Timeline of the National Football League This timeline of the National Football League tracks franchises from the early days of the league , through merger with the AFL . The history of franchises that began as independent teams , or as members of the Ohio League , New York Pro Football League , and other defunct leagues are shown as well . 1920 - 1931 - Before the Playoffs . 1920 . The American Professional Football Association is formed . The fourteen teams were mainly drawn from the Ohio League or the New York Pro Football League . A $ 100 membership fee was charged . The Chicago Tigers folded after season . 1921 . Number of teams increased to 21 . Four teams lasted only one season . Three other franchises folded . 1922 . The APFA was renamed the National Football League . Four new franchises awarded . 1923 . A new and distinct Cleveland Indians franchise was formed . Two other teams joined the NFL , the Duluth Kelleys and the St . Louis All Stars . The St . Louis team folded after one season . 1924 . Before the season , the owner of the Cleveland Indians bought the Canton Bulldogs and " mothballed " it , taking the team ' s nickname and players to Cleveland for the season . The Canton Bulldogs had won the NFL championship in 1923 , and won it again as the Cleveland Bulldogs in 1924 . 1925 . The Canton Bulldogs were reactivated . Four other franchises were awarded . This was the final season for the Rochester Jeffersons . 1926 . The league grew to 22 teams , a figure that would not be equaled in professional football until 1961 , adding the Brooklyn Lions , the Hartford Blues , the Los Angeles Buccaneers , and the Louisville Colonels , with Racine Tornadoes re - entering . 1927 . Prior to the season , the league decided to eliminate the financially weaker teams . As a result , the league dropped from 22 to 12 teams , and a majority of the remaining teams were centered around the East Coast instead of the Midwest , where the NFL had started . The New York Yankees were added from the American Football League and the Cleveland Bulldogs returned . 1928 . The NFL drops to ten teams . Two teams had folded , the Buffalo Bisons sat out the season and the Cleveland Bulldogs moved and played as the Detroit Wolverines . 1929 . The league increased back to 12 teams with the addition of two franchises , the Staten Island Stapletons , and the Orange Tornadoes . Two mothballed teams activated for the season . Minneapolis re - entered as the Red Jackets and the re - entry of the Buffalo Bisons . 1930 . Prior to the season , Brooklyn businessmen William B . Dwyer and John C . Depler bought the Dayton Triangles , moved it , and renamed it the Brooklyn Dodgers . The Orange Tornadoes relocated to Newark . The Portsmouth Spartans entered as a new team . 1931 . The league decreased to 10 teams due to financial hardships caused by the Great Depression . While the Cleveland Indians joined as an expansion team , the league lost the Minneapolis Red Jackets and the Newark Tornadoes . Even the Frankford Yellow Jackets had to fold midway through the season . Early Playoff Era . 1932 . The Boston Braves ( now Washington Redskins ) enfranchised . See also . History of the National Football League