NFL; they were in a more isolated market, had stronger attendance and performed better on the field. The newly merged league's owners scheduled a second vote to add the Bills in order to balance the schedule. However, in those days, adding a new team required a unanimous vote, and the Chicago Bears's George Halas and the Los Angeles Rams' Dan Reeves persuaded two other clubs to vote with them in blocking the merger. (The Bills were not the same team as the modern Buffalo Bills, a charter American Football League franchise which joined the NFL in 1970 as part of the AFL-NFL merger.) The Colts were nominally part of the "National Conference" along with the other eastern teams in the merged league, but unlike the other twelve teams, Baltimore was scheduled as a "swing team" and played every team in the NFL over the course of the 1950 season; the other twelve teams played a double round robin schedule in their conference, plus one crossover game with the opposing conference and a game with Baltimore. Despite the addition of the Bills players, the Colts struggled through the 1950 season, ending with a record of 1–11–0. Facing a financial crisis, Colts owner Abraham Watner sold the team and its player contracts back to the NFL for $50,000, and the team officially folded. Despite this, fan support continued in many quarters: notably, the team's marching band and fan club remained intact. As of , this is the last time the NFL has outright contracted a franchise. The following year, the New York Yanks folded, but their player contracts were acquired by the Dallas Texans, who were ostensibly a new franchise. After only one season, that team was also dissolved and its assets were purchased by another new franchise, the present-day Colts, ending Baltimore's absence from the NFL after only two season. Since their return to the league, the Colts are reckoned to be a team that began play in 1953, and not a continuation of the original Colts, Yanks, Texans or any other franchise. Season-by-season |- | colspan="6" style="text-align:center; ;" | Baltimore Colts |- | 1947 || 2 || 11 || 1 || 4th AAFC East || – |- | 1948 || 7 || 7 || 0 || 2nd AAFC East || Lost Eastern Division Championship Buffalo 28, Baltimore 17 |- | 1949 || 1 || 11 || 0 || 7th AAFC