Moving Franchises-Where Did Your NFL Team Come From? [Updated January 2016]

With the Rams being approved by NFL owners to relocate to Los Angeles, and the Chargers and Raiders to possibly follow suit, has your team stayed put or has it been all over the country, or maybe under a totally different name?

All history is courtesy of the NFL.

Do you know who used to be known as the Decatur Staleys?

Do you know who used to be known as the Portsmouth Spartans?

You should know this one, who used to be known as the Houston Oilers?

Here are teams that have moved at least once from their original locations and/or changed team names:

• Arizona Cardinals (1994-present) - Originally known as the Chicago Cardinals from 1920-1959, St. Louis Cardinals from 1960-1987, and Phoenix Cardinals from 1988-1993.
• Chicago Bears (1922-present) - Originally known as the Decatur Staleys from 1920-1921.
• Detroit Lions (1934-present) - Originally known as the Portsmouth Spartans from 1930-1933.
• Indianapolis Colts (1984-present) - Originally known as the Baltimore Colts from 1953-1983.
• Kansas City Chiefs (1963-present) - Originally known as the Dallas Texans from 1960-1962.
• Los Angeles Rams (2016-present) - Originally known as the Cleveland Rams from 1937-1945, known as the Los Angeles Rams from 1946-1994, and the St. Louis Rams from 1995-2015.
• New England Patriots (1971-present) - Originally known as the Boston Patriots from 1960-1970.
• New York Jets (1963-present) - Originally known as the New York Titans from 1960-1962.
• Oakland Raiders (1995-present) - Originally known as the Oakland Raiders from 1960-1981, known as the Los Angeles Raiders from 1982-1994.
• Pittsburgh Steelers (1940-present) - Originally known as the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1933-1939.
• San Diego Chargers (1961-present) - Originally known as the Los Angeles Chargers in 1960.
• Tennessee Titans (1999-present) - Originally known as the Houston Oilers from 1960-1996, the Tennessee Oilers from 1997-1998.
• Washington Redskins (1937-present) - Originally known as the Boston Braves in 1932 and the Boston Redskins from 1933-1936.

In case you did not see your team, there are 19 NFL Franchises that have never moved or changed their team name, those are:

• Atlanta Falcons 
• Baltimore Ravens*
• Buffalo Bills
• Carolina Panthers
• Cincinnati Bengals
• Cleveland Browns*
• Dallas Cowboys
• Denver Broncos
• Green Bay Packers
• Houston Texans
• Jacksonville Jaguars
• Miami Dolphins
• Minnesota Vikings
• New Orleans Saints
• New York Giants
• Philadelphia Eagles
• San Francisco 49ers
• Seattle Seahawks
• Tampa Bay Buccanneers

* The Baltimore Ravens were created when then Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell decided to move the franchise from Cleveland to Baltimore after the 1995 season. Since the city of Cleveland was awarded the team name, history, and records for the Cleveland Browns by the NFL, the team moving from Cleveland had to change it's name and become an expansion team known as the Baltimore Ravens. So technically the Cleveland Browns were on hiatus from 1996-1998 and returned to the NFL in 1999 as a reactivated team, and the Baltimore Ravens were a brand new team. For more details, go to the story about the Cleveland Browns Relocation Controversy on Wikipedia.