8 June 1966. The leagues would henceforth hold a Common Draft and an end-of-season title game between the two league champions (later known as the Super Bowl). Still another city received an NFL franchise thanks to the AFL, as New Orleans was awarded an NFL team after Louisiana's federal Congressmen pushed for the passage of Public Law 89-800 , which permitted the merger and exempted the action from Anti-Trust restrictions. The monopoly that would be created needed to be legitimized by an act of Congress . In 1970, the leagues fully merged under the name National Football League and divided into two conferences of an equal number of teams. There was also a financial settlement, with the AFL teams paying a combined $18 million over 20 years. There was also strident objection by many American Football League fans over their league's loss of its separate identity, name, and distinctive logo. . |
