The All-America Football Conference, or AAFC, was founded in 1945 by Chicago Tribune sports editor Arch Ward in 1944 to challenge the established National Football League. Ward's new circuit debuted in 1946 with eight teams and played for three seasons before the NFL absorbed three of the league's teams, the Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers, and Baltimore Colts after the 1949 season. Other teams in the league included the (renamed the Bills in 1947), the , and the , who became the in the AAFC's final season.