throughout its history, the national football league and other leagues have used several different formats to determine their league champion, including a period of interleague match-ups determining a true world champion. the nfl first determined champions through end-of-season standings, but switched to a playoff system in 1933. the rival all-america football conference and american football league have since merged with the nfl (some aafc teams in ), but because of a problem with the nfl-aafc merger, aafc championships games and records do not count in nfl record books. the afl began play in 1960 and, like its rival league, used a playoff system to determine its champion. from â prior to the afl-nfl merger in 1970, the nfl and the afl agreed to hold an ultimate championship game, first called the afl-nfl world championship game and later renamed the super bowl after 1968. the most important factor of the merger was that all ten afl teams joined the nfl in  and every afl championship game and record count in nfl record books. since the merger, the nfl has ultimately become the only major professional football league in the united states. the super bowl was originally a game between the afl and the nfl but after the merger, the super bowl was retooled as the nfl's championship game. the old nfl championship game became the nfc championship game, while the old afl championship became the afc championship game. the nfl lists the old afl/nfl championship games with "new" afc/nfc championship games in its record books. the green bay packers have the most championships with thirteen overall (9 nfl championships, 4 super bowls). the packers are also the only team to win three consecutive championships, having done so twice (1929-1931,1965-1967). the chicago bears have the second most overall championships with nine (8 nfl championships, 1 super bowl). ==1920â1932: the early years== :for a list of nfl standings champions prior to 1933, see list of nfl champions (1920â1969) at its inception in , the nfl had no playoff system or championship game. the champion was the team with the best record during the season, determined by winning percentage, with ties omitted. this sometimes led to very unusual results, as teams played anywhere from six to twenty league games in a season, and not all teams played the same number of games or against league talent. as a result, in the league's first six seasons, four league titles were disputed and had to be resolved by the league's executive committee. in 1920, the akron pros went undefeated, tying three games, but two teams that had won more games (and who had both tied akron), the buffalo all-americans and decatur staleys, petitioned the league for a share of the title; both teams' petitions were denied, and akron was awarded the first (and only) [[brunswick-balke 
American_Football_League_Championship_Game History_of_the_Super_Bowl National_Football_League_Championship_games