Brooklyn Lions The Brooklyn Horsemen was a professional football team that competed in the American Football League during the 1926 season . On November 12 , 1926 , the team withdrew from the AFL and merged with Brooklyn Lions of the National Football League . The new team created by the merger was initially called the Brooklyn Lions and competed in the NFL from November 22 , 1926 . For the last three games of the 1926 , the merged team competed as the Brooklyn Horsemen . After three consecutive losses by shutout , the merged team winked out of existence . Brooklyn Horsemen ( AFL ) . The Horsemen of the first AFL were owned by boxing promoter Humbert Fugazy and played their home games in Brooklyn ' s Commercial Field . Coached by Eddie McNeely , the Horsemen got the team name after McNeely ' s signing of Elmer Layden and Harry Stuhldreher , two of Notre Dame ' s Four Horsemen . While the team ' s first game was decided by a 60 - yard touchdown pass from Stuldreher to Ed Harrison , the team had trouble maintaining a steady offense ( and , ultimately maintaining a fan base ) . After losses to the Los Angeles Wildcats and Boston Bulldogs in front of decreasing crowds , a scheduled game at Ebbets Field against league leader ( and eventual champion ) Philadelphia Quakers was cancelled due to inclement weather . On November 7 , 1926 , the Horsemen played their last AFL game , a 21 - 13 loss to the New York Yankees , and then merged with their NFL cousins , the Brooklyn Lions , to complete the season in the NFL as the Brooklyn Horsemen . Brooklyn Lions ( NFL ) . The Brooklyn Lions were a National Football League team that played in 1926 . The team was formed as the league ' s countermove to the first American Football League , which enfranchised a team called the Brooklyn Horsemen . In the months before the regular season began , both leagues battled with each other for fan support and the right to play at Ebbets Field . The NFL emerged as the winner , as the Lions signed the lease to use the stadium on July 20 . Coached by Punk Berryman , the Lions featured Rex Thomas and Herm Bagby , two members of the backfield who could play either tailback or wingback . On defense , Thomas also snared four interception s . Unfortunately , the team was only slightly more consistent in its play than the Horsemen , and after the November 7 game against the Kansas City Cowboys ( a 10 - 9 loss at Ebbets Field ) , the Lions merged with the Horsemen . At the time of the merger , the Lions had compiled a 2 - 5 won - loss record . NOTE : Final NFL standings : official franchise won - lost record combines the wins and losses of the Lions with the results of the games played by the merged Brooklyn Horsemen " Horse - Lions " : The Brooklyn Horsemen ( NFL ) . The result of the merger was derisively dubbed the Horse - Lions by the local media , but initially ( November 14 , 1926 ) the merged team played under the Brooklyn Lions banner . The new team , with eight members of the now - defunct AFL team , trounced the Canton Bulldogs 19 - 0 in front of a small crowd in Ebbets Field . In a last - ditch effort to attract paying fans , the Lions then adopted the Horsemen nickname of the old AFL team . . . and lost the last three games of their existence by shutout . Horsemen who were also Lions . Eight men played for both the Horsemen in the AFL and the Lions / Horsemen in the NFL : Fullback Earl Britton < br > End Ted Drews < br > End Ed Harrison < br > Guard Red Howard < br > Center Ted Plumridge < br > Tailback Harry Stuhldreher < br > Guard Tarzan Taylor < / br > In addition , guard Hec Garvey was on the rosters of no fewer than four teams in the AFL or NFL in 1926 : the Hartford Blues ( NFL ) , the Horsemen ( AFL ) , the Lions ( NFL ) , and the New York Yankees .