Ben Gilbert

And the NFL, as we know it today, is a business.

But at that point in history, it was really like each of these teams are kind of on their own island.

They're deeply competitive against other players.

They don't think of those people as fellow employees of the league.

It's more like we each have our own club, but the owners of each club sort of have this thing with each other, this fraternal bond.

And David, I am excited we are finally here.

The birth of the American Football League.

The AFL.

Yes, their competition with the NFL and really the era of national TV contracts.

This is the story of how the NFL became the league that we know today.

Yes, and thus begins the most successful attempt to challenge the NFL.

Yes, this one ended very differently than the AAFC did.

So at first, Bell and the NFL... They're sort of trying to be pretend supportive until it's legit threatening.

Yes.

And this is all being led by, you mentioned Lamar Hunt, who was the Dallas Texans owner.

Independent Baseball League.

And in some ways, it's easy for the upstart to do this in counterposition because they have no existing TV contracts.

But they do kind of get laughed out of the room.

They go to the TV networks with this.

And each of the TV networks are like, oh, cool idea.