High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Sometimes called AFL II, the second American Football League (AFL) was a professional American football league that operated in 1936 and 1937. The AFL operated in direct competition with the more established National Football League (NFL) throughout its existence. While the American media generally ignored its operation (often relegating game coverage to "page filler" status), the second AFL was the first "home" of the Cleveland Rams, which joined the National Football League after one year in the AFL.