The National Football Conference (NFL) has now over a fifty-year history since the merger between the National Football League (NFL) and the American Football League (AFL). Prior to the merger, the two leagues had been rivals and competed for players, fans and broadcasting rights.
On June 8th, 1966, recognizing that a merger would be mutually beneficial, the NFL and AFL announced plans for a merger, with play to begin in 1970. The new league was called the NFL, but incorporated NFL teams into one conference and AFL teams into the other.
The 13 founding teams of the NFC consisted of:
East Division: Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins.
Central Division: Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings
West Division: Atlanta Falcons, Los Angeles Rams, New Orleans Saints, San Franscico 49ers.
National Football Conference New Alignment
This alignment lased for over thirty years until additional teams and divisions were added in the early 2000s. In 2002, the league voted to realign the conferences and divisions to better align geographic rivals. The newly aligned 16-team NFC looked as follows:
East Division: Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders.
North Division: Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings
South Division: Atlanta Falcons. Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints, Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
West Division: Arizona Cardinals, St. Louis Rams, San Franscico 49ers and Seattle Seahawks.
The NFC North retained the same team composition as the old NFC Central. The NFC East and NFC West also remained intact, minus the Falcons moving to the new NFC South. Since 2002, there have been team moves that have impacted the NFC. The Rams relocated back to Los Angeles in 2016 after over 20 years in St. Louis. And the Washington franchise recently rebranded its name and became the Washington Commanders.
The NFC currently continues to maintain its 16 teams among 4 divisions. The American Fotball Conference (AFC) is similarly configured.
Barry Schustermann
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