1920 APFA season

The 1920 APFA season was the inaugural season of the American Professional Football Association, renamed the National Football League in 1922. An agreement to form a league was made by four independent teams from Ohio on August 20, 1920, at Ralph Hay's office in Canton, Ohio, with plans to invite owners of more teams for a second meeting on September 17, 1920.^[1] The "American Professional Football Conference" (APFC) was made up of Hay's Canton Bulldogs, Akron Pros, the Cleveland Tigers and the Dayton Triangles, who decided on a six-game schedule to play each other at home-and-away, an agreement to respect each other's player contracts, and to take a stand against signing college students whose class had not yet graduated.^[2][3]

1920 NFL season

Regular season
Duration	September 26 – December 19, 1920
Champions	Akron Pros
NFL seasons 1921 →

Pros

All-Americans

Bulldogs

Cardinals

Tigers

Tigers

Panhandles

Triangles

Staleys

Heralds

Jeffersons

Independents

Traveling teams
Pros
Flyers

APFA teams

A second organizational meeting was held in Canton on September 17, 1920, with the original four APFC clubs, as well as a fifth Ohio team that had played informally in what historians later dubbed the "Ohio League" (the Columbus Panhandles) and four teams from Illinois (Chicago Cardinals and Chicago Tigers, Decatur Staleys, and Rock Island Independents), two from Indiana (Hammond Pros and Muncie Flyers), two from New York (Buffalo All-Americans and Rochester Jeffersons), and the Detroit Heralds from Michigan for a total of 14. At the meeting, the name of the league became the American Professional Football Association. Four other teams also joined the Association during the year. Meanwhile, Jim Thorpe of the Canton Bulldogs was named the APFA's first president but continued to play for the team.

Scheduling was left up to each team: there were wide variations, both in the overall number of games played, and in the number played against other Association members. Thus, no official standings were maintained. In addition, football teams in the APFA also faced independent football teams not associated with the league. Of the 90 games played in the 1920 season, 51 of them were against teams that were outside of the APFA.

For instance, the Rochester Jeffersons played a schedule consisting mostly of local teams from their local sandlot circuit and the NYPFL, and only played one game against a team that was part in the APFA; The Buffalo All-Americans.

The Akron Pros ended the season as the only undefeated team in the Association. Despite this, two one-loss teams, the Decatur Staleys and Buffalo All-Americans, who both tied Akron that year, made cases for a co-championship.

At the league meeting in Akron on April 30, 1921, the Pros were awarded the Brunswick-Balke Collender Cup for the 1920 season, the only year the trophy was used. Had modern NFL tie-breaking rules been in force in 1920, the Buffalo All-Americans (9–1–1) would have been co-champions with the Akron Pros (8–0–3), as both teams had a win percentage of .864 and their only game was tied, while the Staleys (10–1–2) would have finished third with .846. In this regard, if games against non-APFA teams are excluded, Akron (6–0–3) would still have won the championship with .833, but the All-Americans (4–1–1) and the Staleys (5–1–2) would have finished equal second with .750 as they did not play each other.

Of the 14 teams that played in the APFA/NFL's inaugural season, the Chicago Cardinals, now the Arizona Cardinals, and the Decatur Staleys, now the Chicago Bears, are the only teams that remain in the league.^[4]

Formation

Ralph Hay, one of the founding representatives

Prior to the APFA, there were several other loose, professional organizations; most of the APFA teams were from either the Ohio League or the New York Pro Football League. On August 20, 1920, a meeting attended by representatives of four Ohio League teams—Ralph Hay and Jim Thorpe for the Canton Bulldogs, Jimmy O'Donnell and Stan Cofall for the Cleveland Tigers, Carl Storck for the Dayton Triangles, and Frank Nied and Art Ranney for the Akron Pros^[5]—was held. At the meeting, the representatives tentatively agreed to call their new league the American Professional Football Conference, introduce a salary cap for the teams, and not to sign college players nor players under contract with another team.^[6][7] According to the Canton Evening Repository, the purpose of the league was to "raise the standard of professional football in every way possible, to eliminate bidding for players between rival clubs and to secure cooperation in the formation of schedules, at least for the bigger teams."^[8] The representatives then contacted other major professional teams and invited them to a meeting for September 17.^[9]

