All-American Football Conference (1946-1949)

AAFC Championship Games And Playoffs

NOTE: In 1950, The AAFC folded and Cleveland, Baltimore, San Francisco were merged into the NFL. The New York-Brooklyn team was renamed the New York Yankees and they too were merged into the NFL. The Los Angeles Dons were merged into the NFL's Los Angeles Rams, The Buffalo Bills were merged into the Cleveland Browns and the Chicago Hornets were bought out by the NFL and disbanded.

* The Shamrock Bowl was the very last AAFC Game ever played. Here is a passage from Duey Graham (Otto's Son) that he will put into his book about his famous father. "The Shamrock Bowl, played a week before Christmas, was supposed to be a vacation for the Browns players and staff, especially with the wives along. It was anything but for the jobless AAFC all-stars hoping to make a good impression on the NFL scouts. Without two leagues fighting over them, even veteran players were looking at pay cuts unless they had multiyear agreements. The All America Football Conference meant to make the league's final game an event to remember. It wasn�t. The bundled and uncomfortable Hollywood trio of Jack Benny (from Waukegan), Dinah Shore and Phil Harris provided pre-game entertainment to 12,000 rain drenched fans. This was the last game in old Rice stadium before a 50,000 seat replacement was built. The Kilgore Rangerettes wisely canceled their routine and just as the Freddy Martin Orchestra struck up the first chord of �Good old summer time� at one o�clock, the first lightning clap rattled the stadium. The band and game played on. In a contest dominated by the weather, neither team scored in the first quarter. Quarterback George Ratterman of the AAC All-Stars was replaced by Frankie Albert in the second, who drove his squad 69 yards for the first score, but the kick was blocked. The Browns answered on their next drive when Motley broke free on a draw up the middle for 59 yards to the Stars 25. Held for no gain on the next two ground plays, Otto Graham tossed a slant pattern to Dub Jones who sat at the one for the catch and slid full speed behind the left goal post. Lou Groza put the Browns ahead by one. Frankie Albert took advantage of a lull in the storm by driving the Stars 91-yards and scoring on a 13-yard play action slant to Alton Baldwin. The skies opened up again after halftime and the only scoring opportunity for the Browns came on a recovered a Buddy Young fumble on the 8 in the last quarter. The All-Stars held but there were hardly any fans left to care. Otto was 8 of 19 for 104 yards in the 12 to 7 loss."

Championship Game Notes:
1946-Cleveland Browns 14 - New York Yankees 9 
Otto Graham, Cleveland (16-27-213 yards, 1 TDP passing)
Marion Motley, Cleveland (13-98 yards, 1 TD rushing)
Dante Lavelli, Cleveland (6-87 yards, 1 TD receiving)
Spec Sanders, New York (14-55 yards, 1 TD rushing)

1947-Cleveland Browns 14 - New York Yankees 3 
Otto Graham, Cleveland (14-21-112 yards passing, 1 TD rushing))
Marion Motley, Cleveland (33-109 yards rushing)
Buddy Young, New York (16-69 rushing, 2-25 yards receiving)

1948-Cleveland Browns 49 - Buffalo Bills 7
Otto Graham, Cleveland (11-24-118 yards, 1 TDP passing)
Marion Motley, Cleveland (14-133 yards, 3 TDs rushing)
George Ratterman, Buffalo (5-18, 104 yards passing)

1949-Cleveland Browns 21 - San Francisco 49ers 7
Otto Graham, Cleveland (7-17, 128 yards passing, 9-62 yards rushing))
Marion Motley, Cleveland (8-75 yards, 1 TD rushing)
Edgar Jones, Cleveland (16-63 yards, 1 TD rushing)
Frankie Albert, San Francisco (9-24, 108 yards, 1 TDP passing, 8-41 yards rushing
 

AAFC MVP Awards

  NOTE: In 1949, The Sporting News named Cleveland Brown's coach Paul Brown the Coach of the Year in ALL of Pro Football (including the NFL).

Annual Statistical Leaders

All Time AAFC Statistical Leaders

Annual AAFC All League Teams

AAFC All-Time Team

Other AAFC Links:

Stan Grosshandler's All American Football Conference Page

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Extinct Sports Leagues Home Page

�1998 Steve Dimitry, all rights reserved.

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