Editing All-America Football Conference (section)

===Merger===
On December 9, 1949, two days before the AAFC title game, the two leagues made peace. Three AAFC teams were admitted to the NFL: the Browns, 49ers, and Colts.  The Dons merged with the Rams,<ref>James P. Quirk and Rodney D. Fort,  [https://books.google.com/books?id=52HGfXAUdOAC&dq=%22miami+seahawks%22+owner+1946+aafc&pg=PA438 ''Pay Dirt: The Business of Professional Team Sports,''] Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1992; pg. 438.</ref> while the Bills, Yankees, and Hornets folded. The enlarged league was renamed the National–American Football League.

The Browns and 49ers, as the AAFC's two strongest teams, were obvious choices. San Francisco was also a natural fit as a [[49ers–Rams rivalry|potential geographic rival]] to the Rams, who were alone on the West Coast at the time.

The third choice was the subject of some debate. There was some sentiment to admit the Bills rather than the Colts.  The Bills had better attendance despite only making the playoffs twice, and had much wealthier ownership. However, Buffalo's size (only Green Bay was smaller) and climate were seen as problems.<ref name="MacCambridge76">MacCambridge, pg. 76</ref> While Redskins owner George Preston Marshall had long objected to the Colts' proximity to Washington, he ultimately decided that the Colts would be a natural rival to the Redskins.  He agreed to accept a $150,000 fee to waive his territorial rights.<ref name="Officialhl-AAFC" />

Buffalo fans petitioned the NFL to admit the Bills as well.<ref name="Show144">Piascik, pg. 144</ref><ref name="Coffin19">The Coffin Corner, Volume 19, 1997, published by the Professional Football Researchers Association, ''The Other Buffalo Bills'', by Joe Marren</ref>  The league, realizing the pitfalls of having an uneven 13-team league, held a vote on admitting the Bills.  While a majority of owners (including the Browns, 49ers, and Colts) were willing to take the Bills, the final vote was only 9–4 in favor.  League rules of the time required a unanimous vote to admit a new team.  Buffalo owner Jim Breuil was content to accept a minority stake in the Browns.  Breuil even rebuffed an offer from the next-best pro league in the nation at the time, the [[American Association (football)|minor-league American Football League]] of the late 1940s, to join their league.

The Yankees' players were divided between the Giants (who chose six players) and Bulldogs (who received the rest). Three Bills players were awarded to the Browns.  The remaining Bills, Dons, and Hornets entered a dispersal draft.

With the AAFC Yankees gone, Bulldogs owner Ted Collins was free to rename his team "Yanks" and move into Yankee Stadium. He continued to lose money, however, and sold the team after two seasons to Dallas-based interests, who relocated the team to Dallas and called the team the [[Dallas Texans (NFL)|Dallas Texans]].<ref name="Official-Defunct">The NFL's Official Encyclopedic History: ''Extinct Teams, Extinct Leagues'', pgs. 241–242</ref>

The word "American" did not remain in the enlarged league's name for long; it was dropped in March 1950. Although "National" and "American" became the names of the league's new conferences, within three years the conferences were renamed Eastern and Western. It was not until the [[AFL–NFL merger]] twenty years later that the "[[American Football Conference|American]]" and "[[National Football Conference|National]]" conference names were restored.

