1948 AAFC Season E-Book

Re-live the fun and excitement of the 1948 AAFC Professional Football Season with GridIron Wars!

The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was a professional league that challenged the established (NFL) from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL’s most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many of the nation’s best players, produced one of pro football’s greatest teams, and introduced many lasting innovations to the game. However, the AAFC was ultimately unable to sustain itself in competition with the NFL. Three of its teams were admitted to the NFL, of which two survive today.

In the West, San Francisco and Cleveland both remained undefeated far into the season. On November 14, nearly 83,000 (a new record) in Cleveland Municipal Stadium watched the 9-0 Browns win a 14-7 defensive struggle over the 10-0 49ers. They met again two weeks later in San Francisco, with the Browns now 12-0 and the 49ers 11-1. The Browns again won narrowly, this time 31-28, clinching first place.

The rematch concluded an AAFC Thanksgiving week promotion: the Browns played three games in eight days. They survived unscathed, and went on to complete an unprecedented 14-0 regular season.

The 49ers finished a heartbreaking second (and out of the postseason) at 12-2. Los Angeles followed at 7-7, and Chicago again finished 1-13 and last. The quarterbacks of the two outstanding teams, Cleveland’s Otto Graham and San Francisco’s Frankie Albert, shared the MVP.

In the East, Buffalo and Baltimore tied at a mediocre 7-7, just ahead of 6-8 New York. Brooklyn was last at 2-12. Buffalo won a playoff and the dubious privilege of meeting Cleveland for the title.

Cleveland won the title in a predictable rout, 49-7. With pro football's second perfect season (after the 1937 Los Angeles Bulldogs of the second American Football League) and an 18-game winning streak and a 29-game unbeaten streak in progress, the Browns were making history. Since then, only the 1972 Miami Dolphins team managed to win its league championship with an unblemished record. The Pro Football Hall of Fame recognizes the Browns' latter streak as the longest in the history of professional football.