New York Yankees Football Club, Inc - RARE

Beautifully unissued certificate from the New York Yankees Football Club, Inc. This historic document was printed by the Corporation Supply Company of Chicago and has an ornate border around it with a vignette of an eagle. Daniel Topping was the organization's president.






Certificate Vignette

The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was a professional American football league that challenged the rival National Football League from 1946 to 1949. The league was created in June 1944 and began play in in 1946.

The AAFC successfully competed against the National Football League in many cities, outdrawing the older league in terms of attendance and, in the case of teams such as the Cleveland Browns and San Francisco 49ers, demonstrating equal if not superior football talent. The Browns of 1948 in fact became the first professional football team to go undefeated in all its games — 24 years before the 1972 Miami Dolphins of the NFL would do so.

After four years of operation, many AAFC teams were in financial trouble due to escalating player salaries. The elder NFL also found its teams in difficulty, and a merger agreement was reached. Three AAFC teams were merged into the older league:

The Cleveland Browns, winners of all four AAFC championships, who would go on to be the NFL's dominant team of the 1950's, The San Francisco 49ers, who would be paired with the Los Angeles Rams, and The Baltimore Colts, who would play just one season (1950) in the NFL. The Colts name would be resurrected for an NFL expansion franchise, the Baltimore Colts, in 1953.

1946-1948, Brooklyn Dodgers; AAFC

1949-1949, Brooklyn-New York Yankees; AAFC

1946-1946, Buffalo Bisons; AAFC

1947-1949, Buffalo Bills; AAFC

1946-1948, Chicago Rockets; AAFC

1949-1949, Chicago Hornets; AAFC

1946-1949, Cleveland Browns; AAFC

1946-1949, Los Angeles Dons; AAFC

1946-1946, Miami Seahawks; AAFC

1947-1949, Baltimore Colts; AAFC

1946-1948, New York Yankees; AAFC

1946-1949, San Francisco 49ers; AAFC

The AAFC dissolved after the 1949 season and the Browns, 49ers and Colts move into the NFL for the 1950 season. The remaining AAFC players are spread throughout the NFL via draft.

The NFL established the following alignment:

AMERICAN CONFERENCE

Chicago Cardinals

Cleveland Browns

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

Washington Redskins

San Francisco 49ers

NATIONAL CONFERENCE

Baltimore Colts

Chicago Bears

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Los Angeles Rams

New York Yanks

(The New York Yankees Football Club played at Yankee Stadium)

The Baltimore Colts folded after the 1950 season

1952 The New York Yankees folded; the NFL sells the assets of the Yanks to a Dallas group to become the Dallas Texans and begin play in 1952

The Dallas franchise folds, is taken over by the NFL midseason and plays out the rest of their season as a road team

1953 The NFL formally reinstates the dead Dallas Texans franchise as the Baltimore Colts

1959 The AFL is formally organized with the charter members: EASTERN DIVISION Boston Patriots Buffalo Bills Houston Oilers New York Titans

WESTERN DIVISION Dallas Texans Denver Broncos Los Angeles Chargers

A franchise in the Twin Cities is to be added before play beings in 1960

1960 The Dallas Cowboys franchise awarded by the NFL to begin play in the Eastern Conference in 1960