2006: LaDainian Tomlinson Sets Season TD and Scoring Records

The NFL record for touchdowns in a season had been moving up steadily since 1995 when Emmitt Smith of the Cowboys broke John Riggins’ 12-year old mark by scoring 25. Five years later, Marshall Faulk of the Rams made it 26; in 2003 it was Kansas City’s Priest Holmes scoring 27; and that lasted just two years, when Shaun Alexander of Seattle reached the end zone 28 times in 2005. His record, in turn, was surpassed the next season.

LaDainian Tomlinson of the San Diego Chargers quickly established himself as an elite running back from the time he entered the league as a rookie first round draft pick out of TCU in 2001. By the 2006 season, he had never been below 1236 rushing yards in a season, nor had he caught fewer than 51 passes. He had also reached double figures in touchdowns every season and led the NFL with 17 rushing TDs in 2004.

The 2006 season would prove to be Tomlinson’s greatest, both in terms of ground gaining and scoring. After 12 games, he had already accumulated 26 touchdowns. In the 13th game, he crossed the goal line three times to pass Alexander and establish a new record. On December 17, at San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium, he not only extended the new mark to 31, but also broke the record for points in a season of 176 that had been set by Green Bay’s Paul Hornung 46 years previously, in 1960.

Tomlinson wasted no time scoring his 30th touchdown and breaking Hornung’s record, running for a 15-yard TD on San Diego’s first possession. That drive received an assist from backup RB Michael Turner, who ran 25 yards for a first down on a fake punt. The second touchdown was set up in the second quarter when Chiefs safety Bernard Pollard blocked a punt by San Diego’s Mike Scifres, but the ball was touched beyond the line of scrimmage by Chiefs RB Derrick Ross and recovered by the long snapper, David Binn. Instead of Kansas City getting a big break, it was the Chargers making the most of their second chance with Tomlinson sprinting 85 yards for a touchdown.

Up 14-3 at the half thanks to Tomlinson’s scoring runs, the Chargers went on to win, 20-9. Tomlinson ran 25 times for 199 yards, and with five additional yards on a pass reception, accounted for 204 of San Diego’s 353 total yards. The San Diego passing game had difficulties - a frustrated QB Philip Rivers completed just 8 of 23 passes for 97 yards with two interceptions.

Kansas City’s Larry Johnson, who came into the game as the NFL’s rushing leader, gained 84 yards on 19 attempts and thus fell behind Tomlinson, who went on to lead the league with a career-high 1815 yards on 348 carries (a 5.2-yard average) with 28 TDs (also a record; the other three came on pass receptions). Johnson placed second, carrying a record 416 times for 1789 yards.

Tomlinson, with the two touchdowns, set an NFL record with eight consecutive multi-TD games. It would be his last, though – while he carried the ball another 38 times in San Diego’s last two games of the regular season, and caught three passes, he didn’t reach the end zone in either game.

The Chargers ended up on top of the AFC West with a conference-best 14-2 record. However, the postseason turned bitter as they lost their divisional playoff game to New England (costing Head Coach Marty Schottenheimer his job). Kansas City reached the postseason also, with a 9-7 record that, while it tied them with Denver for second place in the AFC West, earned a wild card berth because of a better divisional record than the Broncos. They exited in the first round, losing to the Indianapolis Colts.

LaDainian Tomlinson was a consensus league MVP selection, hardly a surprise considering the extent of his achievements during the season.

1962: Raiders Defeat Patriots in Season Finale to End 19-Game Losing Streak

The 1962 AFL season was the nadir for the Oakland Raiders franchise. Entering the final game on December 16 at Frank Youell Field against the visiting Boston Patriots, they had lost 19 consecutive games going back to the ninth contest of 1961.

At least the franchise was finally playing home games in Oakland. A late addition to the American Football League, after the Minneapolis group dropped out to join the NFL, the Raiders had played in San Francisco the first two seasons (Kezar Stadium in ’60, Candlestick Park in ’61). Amid rumors that the team would relocate to another city, Oakland officials assured the owners that a new stadium was in the works (what would eventually be the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum) and a temporary home would be made available in the meantime (Frank Youell Field, capacity 22,000).

