All-America Football Conference - NFL Reaction

NFL Reaction

As might be expected, the NFL did not welcome its new rival. In 1945, Layden remarked that the AAFC, still a year from its first game, should “first get a ball, then make a schedule, and then play a game.” This insult, often paraphrased as "Tell them to get a ball first," would be long remembered.

Washington Redskins owner George Preston Marshall was perhaps the NFL's hardest-liner regarding the AAFC. In 1945, he commented “I did not realize there was another league, although I did receive some literature telling about a WPA project”. Later he declared, “The worst team in our league could beat the best team in theirs.” After the AAFC put a team in Baltimore, Marshall’s opposition to it would be a major obstacle to interleague peace. Not coincidentally, his team was badly hurt by the AAFC. A top team from 1936 to 1945, the Redskins began a decades-long title drought after coach Ray Flaherty and many key players defected in 1946.

Layden’s successor, Bert Bell, pursued a policy of official non-recognition, generally answering “no comment” to queries about the other league. In 1947, Pro Football Illustrated previewed both leagues in its annual publication and was banned from NFL stadiums.