Techncially, the AFC North division has only been around since 2002, but the history of pro football in Baltimore, Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh goes all the way back to the beginning.
The earliest known case of a player being paid to play football dates to 1892 in what is now Pittsburgh, when Walter "Pudge" Heffelfinger received $500 to play at guard for the Allegheny Athletic Association. For the next few decades, what is now AFC North country was the center of the pro football world, from which the NFL itself eventually grew.
There is so much history to explore in the AFC North, and I look forward to filling this section out. For now, though, this page will serve as a placeholder for miscellaneous projects that will hopefully become more organized as I go.