Question on early Buffalo teams

RichardBak
Posts: 814
Joined: Sun Aug 02, 2020 4:04 pm

Re: Question on early Buffalo teams

Post by RichardBak »

Jay Z wrote:In terms of players the 1950-51 Yanks, 1952 Texans, and 1953 Colts were all the same team, same players. 1951 and 1952 teams had the same coach.

The only thing involving players there that I saw rescinded was that the 1952 Texans traded away their 1953 #5 draft choice to the Browns. This was given back to them as part of the move. The Browns also kept a #5 pick, so there were 13 picks in the 1953 5th round draft.

I am not a big fan of the fidelity to the franchise piece of paper either, but this franchise gets problematic as you go back a bit.

If you had some George Blanda that played decades through all of this franchise's teams, he's more likely to come from the Brooklyn Dodgers than the Boston Yanks.

I don't know how the Dodgers' franchise officially ended. They merged in 1945 with the Boston Yanks. This was a wartime deal, as had been done with other teams in 1943 and 1944. In 1946 the Dodgers just didn't bother to come back, because owner Dan Topping opted to get a new franchise in the AAFC, the New York Yankees. (There was also an unrelated Brooklyn Dodgers AAFC franchise.) Most of the best old Brooklyn Dodgers NFL players went to the AAFC Yankees, not the NFL Boston Yanks.

In 1949 the AAFC Yankees and AAFC Dodgers merged, with the team remaining the Yankees, and most of the best players still coming from the Yankees. The AAFC Brown, 49ers, and Colts came into the AFL. The Dons and Hornets were disbanded and dispersed into an allocation draft. Most of the Bisons were as well, though a few went to the Browns, as the Bisons owner got a part ownership in the Browns.

The AAFC Yankees were not dispersed. The Giants were allowed to take six players from the Yankees, and the rest merged with the NFL NY Bulldogs. The Bulldogs were also required to throw a few players into the AAFC allocation draft as part of this. Most of the best 1950 New York Yanks came from the AAFC Yankees.

So the mythical George Blanda's franchise trip is going to be

Brooklyn NFL
New York AAFC
New York Yanks NFL
Dallas Texas NFL
New Baltimore Colts NFL

There were some AAFC Yankees that made it to the new Colts. I don't think anyone from the Boston Yanks/NY Bulldogs made it.

To complicate things further, the Indianapolis Colts recognize the 1947-1950 Colts as part of their history. Even though it's a different franchise, and the team is no longer in Baltimore. I guess the 1947-1950 Colts "inspired" the new Colts, and that's what people wanted to remember, rather than the crappy vagabond team that was the source of their players.
It's a good thing I don't start drinking until noon. Getting through this sober was hard enough. But a great rundown.
JameisLoseston
Posts: 391
Joined: Wed Oct 16, 2019 12:39 am

Re: Question on early Buffalo teams

Post by JameisLoseston »

lastcat3 wrote:It's interesting to follow some of the pre-AFL franchises histories. One that I find most interesting is the Colts. I'm sure everyone on this board knows this but probably 99% of people would assume that the current Colts franchise is the same one that originally came from the AAFC and not the original Dallas Texans (who also were an earlier team than the Texans that eventually became the Chiefs).
Long live the Triangles.
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