The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was a professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League (NFL) from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many of the nation's best players, and introduced many lasting innovations to the game. However, the AAFC was ultimately unable to sustain itself in competition with the NFL. After it folded, three of its teams were admitted to the NFL: the San Francisco 49ers, the Cleveland Browns and the original Baltimore Colts.
The 1950 NFL season was the 31st regular season of the National Football League. The merger with the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) expanded the league to 13 teams. Meanwhile, television brought a new era to the game. The Los Angeles Rams became the first NFL team to have all of its games – both home and away – televised. The Washington Redskins became the second team to put their games on TV. Other teams arranged to have selected games televised.
The 1951 NFL season was the 32nd regular season of the National Football League. Prior to the season, Baltimore Colts owner Abraham Watner faced financial difficulties, and thus gave his team and its player contracts back to the league for $50,000. However, many Baltimore fans started to protest the loss of their team. Supporting groups such as its fan club and its marching band remained in operation and worked for the team's revival, which eventually led to a new, more lucrative Baltimore team in 1953 that ultimately carried on the erratic lineage of the last remaining Ohio League member Dayton Triangles.
Throughout the years, a number of teams in the National Football League (NFL) have either moved or merged.
Frank Cullen Albert was an American gridiron football player and coach. He played as a quarterback with the San Francisco 49ers in the National Football League (NFL). Albert attended Stanford University, where he led the 1940 football team to an undefeated season and the Rose Bowl.
The 1961 season was the Minnesota Vikings' first in the National Football League (NFL) after being created as an expansion franchise to become the league's fourteenth team. Their inaugural regular season game was a 37–13 victory at home to the Chicago Bears; rookie quarterback Fran Tarkenton came off the bench to toss four touchdown passes and run for another. However, under head coach Norm Van Brocklin, the Vikings won just two of their remaining 13 games, including a seven-game losing streak, and finished the season with a 3–11 record.
The 1951 Los Angeles Rams season was the team's 14th year in the National Football League and the sixth season in Los Angeles. In 1951, the Rams had an up-and-down season, never winning more than three games in a row, but were able to win eight games and clinch the National Conference after defeating the Green Bay Packers during Week 12 of the season. Los Angeles also led the National Football League in attendance for the second time while in Southern California; the first of 10 consecutive seasons leading the league in attendance. The Rams' largest crowd during the 1951 campaign was 67,186 against the Cleveland Browns during Week 2.
Lowell Wagner was a professional American football cornerback in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and the National Football League (NFL). He played eleven seasons for the AAFC's New York Yankees (1946–1948) and AAFC and NFL's San Francisco 49ers (1949–1955).
The 1951 San Francisco 49ers season was the franchise's 2nd season in the National Football League and their 6th overall. The team was coming off a 3–9 record in 1950.
The 1981 San Francisco 49ers season was the franchise's 32nd season in the National Football League (NFL), their 36th overall and their third under head coach Bill Walsh.
The 1994 season was the San Francisco 49ers' 45th in the National Football League (NFL), the 49th overall and their sixth under head coach George Seifert. This season was highlighted by a victory in Super Bowl XXIX. The championship made San Francisco the first team to win five Super Bowls. After losing to the Dallas Cowboys in the previous two conference championship games, the 49ers made significant acquisitions in the 1994 free agent market. This included the signing of two-sport star Deion Sanders and Cowboys linebacker Ken Norton, Jr. Sanders had a major impact on the team's success, winning the NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award and recording six interceptions. The 49ers won their division, the NFC West, for the eighth time in nine seasons.
The 1989 season was the San Francisco 49ers' 40th in the National Football League (NFL), their 44th overall and their 1st season under head coach George Seifert. After going 14–2 in the regular season, the 49ers completed the season with one the most dominant playoff runs of all time, outscoring opponents 126–26, earning their fourth Super Bowl victory and their second consecutive, where they bent over the Broncos, 55–10. They finished with the best record in the NFL for the first time since 1987. Their two losses were by a combined 5 points.
