what is the difference between the National Football Conference and the American Football Conference?

Question

for example what makes the dolphins and the jets be on the AFC and the Giants and Panthers on the NFC?

Answer 1

A long time ago the leagues were seperated. They combined in 1970 and formed the NFL. The Giants happened to be in the NFC and the Jets happened to be in the AFC, and they stayed there. Teams that have joined the league since 1970 go into the league with lesser teams to keep it balanced.

Answer 2

It dates back before 1970. Once there were two professional football organizations, the AFL and the NFL. The AFL were the new kids on the block and were more flamboyant. They were also financially unstable. They had maverick owners who made mostly bad decisions.
The NFL was the old brand. They had the established franchises and the better players.
The AFL knew they would soon lose their league unless they did something to help them out. They approached the NFL and asked about a championship game between the two leagues. The NFL agreed and in 1967, the first Super Bowl was played between the Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Cheifs. Green Bay was a heavy favorite and won the game along with the next Super Bowl.
The problem with having a Super Bowl was that it exposed the AFL as having the weaker league. Many fans tuned out to the league because they figured that the champions would come out of the NFL. The owners in the AFL knew they would not survive much longer and needed a new way to function. They went to the NFL and asked about a merger of the two leagues. The NFL laughed at the idea first because they knew that the AFL was a struggling league and would fold soon anyway.
Then Super Bowl 3 happened. Joe Namath lead the NY Jets over the Baltimore Colts. The Jets were an AFL team. This made the NFL owners worry that the AFL was catching up them and might be able to compete with them for markets.
The NFL owners got together and decided to merge with the AFL adding all the teams from the defunct league. The AFL owners got to keep their teams. The new league would be managed by the NFL commisioner, but the owners would get together and divide the teams into two conferences, the AFC and the NFC.

Answer 3

A long time ago, the AFC was the American Footbal League and the NFC was the National Football League. They merged, but kept the teams in separate conferences. Their is no difference in the style of play anymore. In the early days, the AFC/AFL had a more wide open game and had the 2 point conversion, and the NFC/NFL had a more run oriented attack. During the 80's, you could see the difference between the two conferences because the NFC relied on the defense, while the AFC was more pass happy. That changed as many coaches switched from the NFC to the AFC.

Answer 4

The main difference at the moment is that the AFC has the best 4 teams in the NFL.

Answer 5

There is no difference. Its just a way for the league to be split up for the playoffs and Superbowl...without requiring the Superbowl to be always decided between a team from the East and a team from the West.

Think National League and American League from baseball.

Answer 6

I don't think that there is any meaning behind it unless two teams come from the same city then they put one in the AFC and one in the NFC.

Answer 7

its kinda like the American League and National League. Teams play most of their games within their own conference and each conference has a team representing them in the superbowl.

Answer 8

The nfl picks them into different sections so it wont be west vs east they just split 16 teams from two conference's

Answer 9

both used to be separate and they merged about when they played suber bowl 3 with the jets , i think they kept the teams on their original conferences, i dont see any teams being made after that, so i think they rearranged the conferences to improve competition week in week out..

Answer 10

just the names, though nfc is much weaker than the afc