On the field, the team had struggled. Marty Feldman had succeeded original Head Coach Eddie Erdelatz after the Raiders were blown out in the first two games of the ’61 season, but he was let go five games into the 1962 campaign after compiling a 2-15 record. Assistant Red Conkright was promoted into the top job, which was a thankless proposition. Starting QB Tom Flores was forced to sit out the year with a lung infection. While the team made an early season deal with the Dallas Texans for QB Cotton Davidson (pictured below), who had lost his starting job to Len Dawson, he had problems with chronic injuries and a weak receiving corps.


To be sure, there was talent on the team. C Jim Otto was a first team All-AFL selection in 1960 and ’61, and would be once again in ’62 (and beyond). Guard Wayne Hawkins was considered one of the best in the league as well. Clem Daniels (pictured above) emerged as a talented halfback and chief running threat. On defense, CB Fred “the Hammer” Williamson and DT Chuck McMurtry were standouts.

In the finale against Boston, the Raiders received a couple of breaks in that starting QB Babe Parilli (an original Raider in ’60) was injured and wouldn’t be facing them, and the team had been eliminated from postseason contention the day before. Boston had been in a close race with the Oilers in the Eastern Division all year, but Houston defeated the New York Titans in a Saturday game that clinched the division title with an 11-3 record. The Patriots had no incentive to win, and it was apparent – as backup QB Tom Yewcic, who started on that day, put it later, “nobody wanted to play”.

It was a rainy, miserable day with 8000 fans in attendance. Oakland won resoundingly, 20-0. Daniels was the standout, scoring both touchdowns, one on a 74-yard pass play from Davidson in the second quarter, and the other on a seven-yard run in the third quarter. 43-year-old placekicker Ben Agajanian (whose career spanned stints in the AAFC and NFL as well as AFL) booted field goals of 19 and 21 yards to round out the scoring.

The Raiders accumulated 288 yards of offense, with Daniels gaining just 54 yards on 26 rushing attempts but, thanks to the long TD pass, catching three passes for 95 yards. Davidson completed 9 of 23 passes for 230 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Boston’s Yewcic had 13 pass completions in 35 attempts for just 108 yards and two pickoffs. The Patriots gained 82 yards on the ground in 18 carries, with HB Jim Crawford leading the way at 6 rushes for 35 yards. Split end Gino Cappelletti led all receivers with 5 catches, for 53 yards.

The win not only ended the long losing streak, but was the first shutout of an opponent in franchise history. Happy fans blared their car horns to celebrate in the parking lot afterward.

The Raiders ended up with a 1-13 record and, naturally, in last place in the Western Division. Boston finished at 9-4-1 and second place in the East. Clem Daniels ranked fourth in the AFL with 766 yards rushing.

Things got better for the Raiders in the offseason. The owners finally coaxed Al Davis away from Sid Gillman’s coaching staff at San Diego, and the 33-year-old head coach and general manager made personnel changes and brought a whole new attitude to the team. The immediate turnaround was impressive – Oakland astounded the pro football world in 1963 by going 10-4. They were still a few years away from being a true contender, but it would not be long before the sad state of affairs that culminated in the 1-13 season in 1962 would become a distant memory.

1963: Don Hultz Recovers 9th Fumble of Season

The December 15, 1963 game at Philadelphia’s Franklin Field between the Eagles and the visiting Minnesota Vikings wasn’t a very meaningful contest. The Vikings won, 34-13, to end the season tied for fourth place in the Western Conference with a 5-8-1 record while the Eagles plummeted to 2-10-2 and their second consecutive last place finish in the seven-team Eastern Conference.

However, when Minnesota’s rookie DE Don Hultz grabbed a fumble by Eagles QB Sonny Jurgensen, it marked his ninth recovery of an opponent’s fumble of the season. This broke the previous record of eight held by Detroit’s Hall of Fame linebacker Joe Schmidt that was set in 1955. To date, no one has come closer than seven in an NFL season (four players, most recently LB Rickey Jackson of New Orleans in 1990).

In the obscure world of fumble recoveries in general, most of the record holders are quarterbacks, since they are most prone to having to fall on a failed snap or errant handoff; Houston QB David Carr holds the record for most such recoveries in a season with 12, all his own, in 2002. Other quarterbacks (Dave Krieg, Brian Griese, and Jon Kitna) have recovered nine of their own fumbles in a season as well. But Hultz holds the far more difficult mark, as a defensive player snagging footballs fumbled by the opposing offense.

