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Many NFL teams have been celebrating the anniversary of the original AFL with throwback uniforms.  Prior to the NFL-AFL merger, the American Football League was a legitimate threat to NFL dominance; however, this was not the last time the NFL would face a true rival league.  Thirty-five years ago the World Football League started play, only to shut their doors after a second aborted season on October 22, 1975.

The WFL made an early splash by signing three players from the two-time Super Bowl champion Miami Dolphins.  Larry Csonka, Jim Kiick, and Paul Warfield all signed with the Toronto Northmen.  Imagine if Willie Parker, Hines Ward, and Rashard Mendenhall had all left the Steelers for a non-NFL team.  The Toronto Northmen later changed to the Memphis Southmen due to the threat of anti-competition legislation in Canada.  This early relocation was a sign of trouble to come.  Other NFL players that changed leagues included Ken Stabler, Daryle Lamonica, Calvin Hill, Craig Morton, and L.C. Greenwood.

Besides competing for players, the WFL schedule opened season slightly earlier than the NFL with an astounding 20 games packed into 19 weeks, running from July until November.  Attendance seemed to confirm the dawning of a real contender when stadium figures of over 40,000 were common in the first few weeks.

All this success turned out to be smoke and mirrors.  Many of the tickets for games were actually free giveaways.  Two more franchises relocated by September.  Players salaries went unpaid as teams wallowed in debt.  Following the inaugural World Bowl the champion's uniforms were confiscated by the sheriff's deputies.  The disaster came to a head before the 1975 season could be completed and the league championship was awarded to the team with the best record, the 9 - 3 Birmingham Vulcans.

The lasting effects of the WFL could be debated.  For example, would the Miami Dolphins have been the NFL dynasty of the 70s with Csonka, Kiick, and Warfield on their roster?  It could also be argued the NFL was too slow to respond to this competition, resolving to wait out their eventual fiscal demise instead of evolving the product and the way players were treated.  The result in the 80s brought more competition in the USFL, anti-trust lawsuits, players unhappy with salaries, and an eventual player strike.