NFL History and Geography Trivia Quiz

Answer: Boston Braves

The club played as the Boston Braves from 1932 until 1937 when they relocated to the nation's capital and became the Washington Redskins.

Answer: Los Angeles Rams

The Cleveland Rams won the NFL Championship (equivalent of the Super Bowl) on a snowy December day in 1945, beating the Washington Redskins by one point at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. They relocated to Los Angeles for the 1946 season, possibly the only pro sports franchise to relocate as reigning champions.

The vacancy they left on the shores of Lake Erie got filled by the Cleveland Browns, a team comprised mainly of navy vets who had played for Coach Paul Brown at Great Lakes Naval Station during WW2, and became the dominant entry in the new "outlaw league," the All America Football Conference (AAFC).

But the Rams became Hollywood's darlings out on the coast.

Answer: Racine, Wisconsin

The club began in Chicago, and were originally known as the Racine Cardinals, because their home field, Normal Park was on Racine Avenue in Chicago. They eventually moved to Comiskey Park and were universally known as the Chicago Cardinals, and then to St Louis where they were the St Louis Football Cardinals. Eventually they landed in Arizona where they are now playing their home games in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona.

They never called Racine, Wisconsin their home.

Answer: Philadelphia Eagles

The Colts moved to Indianapolis from Baltimore, the Baltimore Ravens moved to Baltimore from Cleveland where they used to be the Cleveland Browns, and the Kansas City Chiefs began their existence as the Dallas Texans of the AFL, coming into the NFL when the leagues merged.

Answer: Jay Berwanger

The NFL's first player draft took place at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Philadelphia in 1935. With the first pick the Philadelphia Eagles selected Jay Berwanger who had also won the Heisman Trophy, first awarded also that year. Jay had played his college football at the University of Chicago which was a football powerhouse at the time.

They were members of the Big 10 (Western Conference),coached by Hall of Famer Amos Alonzo Stagg. Mr. Thorpe and Mr. Grange were big time stars in the early days of the NFL, but before the player draft was instituted. Whizzer White played in the NFL for Pittsburgh and Detroit but was not the first man drafted.

He later served on US Supreme Court.

Answer: Pittsburgh Steelers

The Steelers are one of the more senior teams in the NFL, having joined in 1933. The All America Football Conference was a rival league to the NFL for 4 seasons immediately following WW2. The Cleveland Browns won the AAFC championship every year of its existence, making it a relatively uncompetitive league because of their dominance.

The Browns were absorbed into the more senior league along with the 49ers and Colts for the 1950 season (the Colts folded at the end of the season, finishing with a 1-11 W-L record).

The NFL scheduled them to meet the reigning NFL Champion Eagles in Philadelphia to open the 1950 season to "see how good they really were, against big league competition." In what was arguably the first "super bowl", the upstarts prevailed convincingly (Browns @ Eagles 35-10).

Answer: Decatur Staleys

This time honored club began life in downstate Decatur, Illinois as the Decatur Staleys, a company team (much like the "Acme Packers" of Green Bay, Wisconsin) in 1919. In 1921, Papa Bear George Halas, moved the team to Chicago. Interestingly, the seed money to cover the move was $5,000 that Mr Staley (owner of Staley Corn Products Co.) gave him to keep the name "Staleys" for one season in Chicago.

They became the Bears in 1922, hoping to score some legitimacy in the eyes of Windy City sports fans by relating to the Cubs, an established National League baseball team which had won some championships, and was their landlord at Wrigley Field.

Answer: Cleveland Browns

The Cleveland Browns joined the NFL in 1950, after dominating the rival All America Football Conference (AAFC) from 1946 to 1949. Seen as "upstarts" from a league with inferior competition, they proceeded to win the Eastern division of the NFL and go on to the League Championship game (the equivalent of what we now call the Super Bowl), and defeat the Los Angeles Rams on their own field in California. Ironically, the Rams had moved to Los Angeles from Cleveland just 5 years earlier.

Answer: They played for Paul Brown during their playing days

Paul Brown was one of the most innovative (and successful!) coaches in the history of the game. Many players who played under him during the 16 years that his Cleveland Browns were "The Greatest Show in Football" went on to successful coaching careers themselves.

The concept of a "coaching tree" most likely began with Mr. Brown's players soaking up successful tactics and strategies from the master and taking them on for more generations.

Answer: New York Titans

The New York Titans were one of the original members of the American Football League when it emerged in 1960 to challenge the dominance of the more established National Football League for the American sports dollar and the attention of television producers.

They actually played in the Polo Grounds ! In 1963, new ownership changed the name to Jets, and the following year they moved to Shea Stadium which they shared with baseball's Mets, so they rhymed. They participated in Super Bowl III as representatives of the "underdog" league, and their brash quarterback, Joe Namath "guaranteed" a win over the NFL's Colts. Broadway Joe delivered and the New York Jets became the first AFL team to win the Super Bowl.