Hultz had come to the Vikings as a free agent out of Southern Mississippi and moved into the starting lineup. He recovered his first fumble of the year in a Week 2 game against the Chicago Bears; the victim was HB Willie Galimore. They began to pile up after that, to the degree that his teammates referred to him as “The Magnet” and a local newspaper, the Minneapolis Tribune, commented that “his fumble recovery play is now an integral part of the Viking offense”.

The fumbles certainly did help. Six of them set up scores, including two touchdowns and four field goals. One against Detroit on November 24 came with under five minutes left in the game and led to a two-yard TD by HB Tommy Mason that won the game, 34-31. Three others came earlier in the respective contests and helped Minnesota to score first.

Hultz had no ready explanation for his record, saying “I don’t go hunting for the ball. I try to be alert, but you can say the same thing about anybody else on our defensive line” Upon further reflection he also said, “I’m proud of the record, but at the time it was no big issue. I was fortunate enough to create a few turnovers for my teammates and was able to recover a few myself.”

In the offseason, Hultz was traded, ironically enough, to the Eagles. Philadelphia underwent a major housecleaning, starting with a change of ownership, then coaches, and many of the players. Hultz arrived along with split end Ray Poage and defensive backs Chuck Lamson and Terry Kosens in exchange for HB Ted Dean and the rights to QB Bob Berry, an 11th round draft pick out of Oregon who lasted eleven years in the NFL (most notably with Atlanta).

At 6’3” and 235 pounds, he was light for a defensive lineman even in the 1960s, but he lasted for ten seasons with the Eagles, typically starting and eventually moving inside to defensive tackle; he played one last year with the Chicago Bears in ‘74. But in those 11 years, playing in 127 games, he recovered only three more fumbles.

1947: Sammy Baugh Completes Record Passing Season with 343 Yards in Finale

Quarterback Sammy Baugh of the Washington Redskins broke and re-broke many NFL passing records during his 16-year career. Starting out as a tailback in Washington’s double wing offense, he had made the transition to T-formation quarterback in 1944. While he was at it, he also led the Redskins to five Eastern Division titles and two league championships. He was more than just the best passer of his era, but an outstanding defensive back and punter as well.

The Redskins were in decline by 1947, under Head Coach Turk Edwards, but Baugh was not. In the season-concluding game on December 14, he led the team to a 40-13 win over the Boston Yanks at Griffith Stadium. Slingin’ Sammy passed for 343 yards, including three touchdowns against one interception.

Baugh’s first TD pass, of 15 yards to HB Dick Poillon in the second quarter, gave the Redskins their first lead of the day at 13-6. His two fourth quarter scoring passes covered 6 yards to end Doug Turley and 20 yards to rookie end Joe Tereshinski, and allowed Washington to put the Yanks away. The offensive effort was also helped by FB Jim Castiglia’s 136 yards on 19 carries, which included two short touchdown runs.

All in all, it was a fine performance to conclude an otherwise disappointing season as the Redskins rolled up 574 yards while holding Boston to 112. Washington’s final record was 4-8, which ranked fourth in the five-team Eastern Division. The Yanks, who split the season series with the Redskins, ended up in third with a 4-7-1 tally.

Baugh had three 300-yard passing performances during the year, including a high of 364 with 5 TD passes in an opening day shootout at Philadelphia (the Eagles won, 45-42). He also tied his career best with six touchdown passes in a 45-21 win over the Chicago Cardinals (on “Sammy Baugh Day” in Washington, no less).

For the season, he set records for pass attempts (354) and completions (210) as well as passing yards (2938, breaking the record set by Chicago’s Sid Luckman in 1943 by 744 yards). Baugh, the league’s passing leader for the fifth of an eventual six times, also led the NFL in completion percentage (59.3) and TD passes (25) while having the lowest percentage of interceptions (4.2). For the era, these were exceptional numbers; the yardage record, most notably, lasted until 1960.

Baugh already held most of the career passing marks at this point (attempts, completions, completion percentage, yards, touchdown passes) as he set whole new standards for future quarterbacks to build upon. Thin (6’2”, 180 pounds) but very tough (sanctions against roughing the passer hadn’t yet been adopted – if the play was still in progress, a defender could hit the quarterback long after he had gotten rid of the ball), Baugh threw very accurately – way more than was the norm in the 1940s – with a sidearm motion. His style of play not only produced records, but greatly influenced the rise of the passing game in pro football.