At that meeting, held at Bulldogs owner Ralph Hay's Hupmobile showroom in Canton, Ohio, representatives of the Rock Island Independents, the Muncie Flyers, the Decatur Staleys, the Racine Cardinals, the Massillon Tigers, the Chicago Tigers, and the Hammond Pros agreed to join the league. Representatives of the Buffalo All-Americans and Rochester Jeffersons could not attend the meeting, but sent letters to Hay asking to be included in the league.^[10] Team representatives changed the league's name slightly to the American Professional Football Association and elected officers, installing Thorpe as president, Cofall as vice-president and Ranney as secretary-treasurer.^{[5][10][11][12]} Under the new league structure, teams created their schedules dynamically as the season progressed, so there were no minimum or maximum number of games needed to be played.^[13][14] Also, representatives of each team voted to determine the winner of the APFA trophy.^[15]

Teams

The APFA had 14 teams that played during its inaugural season.

Team folded this season

Team	Owner[16]	Head coach[17]	Stadium(s)[18]
Akron Pros	Fred Nied, Art Ranney	Elgie Tobin	Akron League Park
Buffalo All-Americans	Frank McNeil	Tommy Hughitt	Canisius Villa (7), Buffalo Baseball Park (3)
Canton Bulldogs	Ralph Hay	Jim Thorpe	Lakeside Park
Chicago Cardinals	Chris O'Brien	Paddy Driscoll	Normal Park
Chicago Tigers	Gil Falcon	Gil Falcon	Cubs Park
Cleveland Tigers	Stan Cofall, Jimmy O'Donnell	Stan Cofall (3 games), Al Pierotti (5 games)	Dunn Field
Columbus Panhandles	Joe Carr	Ted Nesser	Neil Park
Dayton Triangles	Carl Storck	Bud Talbott	Triangle Park
Decatur Staleys	A. E. Staley	George Halas	Staley Field
Detroit Heralds	Detroit Herald newspaper	Billy Marshall	Navin Field
Hammond Pros	Doc Young	Hank Gillo	Traveling team
Muncie Flyers	local boosters	Ken Huffine	Traveling team
Rochester Jeffersons	Leo Lyons	Jack Forsyth	Rochester Baseball Park
Rock Island Independents	Walter Flanigan, booster association	Rube Ursella	Douglas Park

Schedule

The regular-season schedule was not fixed but was created dynamically by each team as the season progressed.^[13][14] The first game involving an APFA team occurred on September 26, when the Rock Island Independents beat the St. Paul Ideals 48–0.

The first official game between APFA (NFL) members occurred on October 3, when the Dayton Triangles beat the Columbus Panhandles 14–0. The Triangles' Lou Partlow scored the league's first touchdown and George "Hobby" Kinderline kicked the first extra point. An historic marker placed by the Ohio Historical Society at Triangle Park in Dayton marks the location of that first ever game.^[19]

The final game of the season was a 14–14 tie between the Chicago Cardinals and the non-league Chicago Stayms on December 19, 1920.^{[citation needed]} The Decatur Staleys and the Canton Bulldogs played the most games in the season (13), while the Muncie Flyers played the fewest (1).^[20] The Buffalo All-Americans scored the most points all season (258), and the Akron Pros allowed the fewest points (7).^[21]

1920 APFA teams' roster photos

Akron Pros

Canton Bulldogs

Chicago Cardinals

Dayton Triangles

Decatur Staleys

Key

Symbol	Meaning
Highlighted	APFA game
†	Non-APFA team
(numbers in parentheses)	Team's win–loss–tie record

