Genealogy of Football Teams

Updated for 2026

This professional football history print maps the origin and evolution of more than 100 teams across the major U.S. football leagues. Beginning with the formation of the National Football League in 1920, the chart traces team histories through the American Football League, later expansion eras, relocations, name changes, and the development of the modern NFL.

Team timelines show how franchises formed, moved, changed names, folded, or continued under new identities. The chart includes stadium histories and covers teams from the NFL and AFL, along with defunct leagues including the World Football League, United States Football League, XFL, and United Football League.

The genealogy connects early teams such as the Decatur Staleys, Cleveland Rams, and Dayton Triangles to later franchise histories including the Chicago Bears, St. Louis Rams, and Boston Yanks, showing professional football as a long, shifting system of teams, cities, leagues, and stadiums.

PAPER & PRINTING

Printed on archival-grade, acid-free matte fine-art paper with a natural surface for crisp detail, accurate color, and lasting display quality.