The nickname Slingin’ Sam had actually been conferred on him for his exploits as a baseball third baseman, good enough to make it into the farm system of the St. Louis Cardinals, but not good enough to make it out of the minors (he couldn’t hit a curve ball). Baseball’s loss ended up being football’s gain, all the way to a charter membership in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

1936: Packers Defeat Redskins for NFL Title

The NFL Championship matchup on December 13, 1936 took place at the Polo Grounds in New York even though the Eastern Division had been won by the Boston Redskins. Owner George Preston Marshall, upset at the lack of fan support in the franchise’s home city, had the game moved to a neutral site. The weather was at least cooperative – it was sunny with temperatures in the mid-30s, and 29,545 fans showed up.

The Redskins, under first year Head Coach Ray Flaherty, won the division with a 7-5 record, just ahead of the 6-6 Pittsburgh Pirates. The passing game was ordinary, but not the rushing of star FB Cliff Battles (fourth in the NFL in rushing with 614 yards), plus FB Pug Rentner and tailback Eddie Britt behind a line anchored by tackle Turk Edwards. However, Marshall, the imperious owner, had alienated both fans and press in Boston, especially by raising ticket prices on game days without notice.

The Green Bay Packers were the heavily favored opponents, with an outstanding team that carried the tougher Western Division with a 10-1-1 record under Head Coach Curly Lambeau. Lambeau was the first NFL coach to significantly utilize the passing game, and the Packers had a very good one with tailback Arnie Herber (pictured above) throwing primarily to star second-year end Don Hutson (pictured at bottom). Herber led the league in passing for the third time in his career, and also led in attempts (177), completions (77), yards (1239), and TD passes (11). Hutson set new records in pass receptions (34) and receiving yards (526), and also led the NFL in TD catches (8). Green Bay could run the ball, too, with a backfield led by FB Clarke Hinkle (also an outstanding linebacker on defense).

The tone for the game was set on the tenth play from scrimmage, when Battles, who had gained 18 yards on two carries for the Redskins, was injured and lost for the remainder of the day. On the play, his lateral to blocking back Riley Smith was fumbled and recovered by T Lou Gordon of the Packers on the Green Bay 48 yard line. Three plays later, Herber found Hutson on a long pass that covered 48 yards for the first touchdown of the game.

The Redskins came back in the second quarter with a solid 78-yard drive that culminated in a two-yard TD plunge by Rentner. However, Smith’s extra point attempt was wide, and the score at halftime was 7-6 in favor of the Packers.

Green Bay took the second half kickoff and went 74 yards in six plays. A pass from Herber to veteran HB Johnny McNally (aka Johnny Blood) covered 52 yards and set up an 8-yard scoring pass from Herber to end Milt Gantenbein that extended the Packers lead to 14-6.

Things continued to get worse for Boston as their only healthy center, Frank Bausch, was ejected for fighting. Then, in the fourth quarter, Green Bay effectively put the game out of reach when guard Lon Evans blocked a punt by the unfortunate Riley Smith. The play started at the Redskins 22, and once Hinkle recovered the ball, Green Bay was on the three yard line. Bob Monnett, spelling Herber at tailback, ran two yards for the TD. The final score was 21-6 in favor of the Packers.

Green Bay accumulated 220 total yards (to 130 for Boston) with 153 by passing. Herber accounted for 140 yards through the air as he completed 6 of 15 passes with two touchdowns and an interception. Don Hutson led all receivers with 5 catches for 76 yards and a TD. Clarke Hinkle rushed for 56 yards on 19 attempts.

With Cliff Battles sidelined early, FB Don Irwin led the Redskins in rushing with 37 yards on 13 carries. Rentner was Boston’s top passer with 4 completions in 6 attempts for 60 yards. End Wayne Millner caught two passes, the only Redskin to do so.

George Preston Marshall moved his franchise to Washington for 1937; he also signed a passing tailback from TCU, Sammy Baugh, who would elevate the aerial attack and take the team to the next level. But on this day, it was Curly Lambeau’s Packers at the top of the NFL heap.

1965: Rookie Gale Sayers Scores 6 Touchdowns vs. 49ers

In the 1965 college player draft, the Chicago Bears held three choices in the first round thanks to trades with Pittsburgh and Washington. With the third and fourth overall choices, they went with linebacker Dick Butkus from Illinois and Kansas halfback Gale Sayers. Two picks later they drafted Steve DeLong, a tackle from Tennessee who signed with the AFL’s San Diego Chargers instead.

