Athletes ARE NOT Warriors!

                                                                                        





On this Memorial Day when we remember our loved ones as well as Honor those who served our Country, I would like to address what has to be one of my biggest peeves about Sports, The Constant Refering to Athletes as Warriors.

ATHLETES ARE NOT WARRIORS! PEOPLE IN THE MILITARY ARE WARRIORS!

Granted, there are sports teams on all levels called "Warriors", and there have been many athletes who did/do serve in the military and the Service Academies have Varsity Sports Teams, but in general, I get annoyed when sportscatsers, etc, refer to an Athlete as a Warrior. I personally think it's disrespectful of anyone who are now or did serve in the military.

Now, if you wish to refer to an athlete as a Gladiator, that's fine as it's a more accurate term. Just please confine the use of the term "Warrior" to those who are/were in the Military or playing for one of the Service Academies. (...or if they happen to play for a team called the "Warriors".)

Thank You.

The AAFC and The AFL: Legacy Continues in The NFL.

In the history of American Professional Football, there are two past leagues who still have teams existing in the NFL. The American Football League (AFL 1960-1969) and he lesser known All-America Football Conference (AAFC 1946-1949).

The AFL is of course, the more widely known league as all of the teams were part of the AFL-NFL Merger and this resulted in The Super Bowl. Because of this, The NFL recognizes all Pre-Merger Player Statistcs and History (Except for AFL Championships.) of the old AFL Teams that came in the Merger and are now in the AFC.

There is an excellent website called Remember The AFL that gives a detailed history of The American Football League.

The AAFC on the other hand is far lesser known to the casual fan. There were eight teams in the AAFC but only three were merged into The NFL after the 1949 Season: The Cleveland Browns, The San Francisco 49ers and The Baltimore Colts. Of those three, only The Browns and 49ers still exist. The AAFC Baltimore Colts do not have anything to do with the Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts of Johnny Unitas and Peyton Manning. Because of this, The NFL to this day does not recognize the player and team stats of the Browns and 49ers AAFC years, although The Pro Football Hall of Fame does.

Where the AFL was started by Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs Owner Lamar Hunt (He wanted to bring an NFL Team to Dallas and was rejected.) and other businessmen who either wanted to outright purchase, buy into or start teams in The NFL, The AAFC was started by a Chicago Tribune Sports Writer named Arch Ward (Who also came up with The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, The College All-Star Game and The Golden Gloves Amateur Boxing Tournament.)

During WWII, Ward felt that The NFL should expand but would not.

Ward officially founded The AAFC on June 4, 1944 and was to start play in 1945 but was delayed until 1946 because of WWII.

It was the first Professional Sports League to have at least two teams on the West Coast as it had The Los Angeles Dons and San Francisco 49ers. When The NFL's Rams moved from Cleveland to Los Angeles, there was no second team on the West Coast until The 49ers came over from the AAFC in 1950. The AAFC (Along with the Los Angeles Rams of NFL.) helped desegragate Pro Football.

While The AAFC was a competitive league, it had ONE Dominant Team: The Cleveland Browns. The Browns won every AAFC Championship in its history from 1946 to 1949 and posted an Undefeated Season in 1948, 24 years before the 1972 Miami Dolphins did it in The NFL. A fact not known by many because of the NFL's refusal to count AAFC records and statistics. Because of the Domination of one team in the AAFC's Whole History, It was not taken seriously back then and to an extent, still true today.

Many experts speculate that Paul Brown's AAFC Browns Teams (Especially in 1948 and 1949.) were as good as The NFL's best teams at that time. This is supported by the fact that in their first NFL Regular Season Game in 1950, The Browns defeated the Defending NFL Champion Eagles 35-10 in Philadelphia.

Thanks for reading.