The New York Yankees were a professional
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...
team that played in the
All-America Football Conference (AAFC) from 1946 to 1949. The team played in
Yankee Stadium
Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home field of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer.
Opened in April 2009, the stadium replaced the orig ...
in
the Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
and often played in front of sold-out crowds . They were owned by
Dan Topping, who transferred the team from the
NFL Brooklyn Dodgers, retaining many of the same players. The team's coach was
Ray Flaherty
Raymond Paul Flaherty (September 1, 1903 – July 19, 1994) was an American football player and coach in the National Football League, and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was part of three List of NFL champions (1920–69), NFL Champ ...
, who had coached the
Washington Redskins
The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...
in the early 1940s. Former NFL player
Jim Barber served as an assistant coach under Flaherty.
The Yankees appeared in the 1946 AAFC championship game, but lost to the
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...
by a score of 14–9. The same two teams appeared in the championship game the following year, with the Browns winning again 14–3.
Before the 1949 season, the
Brooklyn Dodgers football team folded and merged into the Yankees, which became the Brooklyn-New York Yankees, but this was the final season of the AAFC, which was then absorbed by the NFL. The Yankees players were divided between the
New York Giants and
New York Bulldogs
The New York Yanks were an American football team that played in the National Football League under that name in the 1950 and 1951 seasons.
Season by season overview 1949
The team began in 1944 as the Boston Yanks, owned by Kate Smith's manage ...
, who played as the
New York Yanks
The New York Yanks were an American football team that played in the National Football League under that name in the 1950 and 1951 seasons.
Season by season overview 1949
The team began in 1944 as the Boston Yanks, owned by Kate Smith's manag ...
starting in 1950.
Players of note
*
Brad Ecklund
*
Nate Johnson
*
Jack Russell
*
Spec Sanders
*
Otto Schnellbacher
*
Frank Sinkwich
Frank Francis Sinkwich Sr. (October 10, 1920 – October 22, 1990) was an American football player and coach. He won the Heisman Trophy in 1942 playing for the University of Georgia, making him the first recipient from the Southeastern Conferen ...
*
Bob Sweiger
*Jordan Jenkins
*
George Brown
Pro Football Hall of Famers
Season records
, -
, colspan="6" align="center" style="color:white; background-color:#041E42;", New York Yankees
, -
,
1946 , , 10 , , 3 , , 1 , , 1st AAFC East , , Lost to Cleveland, 14–9, in AAFC Championship Game
, -
,
1947 , , 11 , , 2 , , 1 , , 1st AAFC East , , Lost to Cleveland, 14–3, in AAFC Championship Game
, -
,
1948 , , 6 , , 8 , , 0 , , 3rd AAFC East , , align="center", Did Not Qualify
, -
, colspan="6" align="center" style="color:white; background-color:#041E42;", Brooklyn-New York Yankees
, -
,
1949 , , 8 , , 4 , , 0 , , 3rd AAFC , , Lost to San Francisco, 17–7, in AAFC Semifinal Playoffs
, -
!Totals , , 35 , , 17 , , 2
, colspan="2",
References
{{New York Yankees (AAFC) seasons
Defunct American football teams in New York City
Yankees
Sports in the Bronx