Butkus and Sayers displayed their quality right away as rookies. The 6’3”, 255-pound Butkus took over for Hall of Famer Bill George at middle linebacker and was considered among the elite at the position by the end of the season due to his aggressiveness and ability to cover plenty of ground. Sayers, at 6’0” and 198 pounds, proved equally adept at the halfback position, displaying not only great speed but uncanny running instincts and the ability to effortlessly change direction in the open field.

Through 12 games, Sayers put his all-around skills to good use, rushing for 672 yards on 143 attempts for a 4.7-yard average with 9 touchdowns. He had caught 27 passes for 418 yards, a tidy 15.5 average out of the backfield, with another 5 TDs. In addition, he returned a kickoff for a score, giving him a total of 15 touchdowns thus far on the year. He had gone over the hundred yard mark rushing in the previous two games without carrying the ball more than 16 times in either.

On December 12, playing on muddy turf at Wrigley Field against the visiting San Francisco 49ers, Sayers had one of the greatest all-around games in pro football history. His coach, “Papa Bear” George Halas, who had seen a lot of great days by many outstanding players over the course of a career that dated back to the founding of the league, later called this the best single-game performance that he ever witnessed.

San Francisco had crushed the Bears at Kezar Stadium in the season opening game and the Bears were determined go on the attack by overloading to the left side against the 49ers defense. They did so in their second possession of the first quarter, with QB Rudy Bukich tossing a screen pass to Sayers on second and ten on their own 20 yard line. Getting good blocks, the speedy halfback threaded his way for an 80-yard touchdown.

The Bears were up 13-0 after the first quarter (the extra point attempt after the Sayers TD was missed and Bukich later hit TE Mike Ditka for a 29-yard TD). San Francisco came back to score on a nine-yard pass from QB John Brodie to split end Dave Parks to cut the Chicago lead to 13-7 with five minutes left in the half. Sayers scored on a 21-yard run, leaping over CB Jimmy Johnson at the three to make it 20-7. Back came the 49ers on a 15-yard Brodie pass to HB John David Crow, and in the last minute Sayers caught a 9-yard pass that set up his third touchdown of the game on a seven-yard sweep. Chicago led 27-13 at the half.


Sayers scored his fourth touchdown early in the third quarter on a 50-yard run, sprung by blocks thrown by TE Ditka, flanker Johnny Morris, and G Bob Wetoska. On the next Bears possession, Sayers made it five TDs on a dive from a yard out (pictured; the PAT attempt failed).

It was 47-20 in favor of the Bears after HB Dave Kopay scored for the 49ers and Chicago responded with an 8-yard TD pass from Bukich to split end Jim Jones. Sayers had one more big play to add to the day, however; the 49ers punted and he gathered in the ball at the Chicago 15 yard line. Taking off up the middle, Sayers cut to his left and then back against the flow, blazing into the clear and ending up with an 85-yard return for his record-tying sixth touchdown of the game (tied with Ernie Nevers of the Cardinals and Dub Jones of the Browns).

That was it for Sayers, in spite of the chants from the crowd; when the Bears drove down close once more, it was HB Jon Arnett scoring from two yards out to cap the 61-20 win. As Halas said afterward, “I’d never have forgiven myself if I allowed him to stay in and he was seriously injured.”

For the day, Sayers ran the ball for 113 yards and four touchdowns on just 9 carries. He caught two passes for 89 yards and another TD. With yet another 134 yards on five punt returns, including the touchdown, he had accounted for 336 total yards. Adding the six touchdowns to his season total, he broke the single-season record of 20 set just the previous year by Baltimore’s Lenny Moore.

The Bears lost the season finale, but ended up with a 9-5 record, good enough for third place in the Western Conference. Having dipped to 5-9 in 1964 after winning the ’63 NFL championship, they had gone 9-2 after losing the first three games of the year and were widely considered to be playing better than any other team in the league during the second half of the season. Much of the reason for the turnaround was attributed to the two impact rookies, Sayers and Butkus. As for the 49ers, they ended up in fourth place in the West, with a 7-6-1 tally.

