1925 NFL season

Last updated

1925 National Football League season
Regular season
DurationSeptember 20 – December 20, 1925
A controversial ruling by the NFL suspended the Pottsville Maroons from all league privileges, including the right to play for the NFL championship.
Champions Chicago Cardinals
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Pros
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Bisons
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Bulldogs
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Bears
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Cardinals
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Bulldogs
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Tigers
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Triangles
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Panthers
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Kelleys
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Yellow Jackets
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Packers
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Cowboys
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Badgers
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Giants
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Maroons
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Steam Roller
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Jeffersons
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Independents
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Traveling teams
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The 1925 NFL season was the sixth regular season of the National Football League. Five new teams entered the league: New York Giants, Detroit Panthers, Pottsville Maroons, Providence Steam Roller, and a new Canton Bulldogs team. The Kenosha Maroons folded, with the Racine Legion and Minneapolis Marines mothballing.

Contents

Teams

Twenty teams competed in the NFL during the 1925 season.

First season in NFL *Last active season ^ Last season before hiatus, rejoined league later §
Team jumped to the AFL Rejoined the NFL **
TeamHead coach(es)Stadium
Akron Pros Scotty Bierce Akron League Park
Buffalo Bisons Walt Koppisch Bison Stadium
Canton Bulldogs ** Harry Robb League Field
Chicago Bears George Halas Cubs Park
Chicago Cardinals Norman Barry Comiskey Park
Cleveland Bulldogs § Cap Edwards Dunn Field
Columbus Tigers Red Weaver West Side Athletic Club
Dayton Triangles Carl Storck Triangle Park
Detroit Panthers * Jimmy Conzelman Navin Field
Duluth Kelleys Dewey Scanlon Duluth Athletic Park
Frankford Yellow Jackets Guy Chamberlin Frankford Stadium
Green Bay Packers Curly Lambeau City Stadium
Hammond Pros Fritz Pollard (1 game) and Doc Young (4 games) Traveling team
Kansas City Cowboys Roy Andrews Muehlebach Field
Milwaukee Badgers Johnny Bryan Milwaukee Athletic Park
New York Giants * Bob Folwell Polo Grounds
Pottsville Maroons Dick Rauch Minersville Park
Providence Steam Rollers * Archie Golembeski Cycledrome
Rochester Jeffersons ^ Tex Grigg Edgerton Park
Rock Island Independents Rube Ursella Douglas Park

1925 NFL Championship controversy

Controversy surrounds who actually won the 1925 NFL Championship. Officially, the Chicago Cardinals are listed as the 1925 NFL champions because they finished with the best record; however, many Pottsville fans at the time claimed that the Maroons were the legitimate champions. The Maroons and the Cardinals were the top contenders for the title, with Pottsville winning a late-season meeting between them, 21–7. But the Maroons scheduled a game against a team of University of Notre Dame All-Stars in Philadelphia (and winning 9–7) on the same day that the Frankford Yellow Jackets were scheduled to play a game in the same city. Frankford protested, saying that it was violating their protected territory rights.

Although NFL president Joe Carr warned the Maroons in writing that they faced suspension if they played in Philadelphia, the Maroons claimed that Carr had previously approved the game during a telephone call, and played anyway. In response, Carr fined the club, suspended it from all league rights and privileges (including the right to play for the NFL championship), and returned its franchise to the league.

In 2003, the NFL decided to again examine the case regarding the 1925 championship. In October of that year, the NFL voted 30–2 not to reopen the case, with only Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, the league's two Pennsylvania-based teams, voting in favor. Thus, the Cardinals are still listed as the 1925 NFL champions. [1]

Had the current (post-1972) system of counting ties as half a win and half a loss been in place in 1925, the Maroons would have won the championship with a win percentage of .833, while the Cardinals would have finished runner-up at .821.

Standings

NFL standings
WLTPCTPFPASTK
Chicago Cardinals *1121.84622965W2
Pottsville Maroons *1020.83327045W5
Detroit Panthers 822.80012939W1
New York Giants 840.66712267W1
Akron Pros 422.6676551L2
Frankford Yellow Jackets 1370.650190169W2
Chicago Bears 953.64315896W3
Rock Island Independents 533.6259958L1
Green Bay Packers 850.615151110W1
Providence Steam Roller 651.545111101L1
Canton Bulldogs 440.5005073L1
Cleveland Bulldogs 581.38575135L1
Kansas City Cowboys 251.2866597W1
Hammond Pros 140.2002387L3
Buffalo Bisons 162.14333113L4
Rochester Jeffersons 061.00026111L5
Dayton Triangles 071.000384L7
Duluth Kelleys 030.000625L3
Milwaukee Badgers 060.0007191L6
Columbus Tigers 090.00028124L9

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.
* The Pottsville Maroons were suspended from the league in December, resulting in the Chicago Cardinals being named the NFL champions.

All star team

NFL league president Joseph Carr chose an all-star team for 1925, including players from Red Grange's tour. [2]

Ends

Tackles

Guards

Center

Quarterback

Halfbacks

Fullback

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References

  1. "Pottsville Maroons: NFL owners refuse to reconsider 1925 ruling". Archived from the original on October 23, 2009.
  2. Chris Willis (August 19, 2010). The Man Who Built the National Football League: Joe F. Carr. p. 217. ISBN   9780810876705.