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O n January 11, 1946, the first day of a special NFL meeting at the Hotel Commodore in New York City was winding down. It was late in the afternoon, the club owners were tired, and the sportswriters waiting outside fully expected that Elmer Layden’s five-year contract as commissioner would be renewed. Just a formality, they thought, even though there had been persistent reports of behind-the-scenes sniping at the former Notre Dame football star. At one meeting, in fact, the owners had asked Layden to step out of the room. While he was gone, several people spoke in favor of his dismissal, but no action was taken. Washington Redskins owner George Preston Marshall, one of Layden’s chief critics, had promoted Emery (Swede) Larson for the job on a number of occasions, but the former Navy coach and World War II hero died suddenly of a massive heart attack in 1945 while serving in the Marines. The writers surmised that the owners on this moderately warm winter day appeared to be more preoccupied with two drastic changes to the league’s constitution that had been approved that afternoon—so much so that they never got to discuss the top agenda item of the day, the annual player draft. Instead, meeting as a constitutional committee, the owners voted to limit the league’s membership to 10 teams. Moreover, they decided that never again would two franchises be allowed in any one city. Since this move applied only to the future, it did not affect the status of the Bears and Cardinals in Chicago. The new rules were specifically aimed at the new All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and specifically the New York Yankees. “This action slams the door right in their faces,” said NFL publicity director George Strickler. “Should the new league fold up in a few years, some of its stronger clubs might want to join the NFL, but the new amendments would eliminate that possibility,” he explained. 18. The New Commissioner The New Commissioner • 113 After being organized under the leadership of Arch Ward of the Chicago Tribune, the most influential sports editor in the nation, the AAFC had planned to begin play in 1945 in eight or ten large cities. However, the war delayed inaugural operations for a year, and now they were preparing to go head-to-head with the NFL. With most of the AAFC owners considerably more affluent than their more established counterparts—only four NFL teams showed a profit in 1945—the upstart league had already signed up three dozen players from the older league and aimed its sights at bucking the NFL in several cities, notably New York, Chicago, and Cleveland. The AAFC also placed franchises in Brooklyn, Miami, Buffalo, Los Angeles , and San Francisco. Most of the teams were owned by wealthy businessmen who had been rebuffed by the NFL. Tony Morabito, a lumber tycoon , owned the San Francisco 49ers. Ben Lindheimer, a Chicago racetrack owner, headed a group of Hollywood stars, including Don Ameche, Bing Crosby, and Bob Hope, that formed the Los Angeles Dons.Arthur (Mickey) McBride, who owned the Yellow Cab Company in Cleveland, had been unsuccessful in his earlier effort to purchase the Rams from Dan Reeves. Jim Crowley, one of Layden’s fellow “Four Horsemen” at Notre Dame, was the loop’s first commissioner. Late in the afternoon, “It appeared to be a foregone conclusion to outsiders that Layden would be chosen for another five-year term,” wrote Philadelphia Bulletin sports editor Ed Pollock. In a closed-door session, however, the tall, mild-mannered commissioner was able to muster only three of the required seven votes to extend his contract, which was scheduled to terminate on March 31. The writers covering the meeting were unaware at the time of the intrigue that had surrounded Layden’s ouster. Some of the owners had agreed among themselves the night before not to renew the commissioner’s contract. “Layden will be reelected over my dead body,” vowed Marshall as he arrived in New York, according to Michael MacCambridge in America’s Game: The Epic Story of How Pro Football Captured a Nation. “The next day, when Layden banged the gavel to begin the meetings, he did so to an empty conference room. Returning to his hotel room, he received official word later that the owners had voted on his ouster.” During the afternoon session, Bert Bell was asked to leave the room while the other owners...

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