Chicago Bulls ( AFL ) The Chicago Bulls were a professional American football team that competed in the first American Football League in 1926 . Owned by Joey Sternaman ( brother of Chicago Bears co - owner Dutch Sternaman ) , the Bulls also had AFL founders C . C . Pyle and Red Grange as shareholders ( Pyle and Grange were also the co - owners of the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Wildcats of the AFL ) . Joey Sternaman was also the coach and blocking back for the Bulls throughout their brief existence . The newly - minted Bulls had adverse effects on the more established NFL . First , the Bulls leased Comiskey Park , forcing the Bears to play in the ( older and much smaller ) Normal Field . Second , the Bulls made an offer for Chicago Cardinals star Paddy Driscoll that the reigning NFL champions could not match ( Cardinals owner Chris O ’ Brien arranged a trade with the Bears , who " did " match the Bulls ' offer to Driscoll , keeping him in the established league but knocking the Cardinals out of championship contention ) . Failing to sign Driscoll , the Bulls built up their roster by signing up men who played their college football in the American Midwest . Despite playing in front of 16 , 000 people in their first home game ( against the Yankees on October 17 , 1926 ) , the Bulls were generally a poor attraction despite the star power of All - Pro Joey Sternaman . Most of the Bulls games – both at home and away – were played in front of 4000 people or fewer . Attendance at Bulls games were often a reflection of the drawing power of their opponents . The team ’ s first game ( at Newark ) was played in front of only 2000 people in Davids ' Stadium on September 26 ; the Bulls played the last three official games of the American Football League : in front of 15 , 000 in Yankee Stadium on November 28 against the Yankees , in front of 3000 in Comiskey Park on December 5 against the Wildcats , and in front 8000 in Comiskey Park on December 12 against the Yankees . With the conclusion of the last game , the AFL – and the Chicago Bulls – became history , and Sternaman returned to the Chicago Bears . After the first AFL . Upon the completion of a New York Yankees ' 7 - 3 victory over the Bulls in Comiskey Park on December 12 , 1926 , the first AFL was officially dead . Although Joey Sternaman was the official owner of the team , the bills were paid by C . C . Pyle , who decided to cut his losses by dissolving his ( and Red Grange ’ s ) interest in the team as the Yankees and the Wildcats went on a barnstorming tour of the American South and West Coast . As a result , the Bulls were no more viable as an entity than the AFL . Its fate was officially sealed when Sternaman returned to the Chicago Bears and the Yankees entered the National Football League ( with New York Giants owner Tim Mara technically the owner in a lease arrangement for the defunct Brooklyn Lions franchise ) . As Sternaman continued his Hall of Fame career , he was not the only former Chicago Bull to join a NFL team ’ s roster after the dissolution of the AFL : Mush Crawford – 1927 New York Yankees < br > John Fahay – 1929 Minneapolis Red Jackets < br > Aubrey Goodman – 1927 Chicago Cardinals < br > Ojay Larson – 1929 Chicago Bears , 1929 Chicago Cardinals < br > Dick Stahlman – 1929 & 1930 New York Giants , 1931 - 1932 Green Bay Packers , 1933 Chicago Bears < br > Red Strader – 1927 Chicago Cardinals ( later became head coach for the 1948 - 1949 New York Yankees ( AAFC ) , 1950 - 51 New York Yanks ( NFL ) , and 1955 San Francisco 49ers ) < br > Jim Tays – 1927 Dayton Triangles , 1930 Newark Tornadoes , 1930 Staten Island Stapletons < br > Buck White – 1927 - 1929 Chicago Bears < / br > While Garland Buckeye ’ s professional football career ended with the folding of the Bulls , his major league baseball career continued , pitching for the Cleveland Indians in 1927 - 1928 and the New York Giants in 1928 .