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1946: When the All-American Football Conference began it set up mostly in proven football markets. They put teams in Buffalo, Chicago, Cleveland, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco all were among the biggest cities or had proven professional football success. The eighth team was a bit of a stretch as the city of Miami, though growing was still rather small and football was a hard sell. The Miami Seahawks were the last of the eight AAFC teams to be established, and were only formed after plans for a team in Baltimore that was set to be owned by legendary boxer Gene Tuney fell through, after they were unable to secure a lease for the Municipal Stadium at 33rd Street. A group of boosters in Miami led by Harvey Hester would jump at the chance to bring a professional team to the Sunshine State. The Seahawks would play their home games at Burdine Stadium which was used for the annual New Year’s Day Orange Bowl. The Seahawks were clearly the weakest of the original AAFC teams, as their owner was not a millionaire and looked down upon in league meetings. The Seahawks, coached by Jack Meagher would be embarrassed in their first game, losing to the Cleveland Browns 44-0 on September 6th. After losing their first three games on the road, the Seahawks made their home debut with another loss to the San Francisco 49ers 34-7. Three days later, the Seahawks would earn their first win by beating the Buffalo Bisons 14-7. However, after dropping their next game, Coach Jack Meagher would resign as papers called the team woeful inept. Hamp Pool would take over the coaching reigns the remainder of the season, but the Seahawks would not do much better, as they lost six of their next seven games, once again beating the Bisons. By the time the season was coming to an end, the Seahawks were drawing less than 10,000 fans per game and the team was deeply in debt, with Owner Harvey Hester barely able to make payroll and traveling expenses. The Miami Seahawks would win their final game against the Brooklyn Dodgers 31-20 on December 13th. The Seahawks would declare bankruptcy and would be sold to Robert D. Rodenburg and four other businessmen who moved the team to Baltimore for the 1947 season. The Seahawks 3-11 record would be the worst in the AAFC. Miami would get another shot at professional football two decades later, when the Miami Dolphins joined the AFL as an expansion team in 1966. By then Miami was big enough to support a team and the Dolphins became a quick success.
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