Browns coach Hue Jackson mused about taking a bigger

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role in the team’s offense after last Sunday’s loss to the Buccaneers , which led some to wonder how that plan would sit with offensive coordinator Todd Haley.Among that group is Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who opined that Haley, who used to be the offensive coordinator in Pittsburgh, was unlikely to be thrilled by the development.Haley spoke for himself on Thursday and professed no issues with the way things are playing out. Haley said, via Daryl Ruiter of 92.3 The Fan, that everyone is “on the same page” and that the goal is to “help the offense grow.” Haley added that Jackson’s involvement this week has “been the same as it’s always been” since Haley took the job this offseason.Haley said he believes the offense has “shown enough flashes to be encouraged” about the direction things are headed. Gathering them together for a better overall performance this weekend would be ideal for Haley’s first trip to Heinz Field as a coach for someone other than the Steelers.How the Saints Allowed the AFL-NFL Merger to Happen The City of New Orleans had several opportunities to acquire a pro football team, and each one failed.In 1961, the Oakland Raiders of the American Football League (AFL) were about to be sold and moved to New Orleans until the mayor of Oakland stepped in and stopped the proceedings. After the 1962 AFL season, the owner of the Dallas Texans sought out the possibility of moving his franchise to the Crescent City. When he found out that Tulane Stadium (the only facility large enough) was still segregated, he passed and relocated to Kansas City to which the Chiefs were born. As early as 1965 , the National Football League (NFL) had eyes on putting a team in Louisiana. Numerous AFL and NFL pre-season games had been played here also.1967 Saints Media GuideFinally in 1967, the NFL granted New Orleans an expansion team and called their team the Saints. But the manner in which this club became an actual pro football team has a story on its own. They were a direct result of the AFL-NFL merger.During the year of 1966, the AFL and the NFL had agreed in secrecy to begin merger proceedings. Both leagues had had enough of the escalating salaries, among other items. On June 8, 1966, it was announced that the leagues would merge completely beginning with the 1970 season. All franchises in both leagues would remain in their present location with a common draft and common preseason schedule beginning in 1967.Even though months and months of negotiations had gone back and forth between representatives of both leagues and numerous obstacles were ironed-out, there was one piece of business that needed to be addressed; and with this singular morsel, nobody within the NFL nor the AFL had an avenue to accomplish it on their own.There was an impasse. A major problem stood in the way of the merger. In fact, the merger just may not happen at all.FB Ernie Green (#48) gains yardage off blocks by T Monte Clark (#73) and G John Wooten (#60) for the Browns in front of 77,045 fans at Tulane Stadium (New Orleans) in 1967 , a 42-7 Cleveland victoryEven though representatives of both leagues had mutually agreed to the unification, the House Judiciary Committee (HJC) in Washington, D. C. had to exempt and approve the merger from antitrust law sanctions. Antitrust laws are set up in the United States as a method to keep competition going, thus giving consumers the advantage of competitive pricing. Without these laws, the result would become higher prices charged for commodities and possibly inferior products, goods or services.Therefore, when the AFL was in competition with the NFL, everyone had the benefit of choices - players had choices, advertisers had choices and the public had choices.Now that the two leagues – the only two leagues by the way – were about to be formed into one entity, this meant suddenly there would be a monopoly on the business of pro football. And this – was a problem.At the time , the chairman of the HJC was Emanuel Celler from New York. By the early fall of 1966, he refused to let the bill out of committee. It was Celler who was the lead House sponsor of the legislation which toughened the “Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914.” This key bill (revised in 1950) closed regulatory loopholes which had once allowed companies to form vertical mergers and also conglomerate mergers - which allowed limits on competition. Having closed up all the gaps in antitrust laws was certainly his specialty, and Celler wasn’t going to budge for some millionaires involved in a children’s game. The NFL commissioner at the time was Pete Rozelle. Upon brainstorming of what the two leagues were to do next, he spoke with a longtime friend of his from Louisiana named David Dixon. Dixon had been involved with pro football for years and almost owned the Raiders, set up NFL pre-season games in New Orleans and was the driving force for the construction of the Louisiana Superdome. Dixon was also involved in politics.Did you know?David Dixon etched his place in the annals of professional football. He formed the New Orleans Professional Football Club, Inc. in the early 1960’s. After the 1961 season, he had a deal struck to buy the Oakland Raiders of the AFL for $236,000 to which the franchise would become the New Orleans Raiders. The mayor of Oakland interceded and shortly thereafter the deal was cancelled. In 1965 he persuaded the AFL to hold their annual All-Star game in New Orleans and got the NFL to hold numerous pre-season games in the Big Easy. Along with his assistance in getting the Saints, he became a minority owner. Later he was the driving force behind the construction of the Louisiana Superdome. In 1973 he made a presentation to the NFL owners about a spring league that would become a developmental league, sort of like a farm system but eh owners passed on the notion. From that idea he would invent the United States Football League from 1984-1986. Years later , he had in the planning stages three more pro football leagues: America’s Football Teams, Inc., American Football Federation, and the FanOwnership Football League.聽Rozelle inquired if Dixon knew of anyone who could speak to Cellar and try to change his mind on the bill. Dixon had another idea. His old college buddy was House Majority Leader Hale Boggs from Louisiana. Boggs had a need to regain some public trust after he voted in support of the civil rights bill and was suddenly not the popular politician in a heavily-segregated Deep South. Dixon, along with his political advisor, impressed upon the congressman that he could push the bill through.In return, the city of New Orleans would be granted the next expansion team - and Boggs would get the credit for doing so. He covertly attached the exemption to a budget bill that was a certainty to pass in both the House and the Senate thus detouring Celler altogether. The bill passed on October 21.The NFL and AFL got their merger and New Orleans got an immediate franchise.Barry Shuck is a pro football historical writer and a member of the Professional Football Researcher’s Association.