Super Bowls I and II were won by the NFL, while Super Bowls III and IV were won by the AFL. The leagues would have a common draft and compete for free agents under the same set of regulations. The leagues agreed to unite June 8, 1966, although they would function independently until the merger was completed in 1970. This was a more aggressive version of past efforts, with a younger league quickly gaining traction and fighting for players with its more established rival. Things began to alter in 1960 when the fourth edition of the American Football League launched their league. There were at least three incarnations of the American Football League (AFL) and another known as the All-America Football Conference (AAFC), attempting to challenge the NFL for professional dominance throughout the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, but none of them succeeded. According to the Canton Evening Repository, the purpose of meetings was to “improve the level of professional football in every manner possible, eliminate bidding for players between rival teams, and achieve collaboration in the formulation of schedules.” It was renamed the American Professional Football Association (APFA) a month later, September 17, 1920. The American Professional Football Conference (APFC) was formed as a consequence of this meeting. The loosely-affiliated teams met for the first time at the Jordan and Hupmobile showroom in Canton, Ohio. The year was 1920, and football required structure to remain a viable addition to the American sports scene. As a result, play-for-pay was formed, as was the emergence of the professional athlete. William “Pudge” Heffelfinger of the Allegheny Athletic Association in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was the first paid participant, earning $500 for his participation in a game November 12, 1892.

It wasn’t until Walter Camp, a great rugby player from Yale, came along in the 1880s that the early rules for what we know today as American football were established. The regulations were developed as a cross between soccer and rugby. The first formal football game as we know it took place in 1869 between Princeton and Rutgers, and the NFL has a long and illustrious history.

Point spreads for nfl games this week