Week 1
September 26, 1920
Visitor	Score	Home	Score	Location
St. Paul Ideals†	0	Rock Island Independents (1–0–0)	48	Douglas Park
Week 2
October 3, 1920
Wheeling Stogies†	0	Akron Pros (1–0–0)	43	Akron League Park
West Buffalo†	6	Buffalo All-Americans (1–0–0)	32	Canisius Field
Pitcairn Quakers†	0	Canton Bulldogs (1–0–0)	48	Lakeside Park
Columbus Panhandles (0–1–0)	0	Dayton Triangles (1–0–0)	14	Triangle Park
Moline Universal Tractors†	0	Decatur Staleys (1–0–0)	20	Staley Field
Muncie Flyers (0–1–0)	0	Rock Island Independents (2–0–0)	45	Douglas Park
All-Buffalo†	0	Rochester Jeffersons (1–0–0)	10	Rochester Baseball Park
Week 3
October 10, 1920
Columbus Panhandles (0–2–0)	0	Akron Pros (2–0–0)	37	Akron League Park
All-Buffalo†	0	Buffalo All-Americans (2–0–0)	51	Canisius Field
Toledo Maroons†	0	Canton Bulldogs (2–0–0)	42	Lakeside Park
Racine Cardinals (0–0–1)	0	Chicago Tigers (0–0–1)	0	Cubs Park
Cleveland Tigers (0–0–1)	0	Dayton Triangles (1–0–1)	0	Triangle Park
Kewanee Walworths†	7	Decatur Staleys (2–0–0)	25	Staley Field
Cleveland Panthers†	14	Detroit Heralds (1–0–0)	40	Mack Park
Hammond Pros (0–1–0)	0	Rock Island Independents (3–0–0)	26	Douglas Park
Fort Porter†	0	Rochester Jeffersons (2–0–0)	66	Rochester Baseball Park
Week 4
October 17, 1920
Cincinnati Celts†	0	Akron Pros (3–0–0)	13	Akron League Park
McKeesport Olympics†	7	Buffalo All-Americans (3–0–0)	28	Canisius Field
Cleveland Tigers (0–1–1)	0	Canton Bulldogs (3–0–0)	7	Lakeside Park
Moline Universal Tractors†	3	Racine Cardinals (1–0–1)	33	St. Rita's Field
Detroit Heralds (1–1–0)	0	Chicago Tigers (1–0–1)	12	Cubs Park
Columbus Panhandles (0–3–0)	0	Fort Wayne Friars†	14	Fort Wayne League Park
Hammond Pros (0–2–0)	0	Dayton Triangles (2–0–1)	44	Triangle Park
Decatur Staleys (3–0–0)	7	Rock Island Independents (3–1–0)	0	Douglas Park
Utica Knights of Columbus†	0	Rochester Jeffersons (2–0–1)	0	Rochester Baseball Park
Week 5
October 24, 1920
Cleveland Tigers (0–2–1)	0	Akron Pros (4–0–0)	7	Akron League Park
Toledo Maroons†	0	Buffalo All-Americans (4–0–0)	38	Canisius Field
Canton Bulldogs (3–0–1)	20	Dayton Triangles (2–0–2)	20	Triangle Park
Racine Cardinals (1–1–1)	0	Rock Island Independents (4–1–0)	7	Douglas Park
Decatur Staleys (4–0–0)	10	Chicago Tigers (1–1–1)	0	Cubs Park
Columbus Panhandles (0–4–0)	0	Detroit Heralds (2–1–0)	6	Mack Park
Syracuse Stars†	7	Rochester Jeffersons (3–0–1)	21	Rochester Baseball Park
Week 6
October 31, 1920
Akron Pros (5–0–0)	10	Canton Bulldogs (3–1–1)	0	Lakeside Park
Rochester Jeffersons (3–1–1)	6	Buffalo All-Americans (5–0–0)	17	Canisius Field
Detroit Heralds (2–2–0)	0	Racine Cardinals (2–1–1)	21	Cubs Park
Chicago Tigers (1–2–1)	7	Rock Island Independents (5–1–0)	20	Douglas Park
Columbus Panhandles (0–5–0)	0	Cleveland Tigers (1–2–1)	7	Dunn Field
Cincinnati Celts †	7	Dayton Triangles (3–0–2)	23	Triangle Park
Decatur Staleys (5–0–0)	29	Rockford A.C.†	0	Kishwaukee Park
Hammond Pros (1–2–0)	14	Logan Square†	9	Logan Square Park
Week 7
November 7, 1920
All-Tonawanda Lumberjacks†	0	Buffalo All-Americans (6–0–0)	35	Canisius Field
Canton Bulldogs (4–1–1)	18	Cleveland Tigers (1–3–1)	0	Dunn Field
Racine Cardinals (3–1–1)	6	Chicago Tigers (1–3–1)	3	Cubs Park
Columbus Panhandles (1–5–0)	10	Zanesville Mark Grays†	0	Zanesville, Ohio
Decatur Staleys (5–0–1)	0	Rock Island Independents (5–1–1)	0	Douglas Park