When it was all over, Gale Sayers ended up with a league-leading 2272 total yards, with 867 by rushing (on just 166 attempts for a 5.2 average gain), 507 on 29 pass receptions (a 17.5 average), 660 on 21 kickoff returns (31.4 yards per return), and 238 on 16 punt returns (14.9). With one last TD in the final game, he ended up with a new NFL record of 22 (Cleveland’s Jim Brown, in his last season, was right behind at 21). While the season record has long since been broken, it still stands as the record for a rookie.

1949: Browns Defeat 49ers for Last AAFC Championship

It was fitting that the last championship game of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) would be between the Cleveland Browns and San Francisco 49ers. The Browns had dominated the league during its four-year run, compiling a 47-4-3 record and winning all of the championships. But San Francisco had the second best team, with a 38-14-2 record. Unfortunately for the 49ers, they were members of the Western Division and placed second behind the Browns in each of the 1946-48 seasons.

In 1949, the AAFC fielded seven teams instead of eight (the Brooklyn Dodgers merged with the New York Yankees) and the division alignments were done away with; the teams played a 12-game schedule (as opposed to 14 in the previous years) and those with the top four records qualified for the postseason.

Cleveland finished in first place with a 9-1-2 record, while the 49ers placed second at 9-3. The New York Yankees, who had twice won the Eastern Division and lost to the Browns in championship games, came in third at 8-4, and fourth place went to the Buffalo Bills at 5-5-2. The Browns defeated the feisty Bills, 31-21, in the first round, while San Francisco beat New York, 17-7.

A few days before the championship showdown on December 11, word leaked that a merger agreement had been reached between the AAFC and NFL and that this would be the AAFC’s final season. Thus, attendance for what was a very strong matchup was just 22,550 at Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium.


The Browns, coached by the innovative and exacting Paul Brown, were a balanced team, led by QB Otto Graham (pictured at left) who passed effectively to ends Mac Speedie (the league leader in ’49 with both his 62 receptions and 1028 yards) and Dante Lavelli, and the running of FB Marion Motley (pictured above) and halfbacks Dub Jones, Edgar “Special Delivery” Jones, and Bill Boedecker. San Francisco, under Head Coach Buck Shaw, had the mobile lefthanded QB Frankie Albert, who threw a league-leading 27 TD passes during the season, 12 of them to star end Alyn Beals. FB Joe Perry led the AAFC in rushing (783 yards) and halfbacks Johnny Strzykalski, Sam Cathcart, and Verl Lillywhite were all effective runners. The 49ers also handed the Browns their only loss during the season.

The field was slushy, but there were no turnovers by either team. “Special Delivery” Jones scored the only touchdown of the first half about midway through the first quarter on a two-yard run. Motley provided the most spectacular play of the game in the third quarter when he ran 63 yards up the middle to put the Browns ahead, 14-0.

The 49ers finally got on the board early in the fourth quarter, after a 74-yard drive, when Albert passed for a 23-yard TD to end Paul Salata. But the Browns ground to a third and final touchdown on a 69-yard drive of their own, resulting in a four-yard run by Dub Jones with under nine minutes left to play. The 21-7 score held up, and Cleveland had a fourth and final AAFC championship.

The Browns defense did a good job against the strong 49ers running game. Perry had just 6 carries for 36 yards, while QB Albert was the leading rusher with 41 yards on 5 attempts. As a team, San Francisco gained 122 yards on 33 carries for a 3.9-yard average, well below the average during the season of 5.5. Albert completed just 9 of 24 passes for 108 yards and the TD.

Otto Graham didn’t put up big numbers, completing 7 of 17 passes for 128 yards and no touchdowns. But he ran for 62 yards on 9 carries, putting him third behind Motley (75 yards on 8 rushes) and “Special Delivery” Jones (the workhorse with 16 carries for 63 yards). As a team, the Browns averaged 5.3 yards per attempt in compiling 217 yards on the ground.

The end of the league didn’t mean the end for the Browns or 49ers; both were accepted into the NFL, along with the Baltimore Colts. Cleveland continued to thrive in the older league, participating in six consecutive championship games, and seven in eight years, while winning three of them. It took San Francisco far longer to finally win a championship (following the 1981 season). The Colts folded after a year, only to be resurrected in 1953 out of the ashes of the failed Dallas Texans franchise. And while the AAFC’s Buffalo Bills went down with the remainder of the league, the name was revived by the AFL’s Buffalo entry in 1960.