The 1936 AFL season is the first season of the second American Football League, the formation of which was announced by

Harry March Harry Addison March (December 11, 1875 – June 10, 1940) was an early football historian and promoter, as well as a medical doctor. He also helped organize the National Football League and well as the second American Football League. March is ...

, former personnel director of the NFL's

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

, on December 15, 1935. Fifteen cities bid for charter franchises; on April 11, 1936, franchises were awarded to eight cities: Boston, Cleveland, Jersey City, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Providence, and Syracuse.Bob Carroll, Michael Gershman, David Neft, and John Thorn, ''Total Football II: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League'' (HarperCollins 1999) By mid-summer, Jersey City, Philadelphia, and Providence withdrew; soon afterwards, Rochester was given a franchise, only to have it relocated to Brooklyn, despite the lack of availability of a home stadium at the time. The league began its existence by raiding NFL rosters for its players,George Gipe, ''The Great American Sports Book'' (Doubleday 1978) with a new

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

team signing members of the

, the

Cleveland Rams The Cleveland Rams were a professional American football team that played in Cleveland from 1936 to 1945. The Rams competed in the second American Football League (AFL) for the 1936 season and the National Football League (NFL) from 1937 to 194 ...

taking

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

star

Damon Wetzel Damon "Buzz" Wetzel (November 7, 1910 – October 15, 1985) was a fullback for Ohio State, the Chicago Bears and the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was also the first head coach of the Cleveland Rams when they played in the American Football League, ...

as their coach, and the

Pittsburgh Americans The Pittsburgh Americans or Pittsburgh Amerks were a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1936 until 1937. The team was a member of the major-league American Football League and participated in the league's ...

snaring members of the crosstown

Pirates Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

. On the other hand, eventual AFL champions Boston Shamrocks pretty much ignored the roster of the crosstown

Boston Redskins The Washington Commanders, an American football team belonging to the National Football League (NFL), have also played as the Boston Braves, Boston Redskins, Washington Redskins, and Washington Football Team. Founded in 1932, the team has won fi ...

, while the

Brooklyn Tigers The Brooklyn Dodgers were an American football team that played in the National Football League from 1930 to 1943, and in 1944 as the Brooklyn Tigers. The team played its home games at Ebbets Field of the baseball National League's team, the Broo ...

and

Syracuse Braves The Syracuse Braves were a professional American football team that competed in the second American Football League in 1936 and 1937. Coached by Don Irwin and Red Badgro, the Braves played in Municipal Stadium, which had a capacity of only abo ...

opted for "home grown" talent. The race to the 1936 AFL championship quickly narrowed down to three teams (Boston, Cleveland, and New York) as the Syracuse team was moved to Rochester after a deafening lack of fan support while it lost almost every game. The former Syracuse Braves became the Rochester Braves in early October 1936 — and folded after their game on November 1. Two weeks later, the Brooklyn Tigers moved to Rochester and became the Rochester Tigers.History of Football in Western New York
The two Rochester teams finished in the bottom of the league standings. In contrast to the following year, the majority of the AFL had winning records in 1936 (the two Rochester teams had one win combined). The Pittsburgh Americans finished with a 3-2-1 record despite averaging only 2500 fans in the

Forbes Field Forbes Field was a baseball park in the Oakland (Pittsburgh), Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1909 to June 28, 1970. It was the third home of the Pittsburgh Pirates Major League Baseball (MLB) team, and the first home of t ...

stands; the Boston Shamrocks (8-3-0) won the title by defeating both the Cleveland Rams (5-2-2) and the New York Yankees (5-3-2) in the season's final weeks.

Final standings

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1936 American Football League Season American Football League (1936)

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...

Final standings

See also

References