Hammond Pros (2–2–0)	14	Pullman Thorns†	13	Chicago, Illinois
Utica Knights of Columbus†	7	Rochester Jeffersons (4–1–1)	27	Rochester Baseball Park
Week 8
November 11, 1920
Decatur Staleys (6–0–1)	20	Champaign Legion†	0	Champaign, Illinois
Rock Island Independents (5–1–2)	7	Thorn Tornadoes†	7	Monmouth, Illinois
November 14, 1920
Akron Pros (5–0–1)	7	Cleveland Tigers (1–3–2)	7	Dunn Field
Columbus Panhandles (1–6–0)	7	Buffalo All-Americans (7–0–0)	43	Canisius Field
Chicago Tigers (1–4–1)	0	Canton Bulldogs (5–1–1)	21	Lakeside Park
Cincinnati Celts†	0	Racine Cardinals (4–1–1)	21	Chicago, Illinois
Dayton Triangles (4–0–2)	21	Rock Island Independents (5–2–2)	0	Douglas Park
Decatur Staleys (7–0–1)	3	Minneapolis Marines†	0	Nicollet Park
Detroit Heralds (2–2–1)	0	Fort Wayne Friars†	0	Fort Wayne League Park
Hammond Pros (2–3–0)	6	Gary Elks†	7	Gleason Field
All-Tonawanda Lumberjacks†	6	Rochester Jeffersons (4–2–1)	0	Rochester Baseball Park
Week 9
November 21, 1920
Dayton Triangles (4–1–2)	0	Akron Pros (6–0–1)	13	Akron League Park
Canton Bulldogs (6–1–1)	3	Buffalo All-Americans (7–1–0)	0	Canisius Field
Lansing Oldsmobile†	0	Racine Cardinals (5–1–1)	14	Chicago, Illinois
Toledo Maroons†	0	Cleveland Tigers (2–3–2)	14	Dunn Field
Columbus Panhandles (1–6–1)	0	Zanesville Mark Grays†	0	Zanesville, Ohio
Hammond Pros (2–4–0)	7	Decatur Staleys (8–0–1)	28	Staley Field
Rochester Scalpers†	0	Rochester Jeffersons (5–2–1)	16	Rochester Baseball Park
Week 10
November 25, 1920
Canton Bulldogs (6–2–1)	0	Akron Pros (7–0–1)	7	Akron League Park
Decatur Staleys (9–0–1)	6	Chicago Tigers (1–5–1)	0	Chicago Cub Park
Columbus Panhandles (1–6–2)	0	Elyria Athletics†	0	Lorain, Ohio
Detroit Heralds (2–3–1)	0	Dayton Triangles (5–1–2)	28	Triangle Park
Hammond Pros (2–5–0)	0	Chicago Boosters†	27	DePaul Field
All-Tonawanda Lumberjacks† (2–1–0)	14	Rochester Jeffersons (5–3–1)	3	Rochester Baseball Park
November 28, 1920
Akron Pros (8–0–1)	14	Dayton Triangles (5–2–2)	0	Triangle Park
Cleveland Tigers (2–4–2)	0	Buffalo All-Americans (8–1–0)	7	Buffalo Baseball Park
Decatur Staleys (9–1–1)	6	Racine Cardinals (6–1–1)	7	Normal Park
Thorn Tornadoes†	0	Chicago Tigers (2–5–1)	27	Cubs Park
Lansing Oldsmobile†	0	Detroit Heralds (2–3–2)	0	Mack Park
Rochester Scalpers†	6	Rochester Jeffersons (6–3–1)	7	Rochester Baseball Park
Pittsburgh All-Collegians†	7	Rock Island Independents (6–2–2)	48	Douglas Park
Week 11
December 4, 1920
Canton Bulldogs (6–3–1)	3	Buffalo All-Americans (9–1–0)	7	New York Polo Grounds
December 5, 1920
Akron Pros (8–0–2)	0	Buffalo All-Americans (9–1–1)	0	Buffalo Baseball Park
Canton Bulldogs (6–3–2)	0	Washington Glee Club†	0	New Haven, Connecticut
Racine Cardinals (6–2–1)	0	Decatur Staleys (10–1–1)	10	Cubs Park
Columbus Wagner Pirates†	0	Columbus Panhandles (2–6–2)	24	Neil Park
Detroit Maroons†	7	Detroit Heralds (2–3–3)	7	Mack Park
Rochester Scalpers†	0	Rochester Jeffersons (6–3–2)	0	Exposition Park
Week 12
December 11, 1920
Canton Bulldogs (6–4–2)	7	Union Club of Phoenixville†	13	Phillies Park
December 12, 1920
Akron Pros (8–0–3)	0	Decatur Staleys (10–1–2)	0	Cubs Park
Week 13
December 18, 1920
Canton Bulldogs (7–4–2)	39	Richmond Athletics†	0	Boulevard Field
December 19, 1920
Racine Cardinals (6–2–2)	14	Chicago Stayms†	14	Pyott Field

