American football dates back to the mid 19th century when colleges began playing games using modified rules from soccer and rugby. As football grew in popularity, many companies sponsored professional teams. This laid the foundation for the American Professional Football Association (APFA), which was started in 1920 as the direct forerunner of the National Football League (NFL).
The APFA started off with 10 teams, which had already existed in some form as regional teams. Today, only two teams from this initial line up are still around, the Arizona Cardinals (formerly the Chicago Cardinals) and the Chicago Bears (initially the Decatur Staleys). For the 1922 season, the APFA changed its name to the NFL and the other teams on this list joined in subsequent years. All of these teams played an important part in establishing the rules and customs of today’s NFL.
For this list, we chose to arrange the teams by the date that they entered the NFL and not when they were originally formed.
10. Cleveland Browns
Year Established: June 4, 1944 (74 years ago)
First Season in NFL: 1950
Previous Name(s): Cleveland Browns (1946 – 1995), (1999 – Present); team suspended operations between 1996 – 1998
Home Field: FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio
Current Owner(s): Jimmy and Dee Haslam
Current Colors: Brown, Orange, and White
photo source: sportsecyclopedia.com
photo source: Wikimedia Commons via Erik Drost
The Browns dominated the AAFC until it was shuttered in 1949 and the team joined the NFL the following year, along with two other AAFC teams, the San Francisco 49ers and the original Baltimore Colts (not the same franchise as the later Baltimore Colts, which are now the Indianapolis Colts). After moving to the NFL, the Browns continued their dominance and went on to win the NFL Eastern Conference championship for six straight years from 1950 to 1955 and NFL titles in 1950, 1954 and 1955. Although the Cleveland Browns were a strong team in the beginning, the team has not done well at all in the past few decades – the team even had to suspend operations for a few years between 1996 – 1998.
Did You Know?
The Cleveland Browns suspended operations after Browns fans and Cleveland city officials blocked then owner Arthur Modell from moving the team to Baltimore.
9. Los Angeles Rams
Year Established: 1936 (83 years ago)
First Season in NFL: 1937
Previous Name(s): Cleveland Rams (1936 – 1942), (1944 – 1945); Los Angeles Rams (1946 – 1994), (2016 – Present); and St. Louis Rams (1995 – 2015)
Home Field: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California
Current Owner(s): Stan Kroenke
Current Colors: Millennium Blue, White, and New Century Gold
photo source: sportsecyclopedia.com
photo source: U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Erica Crossen
The Rams played their last game, a championship which they won, in Cleveland in 1945 and were moved to Los Angeles for the next season. After moving to L.A., new owner Dan Reeves signed Kenny Washington and Woody Strode, the first two African-American athletes with an NFL contract since 1932. Reeves was also the first owner in the NFL to hire a full-time scouting staff.
Did You Know?
The Los Angeles Rams won their first and only Super Bowl so far in 1991 as the St. Louis Rams and the team have another shot at the big game in the upcoming 2019 Super Bowl LIII.
8. Philadelphia Eagles
Year Established: July 8, 1933 (85 years ago)
First Season in NFL: 1933
Previous Name(s): Philadelphia Eagles (1933 – 1942), (1944 – Present); and Phil-Pitt Steagles (1943)
Home Field: Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Current Owner(s): Jeffrey Lurie
Current Colors: Midnight Green, Silver, Black, and White
photo source: sportsecyclopedia.com
photo source: Wikimedia Commons via Jennifer Snyder
In 1943, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Pittsburgh Steelers were combined for one season because of the lack of men left at home during World War II. During the first decade, the Philadelphia Eagles were an okay team before finding success in the mid-1940s. Since then, the Philadelphia Eagles have had many highs and lows, including winning their first Super Bowl in 2017.
Did You Know?
The Philadelphia Eagles appeared in their first Super Bowl in 1981, but lost to the Oakland Raiders.
7. Pittsburgh Steelers
Year Established: July 8, 1933 (85 years ago)
First Season in NFL: 1933
Previous Name(s): Pittsburgh Pirates (1933 – 1939); Pittsburgh Steelers (1940 – 1942), (1945 – Present); Phil-Pitt Steagles (1943); and Card-Pitt (1944)
Home Field: Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Current Owner(s): The Rooney Family
Current Colors: Black and Gold
photo source: Wikipedia
photo source: Wikimedia Commons via Steve Roman
For the first 40 years of the franchise’s history, the Steelers were an unremarkable team and never won a championship of any kind. Then in the 1970s, the Steelers hit their stride and had one of the greatest winning streaks in NFL history. During the 1970s, the Pittsburgh Steelers earned eight consecutive playoff berths, seven AFC Central titles and four AFC championships. The Steelers went on to become the first team in the NFL to win four Super Bowls and is the only team to win the Super Bowl twice in a row.
Did You Know?
6. Washington Redskins
Year Established: July 9, 1932 (86 years)
First Season in NFL: 1932
Previous Name(s): Boston Braves (1932); Boston Redskins (1933 – 1936); and Washington Redskins (1937 – Present)
Home Field: FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland
Current Owner(s): Daniel Snyder
Current Colors: Burgundy and Gold
photo source: Wikimedia Commons via Mike Krause
photo source: Wikimedia Commons via Mike Krause
Marshall was often unhappy with the lack of fan support for the Redskins in Boston and ended up moving the team to Washington, D.C. in 1937, where the Redskins remain to this day. That same year, Marshall created a fight song and official marching band for the Redskins, the first to do so in the NFL. The Redskins have won a few Super Bowls and NFL Championships, but have not won a major championship since the early 1990s.
