1940 American Football League season

The 1940 American Football League season was the first season of the third American Football League. The league was formed when the New York Yankees, Boston Bears, and Buffalo Indians were joined by the Cincinnati Bengals, Columbus Bullies, and Milwaukee Chiefs of the minor American Professional Football Association (the mass defection doomed the minor league). After the announcement of the formation of the AFL (July 14, 1940),[1] applications for membership by former APFA members St. Louis Gunners and Kenosha Cardinals were rejected by the upstart league, which started with six members.

The Columbus Bullies were declared league champions after compiling an 8-1-1 record, just edging the 7-2 of the Milwaukee Chiefs.

Final standings

W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pct.= Winning Percentage, PF = Points for, PA = Points against

Final 1940 standings

TeamWLTPct.PFPA
Columbus Bullies 811.88913469
Milwaukee Chiefs 720.77818059
Boston Bears 541.55612079
New York Yankees 450.444138138
Buffalo Indians 280.20045138
Cincinnati Bengals 170.12553187

Standings includes forfeits (Buffalo forfeited to New York due to the field being unplayable, November 17, 1940; Cincinnati forfeited to Buffalo due to injuries preventing the Bengals from fielding a complete team, November 24, 1940)[2]


1940 All-League Team

The league's coaches selected the all-league team:[4]

1940 AFL All-League Teams[4]
Position First Team Second Team
End Sherman Barnes, Milwaukee Keith Ranspot, Boston
Harlan Gustafson, New York Joel Mason, Boston
Tackle Ed Karpowich, Buffalo Ralph Niehaus, Columbus
Bob Eckl, Milwaukee Alec Shellogg, Buffalo
Guard Jim Karcher, Columbus Vic Marino, Boston
Alex Drobnitch, Buffalo Len Akin, Milwaukee
Center Joe Alexus, Columbus Joe Ratica, Boston
Back Andy Karpus, Boston, QB Bob Davis, Columbus
Bill Hutchinson, New York, HB Ray Cole, Milwaukee
Nelson Peterson, Columbus, HB Lee Elkins, New York
Al Novakofski, Milwaukee, FB Paul Shu, Cincinnati

References

  1. George Gipe, The Great American Sports Book (Doubleday 1978) ISBN 0-385-13091-0
  2. History of Professional Football in Western New York Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine
  3. "Enciclopedia del football italiano - 1940 AFL season" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2008-11-10.
  4. Gill, Bob (1983). "The Best of the Rest, Part 2" (PDF). The Coffin Corner. Professional Football Researchers Association. 5 (12). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-11-27. Retrieved 11 February 2010.

See also

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