National Football League lore is a collection of information that NFL fans retain and share. Since the NFL was founded in 1920, it has grown from an informal network of teams based mostly in small towns and cities into the most popular and successful sports league in the United States. During the interval between its founding and the present, it has competed for attention with other sports and college football, fended off rival leagues, consolidated the marriage between sports and television, and established an extensive and colorful NFL lore. Largely through the efforts of NFL Films and many sportswriters, some events have become famous in the history of the sport.