Did You Know?
The Washington Redskins have soldout their home games since 1968, the longest consecutive sellout streak in NFL history.
5. Detroit Lions
Year Established: 1929 (90 years ago)
First Season in NFL: 1930
Previous Name(s): Portsmouth Spartans (1930 – 1933); and Detroit Lions (1934 – Present)
Home Field: Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan
Current Owner(s): Martha Firestone Ford
Current Colors: Honolulu Blue and Silver
photo source: sportsteamhistory.com
photo source: Wikimedia Commons via kdoebler
Prior to the purchase of the Spartans, there had been several attempts to establish a professional team in Detroit. Unlike those previous teams, the newly formed Lions, had some of the best players of the time and was led by Dutch Clark, an early football superstar and the NFL’s last dropkicker. The Detroit Lions had their best seasons in the 1950s and have been trying to recapture that greatness ever since.
Did You Know?
The Detroit Lions have never won a Super Bowl and last won a championship game in 1957.
4. New York Giants
Year Established: August 1, 1925 (93 years ago)
First Season in NFL: 1925
Previous Name(s): New York Giants (1925 – Present)
Home Field: MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey
Current Owner(s): John Mara and Steve Tisch
Current Colors: Dark Blue, Red, and White
photo source: Wikimedia Commons
photo source: Wikimedia Commons via Erik Drost
From the start, the New York Giants were a popular team and more than 70,000 people had come out to watch the team play during its first season. The Giants were also a strong and skilled team from the beginning and won their first NFL Championship in 1927, their third season. Members of the Mara family still own the New York Giants today, along with Tisch family, who purchased 50 percent of the team in 1991.
Did You Know?
The New York Giants have won four Super Bowls (1986, 1990, 2007, and 2011) as well as four NFL Championships (1927, 1934, 1938, and 1956).
3. Green Bay Packers
Year Established: August 11, 1919 (99 years ago)
First Season in NFL: 1921
Previous Name(s): Green Bay Packers (1919 – Present)
Home Field: Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin
Current Owner(s): Green Bay Packers, Inc. (governed by a Board of Directors)
Current Colors: Dark Green, Gold, and White
photo source: Wikimedia Commons
photo source: Flickr via Mike Morbeck
The Green Bay Packers were founded by Earl Curly Lambeau and George Whitney Calhoun. Lambeau was a former football player and became the Packers’ first coach. The Green Bay Packers’ home field is named in honor of Lambeau. In addition to Lambeau, coach Vince Lombardi is the other dominant figure in the Packers’ history. Between the two coaches, the Green Bay Packers won 11 NFL Championships (pre-Super Bowl).
Did You Know?
The Green Bay Packers are the only remaining small town NFL team and also the only community-owned non-profit organization in the NFL.
2. Chicago Bears
Year Established: September 17, 1920 (98 years ago)
First Season in NFL: 1920
Previous Name(s): Decatur Staleys (1920); Chicago Staleys (1921); and Chicago Bears (1922 – Present)
Home Field: Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois
Current Owner(s): Virginia Halas McCaskey
Current Colors: Navy Blue, Burnt Orange, and White
photo source: Wikimedia Commons
photo source: Flickr via Mike Morbeck
The Bears were initially sponsored by the Staley Starch Company, who decided to give team to legendary coach George Halas, for $5,000. The Staley Starch Company also allowed Halas to move the team to Chicago if he promised to keep the Staleys name for one more year. From the start, the Chicago Bears have been one of the most popular and successful franchises in the NFL. Today, the Chicago Bears are still owned by members of the Halas family.
Did You Know?
The Chicago Bears have only won the Super Bowl once (1985), but won several NFL championships before the Super Bowl first started in 1967 – the Bears won the NFL championship in 1921, 1932, 1933, 1940, 1941, 1943, 1946, and 1963.
1. Arizona Cardinals
Year Established: 1898 (121 years ago)
First Season in NFL: 1920
Previous Name(s): Chicago Cardinals (1920 – 1943), (1945 – 1959); Card-Pitt (1944); St. Louis Cardinals (1960 – 1987); Phoenix Cardinals (1988 – 1993); and Arizona Cardinals (1994 – Present)
Home Field: State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona
Current Owner(s): Bill Bidwill
Current Colors: Cardinal Red, Black, and White
photo source: Wikimedia Commons
photo source: Wikimedia Commons via Jeffrey Beall
The Bidwill family, which still owns the Cardinals today, first acquired the team in 1932. Under Charles W. Bidwill’s ownership, the Cardinals remained in operation during the Great Depression and World War II. After the end of the war, Bidwill had finally put together a winning team that went on to snag the Super Bowl title in 1947. Since joining the NFL in 1920, the Cardinals have called three different cities home, Chicago, St. Louis, and Phoenix.
Did You Know?
The Cardinals had to challenge a team named the Tigers for territorial rights in Chicago when the NFL was first established. The Cardinals won in a 6 – 0 victory and the Tigers were forced to leave the city.