Final standings

1920 APFA standings[22]
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	DPCT	PF	PA	STK
Akron Pros†	8	0	3	1.000	6–0–3	1.000	151	7	T2
Decatur Staleys	10	1	2	.909	5–1–2	.833	164	21	T1
Buffalo All-Americans	9	1	1	.900	4–1–1	.800	258	32	T1
Chicago Cardinals	6	2	2	.750	3–2–1	.600	101	29	T1
Rock Island Independents	6	2	2	.750	4–2–1	.667	201	49	W1
Dayton Triangles	5	2	2	.714	4–2–2	.667	150	54	L1
Rochester Jeffersons	6	3	2	.667	0–1–0	.000	156	57	T1
Canton Bulldogs	7	4	2	.636	4–3–1	.571	208	57	W1
Detroit Heralds	2	3	3	.400	1–3–0	.250	53	82	T2
Cleveland Tigers	2	4	2	.333	1–4–2	.200	28	46	L1
Chicago Tigers	2	5	1	.286	1–5–1	.167	49	63	W1
Hammond Pros	2	5	0	.286	0–3–0	.000	41	154	L3
Columbus Panhandles	2	6	2	.250	0–5–0	.000	41	121	W1
Muncie Flyers	0	1	0	.000	0–1–0	.000	0	45	L1

 †  Awarded the Brunswick-Balke Collender Cup and named APFA Champions.
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

Postseason and legacy

Several Pros players celebrating their championship.

As there was no playoff system in the APFA until 1932,^[23] a meeting was held to determine the 1920 Champions.^[24] Each team that showed up had a vote to determine the champions. Since the Akron Pros never lost a game, the Pros were awarded the Brunswick-Balke Collender Cup on April 30, 1921.^[25] The trophy was a "silver loving cup", donated by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company.^[26] This decision, however, would arise with controversy. The Staleys and the All-Americans each stated that they should win the award because they had more wins and were not beaten by the Akron Pros.^[24] Each player from the Pros was also awarded with a golden fob; this was in the shape of a football and inscribed with "1920", "WORLD CHAMPIONS", and each player's first initial and last name.^[27] The Pros did not officially celebrate their championship season until the following year. In October 1921, most of the team was invited to the Elks Club of Akron, which was labeled as "a grand homecoming celebration for the world's champions".^[15] Fritz Pollard was congratulated during an Akron Merchants Association of Colored Business Men's meeting.^[15]