The 1988 season was the San Francisco 49ers' 39th in the National Football League (NFL), their 43rd overall, and their tenth and final season under head coach Bill Walsh. The season was highlighted by their third Super Bowl victory. They failed to improve on their 13–2 record from 1987, and the 49ers struggled to a 6–5 record at the midway point and were in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 1982, but rose to defeat the Washington Redskins on a Monday night, eventually finishing the season at 10–6. They gained a measure of revenge by thrashing the Minnesota Vikings 34–9 in the first round of the playoffs; the Vikings had upset the #1-seeded 49ers the previous season in the divisional round. The 49ers then traveled to Chicago's Soldier Field, where the wind-chill factor at game time was 26 degrees below zero. They defeated the Chicago Bears 28–3 in the NFC Championship game.
The 1984 San Francisco 49ers season was their 39th season in the National Football League (NFL). The season was highlighted by their second Super Bowl victory. The franchise had their best season ever with a record of 15 wins and only 1 loss. Quarterback Joe Montana would be awarded the Super Bowl's Most Valuable Player Award for the second time in his career, joining Bart Starr and Terry Bradshaw as the only two-time Super Bowl MVPs.
The 1946 San Francisco 49ers season was the inaugural season of the San Francisco 49ers and the first season of the All-America Football Conference. Led by head coach Buck Shaw, the team compiled a 9–5 record and finished second in the AAFC West Division. The 49ers also had the second best scoring offense in the AAFC.
The 1984 New York Giants season was the franchise's 60th season in the National Football League (NFL). With a 9–7 record, the Giants finished in a tie for second in the National Football Conference East Division and qualified for the playoffs. In the Wild Card round, New York traveled to Anaheim Stadium and defeated the Los Angeles Rams 16–13 to advance to the Divisional round. Instead of traveling across the country back to New York, the Giants spent the week in Fresno, California. They used the facilities at Fresno State to prepare for the San Francisco 49ers. However, the Giants lost to the 49ers 21–10.
The 2011 San Francisco 49ers season was the franchise's 66th season overall, and 62nd in the National Football League (NFL). It was the first season under head coach Jim Harbaugh and general manager Trent Baalke. The 49ers rebounded from their disappointing 2010 season to end their streak of eight consecutive non-winning seasons. After defeating the St. Louis Rams in week 13 and attaining a 10–2 record, the team clinched the NFC West and made their first playoff appearance since 2002. The 49ers ended the regular season with a 13–3 record, their best since 1997, and earned a bye in the first round of the playoffs. In the Divisional Playoffs they defeated the New Orleans Saints 36–32 and were in the NFC Championship for the first time since 1997- they lost to the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants in overtime by a score of 20–17, coming just short of returning to the Super Bowl for the first time since 1994.
The 2015 season was the San Francisco 49ers' 66th in the National Football League, the 70th overall, second playing their home games at Levi's Stadium, and the only season under head coach Jim Tomsula. They were attempting to make history as the first Super Bowl host team to play the Super Bowl on their own home field, but they failed to improve on their 8–8 record from 2014, and ended with a 5–11 record to miss the playoffs for the second season in a row and finish with a losing record for the first time since 2010. They also finished last in the NFC West for the first time in a decade, and marked the 31st consecutive year in which the Super Bowl did not include the team in whose region the game was being played – a feat that never has been achieved since themselves in 1984.
The 2017 San Francisco 49ers season was the franchise's 68th season in the National Football League and their 72nd overall. It was also the first season under the head coach/general manager tandem of Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch. After a 0–9 start, they won 6 of their last 7 games and finished the season 6–10, improving from their last two season records. Despite this, the 49ers were eliminated from playoff contention in Week 12.
The 1946 AAFC season was the first season of the All-America Football Conference, a new professional league established to challenge the market dominance of the established National Football League. The league included eight teams, broken up into Eastern and Western divisions, which played a 14-game official schedule, culminating in a league championship game.