- National Football League Coastal Division
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The NFL Coastal Division was one of the four divisions of the National Football League that was created prior to the 1967 season when the league realigned its existing Eastern and Western Conferences. The division existed for three seasons until 1970 when the National Football League and American Football League merged.
The NFL, during this period, named all of its divisions with the first letter "C"; each division's name also contained seven letters. The name "Coastal" came from the fact that all of its teams were fairly close to the coasts of the United States, although they were on opposite coasts, making for long travel between division rivals. Los Angeles and San Francisco occupied the West Coast, while Baltimore and Atlanta occupied the East Coast (in the case of Atlanta, it was also fairly close to the Gulf Coast).
The NFL Coastal Division had four members: Atlanta Falcons, Baltimore Colts, Los Angeles Rams, and San Francisco 49ers. After the AFL-NFL Merger in 1970, the division disbanded. Atlanta, Los Angeles, and San Francisco joined the NFC West, while Baltimore joined the AFC East. The Colts moved to Indianapolis in 1984 and were realigned into the AFC South in 2002. Atlanta joined the NFC South during realignment in 2002. The 49ers and Rams, who moved to St. Louis in 1995, remain in the NFC West with the Arizona Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks, who moved in from the NFC East and AFC West, respectively.
Division champions
Season Team Record Playoff Results NFL Coastal 1967 Los Angeles Rams 11-1-2 Lost NFL Divisional Playoffs 1968 Baltimore Colts 13-1-0 Won NFL Championship Lost Super Bowl III 1969 Los Angeles Rams 11-3-0 Lost NFL Divisional Playoffs See also
- NFL Capitol Division, now the NFC East
- NFL Central Division, now the NFC North
- NFL Century Division, now the AFC North
Categories:- National Football League divisions
- Atlanta Falcons
- Indianapolis Colts
- St. Louis Rams
- San Francisco 49ers
- 1967 establishments
- 1970 disestablishments
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