T master Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 (edited) I new that the NFl & the AFL were 2 separate leagues at one point & with the passing of Ralph i have heard more of "The Foolish Club" which were any thing but , & it got me started on a different path which led me to what i am about to share with you. I hope some of you will find it as interesting as i did & this may stir your interest to know more . The Original 2 of the Foolish club tried to get into the NFL in 1959 those 2 being Lamar Hunt & Bud Adams . In 1959 they were refused entry into the NFL which prompted them to look for 8 businessmen to form a 8 team professional football league which became known as the American Football League or AFL for short as we all know . Max Winter was to be a part of the originals with a Minneapolis franchise but was lured to the NFL as the Vikings in 1961. He was later replaced by a man F. Wayne Valley which was not only the owner of the Oakland Raiders but also was a driving force within the AFL. Lamar Hunt was the owner of the then Dallas Texans now known as the Kansas City Chiefs as we all know them, The second original member was Bud Adams which was the owner of the then Houston Oilers & the now Tenn Titans these 2 men were the 2 that hatched the AFL . Harry Wisner was the owner of the then New York Titans that became the Jets, Bob Hosam was the original owner of the Denver Broncos, Barron Hilton the original owner of the LA Chargers which are now known as the San Diego Chargers, (which is another failed attempt of a football franchise in LA) sorry just had to throw that in there ! Then there was of course our own Ralph Wilson that has always been the Buffalo Bills from day one, & last but not least was the owner of the then Boston Patriots Billy Sullivan which we all have come to know & despise as the New England Patriots . The fl was also the league that introduced the idea of TV revenue sharing in the early years which made the AFL very financially stable which eventually led to the forced merger of the 2 leagues to become the NFL as we know it today . The AFL had a lot of forward thinkers that added to the over all NFL as we know it & as time went on the originals that stayed around up until the last few years i think helped to keep the NFL in check to not out grow their roots . But now with Ralph being the last of the originals & the one that it has been said wasn't afraid to stand alone & voice his opinion on certain matters I have a certain amount of fear of what the NFL could become with out some of these steadfast owners that thought more of the game & the fans than the all mighty dollar !! The Not So Foolish Club - Lamar Hunt - Bud Adams - Harry Wisner - Bob Hosam - Barron Hilton - Ralph Wilson - Billy Sullivan & F. Wayne Valley . Thank to you all for your forward thinking & your foolishness to do what others would shy away from !! But most of all to you Mr Wilson for our Bills ! RIP ! Edited March 31, 2014 by T master Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoho Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 Since I am old enough to remember all of this. Let me add some more color. You have to put this in the context of the All America Football Conference which existed between 1946 and 1949. This league had the original rogue owner in Paul Brown and the Cleveland Browns. After 4 years, the league kind of merged with the NFL. The NFL brought in the Browns, Colts and 49er's, merged a couple of teams and ignored the other. The Buffalo Bills, (2nd in attendance) were dropped. Here is how it went down. "Buffalo fans petitioned the NFL to admit the Bills as well. 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, league rules of the time required a unanimous vote to admit a new team. Buffalo owner Jim Breuil was content to accept a minority share of the Browns. Breuil even rebuffed an offer from the next-best pro league in the nation at the time, the minor-league American Football League of the late 1940s, to join their league." So for 12 years the Bills waited. At the same time, Buffalo was looking for a major league baseball team and was constantly disappointed. When Ralph Wilson decided to bring a team to Buffalo into beautiful War Memorial (Civic) Stadium, Bills fans were ready. By 1963, the led the league in attendance. Ralph had bailed out Oakland and Boston to keep the league going and then some serious money like Sonny Werblin made the league (and the all important TV contract) more viable. I have knowledge that has been alluded to often over the last week, that Ralph could have sold and made big money, but stuck with Buffalo. The last time was when Houston was without a team. He had a great offer to move the team (he could have still stayed the majority owner) but passed to keep the team in Buffalo. So for all those who bad mouthed Ralph Wilson over the years, please remember there would have been no Buffalo Bills without him and no one less loyal than him would have kept the team here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
machine gun kelly Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 Thanks guys. That was very informative. I knew only about half of what both of you reported so for a young guy of 46, I appreciate the history. I honestly feel Mr. Wilson who loved his Bills, has put something into this trust that keeps the Bills here in Buffalo. His family knows how much he loved Buffalo. One of these billionaires will come through especially if the state comes up with a stadium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KRC Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 Since I am old enough to remember all of this. Let me add some more color. You have to put this in the context of the All America Football Conference which existed between 1946 and 1949. This league had the original rogue owner in Paul Brown and the Cleveland Browns. After 4 years, the league kind of merged with the NFL. The NFL brought in the Browns, Colts and 49er's, merged a couple of teams and ignored the other. The Buffalo Bills, (2nd in attendance) were dropped. Here is how it went down. "Buffalo fans petitioned the NFL to admit the Bills as well. 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, league rules of the time required a unanimous vote to admit a new team. Buffalo owner Jim Breuil was content to accept a minority share of the Browns. Breuil even rebuffed an offer from the next-best pro league in the nation at the time, the minor-league American Football League of the late 1940s, to join their league." Breuil was out before Buffalo tried to get into the NFL in 1950. It was a citizen's group that tried to get Buffalo into the league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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