The enlarged NFL was aligned as follows:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! [[Eastern Division (NFL) 1933–66|American (Eastern) Conference]]
! National (Western) Conference
|-
| [[Chicago Cardinals (NFL, 1920–59)|Chicago Cardinals]] ([[Comiskey Park]])
| [[Baltimore Colts (1947–50)|Baltimore Colts]] ([[Memorial Stadium (Baltimore)|Municipal Stadium]])
|-
| [[Cleveland Browns]] ([[Cleveland Stadium|Municipal Stadium]])
| [[Chicago Bears]] ([[Wrigley Field]])
|-
| [[New York Giants]] ([[Polo Grounds]])
| [[Detroit Lions]] ([[Briggs Stadium]])
|-
| [[Philadelphia Eagles]] ([[Shibe Park]])
| [[Green Bay Packers]] ([[City Stadium (Green Bay)|City Stadium]])
|-
| [[Pittsburgh Steelers]] ([[Forbes Field]])
| [[Los Angeles Rams]] ([[Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum|Los Angeles Coliseum]])
|-
| [[Washington Redskins]] ([[Griffith Stadium]])
| [[New York Yanks]] ([[Yankee Stadium (1923)|Yankee Stadium]])
|-
|
| [[San Francisco 49ers]] ([[Kezar Stadium]])
|}{{Location map+|United States|width=1000|caption='''NFL teams: [[File:Yellow pog.svg|8px]] West, [[File:Green pog.svg|8px]] East'''<br />'''AAFC teams:''' [[File:Red pog.svg|8px]] ''Defunct'', [[File:Blue pog.svg|8px]] <u>Absorbed into the NFL</u><br /><small>The cities of Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York all had both NFL and AAFC teams, of which all of the AAFC teams went defunct</small>|relief=1|places=
  {{Location map~ | United States
    | mark = Blue pog.svg
    | marksize = 8
    | label_size = 80
    | label = <u>Browns</u>
    | position = right
    | lat_deg = 41.507
    | lon_deg = -81.697}}
  {{Location map~ | United States
    | mark = Blue pog.svg
    | marksize = 8
    | label_size = 80
    | label = <u>49ers</u>
    | position = top
    | lat_deg = 37.767
    | lon_deg = -122.456}}
  {{Location map~ | United States
    | mark = Red pog.svg
    | marksize = 8
    | label_size = 80
    | label = ''Dons''
    | position = bottom
    | lat_deg = 34.014
    | lon_deg = -118.288}}
  {{Location map~ | United States
    | mark = Red pog.svg
    | marksize = 8
    | label_size = 80
    | label = ''Hornets''
    | position = right
    | lat_deg = 41.862
    | lon_deg = -87.617}}
  {{Location map~ | United States
    | mark = Red pog.svg
    | marksize = 8
    | label_size = 80
    | label = ''Yankees''
    | position = left
    | lat_deg = 40.827
    | lon_deg = -73.928}}
  {{Location map~ | United States
    | mark = Red pog.svg
    | marksize = 8
    | label_size = 80
    | label = ''Bills''
    | position = right
    | lat_deg = 42.905
    | lon_deg = -78.856}}
  {{Location map~ | United States
    | mark = Blue pog.svg
    | marksize = 8
    | label_size = 80
    | label = <u>Colts</u>
    | position = right
    | lat_deg = 39.329
    | lon_deg = -76.601}}
{{Location map~|United States|label='''Giants'''|position=top|mark=Green pog.svg|marksize=8| label_size = 80|lat=40.831 |long=-73.938}}
  {{Location map~|United States|label='''Cardinals'''|position=bottom|mark=Yellow pog.svg|marksize=8| label_size = 80|lat=41.832 |long=-87.634}}
  {{Location map~|United States|label='''Eagles'''|position=left|mark=Green pog.svg|marksize=8| label_size = 80|lat=39.996 |long=-75.165}}
  {{Location map~|United States|label='''Steelers'''|position=bottom|mark=Green pog.svg|marksize=8| label_size = 80|lat=40.442 |long=-79.954}}
  {{Location map~|United States|label='''Redskins'''|position=bottom|mark=Green pog.svg|marksize=8| label_size = 80|lat=38.918 |long=-77.02}}
  {{Location map~|United States|label='''Bulldogs'''|position=right|mark=Green pog.svg|marksize=8| label_size = 80|lat=40.831 |long=-73.938}}
  {{Location map~|United States|label='''Bears'''|position=left|mark=Yellow pog.svg|marksize=8| label_size = 80|lat=41.948 |long=-87.656}}
  {{Location map~|United States|label='''Packers'''|position=top|mark=Yellow pog.svg|marksize=8| label_size = 80|lat=44.508 |long=-87.993}}
  {{Location map~|United States|label='''Rams'''|position=top|mark=Yellow pog.svg|marksize=8| label_size = 80|lat=34.014 |long=-118.288}}
  {{Location map~ | United States
    |label='''Lions'''
    |label_size=80
    |position=left
    |mark=Yellow pog.svg
    |marksize=8
    |lat_deg=42.332
    |lon_deg=-83.069}}
|float=center}}
With two exceptions,<ref name="enlarged">The Colts failed after the 1950 season, and the Yanks moved to Dallas in 1952, failed, and were replaced by a new Baltimore Colts team for 1953.</ref> this was the NFL's alignment for the rest of the 1950s.

Admitting Baltimore over Buffalo proved to be a mistake, as the AAFC's Colts folded after one season in the NFL, bringing the league back to an even 12 teams. However, the aforementioned Dallas Texans also folded after only one season, and a replacement team, also named the [[Indianapolis Colts|Colts]], acquired its assets and joined the league as an expansion team in 1953. Meanwhile, the popularity of the original Bills franchise prompted former [[Detroit Lions]] minority owner [[Ralph Wilson]] to adopt the name "Buffalo Bills" for his [[Buffalo Bills|American Football League franchise]] ten years after the AAFC dissolved. Both the replacement Colts (now based in [[Indianapolis]]) and the replacement Bills are still playing in the NFL, though neither maintains official ties to their namesakes (coincidentally, the Colts and Bills were division rivals in the [[AFC East]] from 1970 through 2001, after which the Colts moved to the [[AFC South]]).