GIVING THE EARLY BROWNS AND THE AAFC THEIR DUE

By STEVE KING

In light of another spring football league biting the dust last week, Jim Reineking of USA Today wrote an excellent article entitled, “Alliance of American Football is the latest in a long line of failed start-up leagues.”

It is a short history of all of the leagues that, through the years, were created to compete against the NFL for the hearts and minds – and eyeballs – of football fans everywhere.

Included in that list of leagues is the All-America Football Conference, from which, of course, the Browns, along with the San Francisco 49ers and the first version of the Baltimore Colts, entered the NFL in 1950. I have always touted the excellence of the AAFC, which lasted from 1946-49, claiming that, in some ways, as evidenced by the Browns’ excellence in the NFL, that the AAFC was superior to the more established league. However, few people have shared that opinion. Reineking is one who does, and he does a fine job in a short amount of space in explaining his thinking.

Here’s what he wrote about the AAFC:

“The AAFC — like the American Football League after it — was a legitimate competitor to the NFL. For the 1950 season, three AAFC teams — the Baltimore Colts (a separate franchise than the team currently located in Indianapolis), Cleveland Browns and San Francisco 49ers — were merged into the NFL. The Browns — winners of all four of the AAFC championship games — were an instant powerhouse in the NFL. They defeated the defending NFL champion Philadelphia Eagles in a famous 1950 season opener, then won the league title that season and played in the NFL Championship Game in seven of their first eight NFL seasons.”

There’s so much more to the Browns’ accomplishments back then – compiling an eye-popping 52-4-3 overall record in the AAFC, becoming the first pro football team, and still, one of just two in history (the 1972 Miami Dolphins), to finish the season with a perfect record, no losses or ties, and win a league title when they went 15-0 in 1948, and putting together a 29-game unbeaten streak (27-0-2) over three seasons (1947-49), just to name a few – but for now, I’ll gladly take what Reineking wrote.

Check it out on usatoday.com. It’s well worth your while.