The Pros were the first team in the history of the APFA to complete a non-modern "perfect season". Only four other teams have since accomplished this feat: the 1922 Canton Bulldogs at 10–0–2,^[28] the 1923 Canton Bulldogs at 11–0–1,^[29] the 1929 Green Bay Packers at 12–0–1,^[30] and the 1972 Miami Dolphins at 17–0–0.^[31] In 1972, the NFL changed the rules, so ties count as a half-win and a half-loss.^[32]

Even though the Pros were given the trophy in 1920, the league lost track of the event, and for a long time published in its own record books that the 1920 championship was undecided.^[33] It was not until the 1970s that the NFL discovered this early vote on awarding the Akron Pros the championship.^[33]

Awards

All-Pro

Bruce Copeland, sportswriter for the Rock Island Argus, compiled the All-Pro list for 1920. He used the games played in Rock Island, other newspapers, and his own memory to determine the first-, second-, and third-team All-Pro list. Pro-Football-Reference.com uses this list as the official All-Pro list of 1920.^[34] Twenty of the players were from Illinois and thirteen were from Ohio. The Rock Island Independents had the most players on the list (9), and Racine Cardinals had the least (1).^[35]

First-Team All-Pro Player Position Team Guy Chamberlin End Decatur Staleys Oak Smith End Rock Island Independents Wilbur Henry Tackle Canton Bulldogs Hugh Blacklock Tackle Decatur Staleys Fred Denfield Guard Rock Island Independents Dewey Lyle Guard Rock Island Independents George Trafton Center Decatur Staleys Paddy Driscoll Quarterback Racine Cardinals Eddie Novak Halfback Rock Island Independents Fritz Pollard Halfback Akron Pros Rip King Fullback Akron Pros

Second-Team All-Pro Player Position Team George Halas End Decatur Staleys Obe Wenig End Rock Island Independents Cub Buck Tackle Canton Bulldogs Ed Shaw Tackle Rock Island Independents Alf Cobb Guard Akron Pros Harry Dadmun Guard Canton Bulldogs Shorty Des Jardien Center Chicago Tigers Al Mahrt Quarterback Dayton Triangles Norb Sacksteder Halfback Dayton Triangles Joe Guyon Halfback Canton Bulldogs Gil Falcon Fullback Chicago Tigers

Third-Team All-Pro Player Position Team Bob Marshall End Rock Island Independents Bob Nash End Akron Pros Burt Ingwerson Tackle Decatur Staleys Walt Buland Tackle Rock Island Independents Brad Tomlin Guard Akron Pros Ross Petty Guard Decatur Staleys Freeman Fitzgerald Center Rock Island Independents Milt Chee Quarterback Chicago Tigers Ed Sternaman Halfback Decatur Staleys Frank Bacon Halfback Dayton Triangles Pete Calac Fullback Canton Bulldogs

Hall of Fame

As of 2012, 10 players have been enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame who played in the 1920 APFA season. One non-player, Joseph Carr, the owner of the Columbus Panhandles in the 1920 season and league president from 1921 to 1939, was also elected to the Hall.

Name	Team(s)	0 Year 0	0Ref.0
Carr, Joseph	Columbus Panhandles	0 1963 0	[36]
Chamberlin, Guy	Decatur Staleys	1964	[37]
Conzelman, Jimmy	Decatur Staleys	1964	[38]
Driscoll, Paddy	Racine Cardinals Decatur Staleys	1965	[39]
Guyon, Joe	Canton Bulldogs	1966	[40]
Halas, George	Decatur Staleys	1963	[41]
Healey, Ed	Rock Island Independents	1964	[42]
Henry, Pete	Canton Bulldogs	1963	[43]
Pollard, Fritz	Akron Pros	2005	[44]
Thorpe, Jim	Canton Bulldogs	1963	[45]
Trafton, George	Decatur Staleys	1964	[46]