Dallas Texans (NFL)
The Dallas Texans played in the National Football League (NFL) for one season in 1952. They posted a record of 1–11.
| Founded | January 29, 1952 |
|---|---|
| Folded | 1952 |
| Based in | Dallas, Texas (games 1–7) Hershey, Pennsylvania (games 8–12) |
| League | National Football League |
| Conference | National Conference |
| Team history | Boston Yanks (1944, 1946–1948) Yanks (1945) New York Bulldogs (1949–1950) New York Yanks (1951) Dallas Texans (1952) |
| Team colors | Royal blue, silver, white |
| Head coaches | Jim Phelan |
| Home field(s) | Cotton Bowl (games 1–7) traveling team (games 8–12) |
While based in Dallas, the 1952 Dallas Texans were later based in Hershey, Pennsylvania and Akron, Ohio during their only season. After the team folded, the league awarded its assets to the new Baltimore Colts (who moved to Indianapolis in 1984).
Professional football returned to Dallas in 1960, as the American Football League (AFL) commenced operations with one of its eight charter members in Dallas (also called the Texans), while the NFL added the Dallas Cowboys.
While both franchises proved far more successful, only the Dallas Cowboys remained in Dallas: the AFL Dallas Texans would later move to Kansas City and were re-branded the Chiefs in 1963.
In 1974, the World Football League placed a team in Texas called the Houston Texans. The team transferred to Shreveport, Louisiana before the 1974 season was finished. In 2002, the NFL would revive the Houston Texans nickname when it added a new franchise called the Houston Texans as its 32nd franchise.
Since their demise, the Dallas Texans are regarded as being the last NFL franchise to collapse outright and permanently cease operations: none of the Colts, the AFL/NFL Texans/Chiefs, the Cowboys, or the modern NFL Texans claim any relationship with the earlier 1952 Texans franchise or its predecessors (including NFL charter member the Dayton Triangles), despite the players and assets remaining contiguous.