The Columbus Panhandles were a professional American football team based in Columbus, Ohio. The club was founded in 1901 by workers at the Panhandle shops of the Pennsylvania Railroad. They were a part of the Ohio League from 1904 before folding after one season. Three years later, the team tried again, playing in the Ohio League from 1907 to 1919, not winning a championship, before becoming charter members of the American Professional Football Association (APFA) which became the National Football League (NFL).
The Milwaukee Badgers were a professional American football team, based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that played in the National Football League from 1922 to 1926. The team played its home games at Athletic Park, later known as Borchert Field, on Milwaukee's north side. The team was notable for having many African-American players for the time.
The Rock Island Independents were a professional American football team, based in Rock Island, Illinois, from 1907 to 1926. The Independents were a founding National Football League franchise. They hosted what has been retrospectively designated the first National Football League game on September 26, 1920 at Douglas Park. The Independents were founded in 1907 by Demetrius Clements as an independent football club. Hence, the team was named the "Independents."
St. Louis All-Stars was a professional football team that played in the National Football League during the 1923 season. The team played at St. Louis, Missouri's Sportsman's Park. Ollie Kraehe owned, managed, coached, and played guard for the team.
Joseph Francis Carr was an American sports executive in football, baseball, and basketball. He is best known as the president of the National Football League from 1921 until 1939. He was also one of the founders and president of the American Basketball League (ABL) from 1925 to 1927. He was also the promotional director for Minor League Baseball's governing body from 1933 to 1939, leading an expansion of the minor leagues from 12 to 40 leagues operating in 279 cities with 4,200 players and attendance totaling 15,500,000.
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. 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.
James Gleason Dunn Conzelman was an American football player and coach, baseball executive, and advertising executive. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1964 and was selected in 1969 as a quarterback on the National Football League 1920s All-Decade Team.
Urban Prep Charter Academy succeeded Englewood High School, Englewood Technical Prep Academy and TEAM Englewood Academy High School in Chicago. Englewood was a public four-year high school located in the Englewood neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1874, Englewood was owned and operated by the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) system. Englewood High School closed in 2008. The building is occupied by school in the Urban Prep Academy network. The school is a public charter high school for young men that opened in 2006.
The 1920 season was the Decatur Staleys 2nd season of existence, the first professional season of the franchise that would go on to be known as the Chicago Bears and their first under head coach George Halas, competing in the newly formed American Professional Football Association.
The 1925 National Football League (NFL) Championship, claimed by the Chicago Cardinals, has long been the subject of controversy, centering on the suspension of the Pottsville Maroons by NFL commissioner Joseph Carr, which prevented them from taking the title. The Maroons were one of the dominant teams of the 1925 season, and after defeating the Chicago Cardinals 21–7 on December 6, they came away with the best record in the league. However, Carr suspended and removed the team from the NFL after they played an unauthorized exhibition game in Philadelphia, on the grounds that they had violated the territorial rights of the Frankford Yellow Jackets. Chicago played and won two more games against weak NFL opponents, but were sanctioned because Cardinals player Art Folz hired four Chicago high school football players to play for the Milwaukee Badgers under assumed names to ensure a Cardinals victory.
The 1925 Chicago Cardinals season resulted in the Cardinals winning their first NFL championship. The 1925 championship is contested and never awarded by the NFL after the Pottsville Maroons were suspended.
The 1925 Milwaukee Badgers season was their fourth in the National Football League. The team failed to improve on their previous league record of 5–8, losing all their games. They tied for sixteenth place in the league.
John Frederick Bryan was a professional football player for the Chicago Cardinals, Chicago Bears, and Milwaukee Badgers. He was also a player-coach and franchise owner of the Badgers in 1925 and 1926.
Clement Francis "Clem" Neacy was an American football end and tackle in the National Football League. He played professionally for the Milwaukee Badgers, Duluth Eskimos, Chicago Bears, and the Chicago Cardinals.
The 1925 Chicago Cardinals–Milwaukee Badgers scandal was a scandal centered on a 1925 game between the Chicago Cardinals and the Milwaukee Badgers of the National Football League. The scandal involved a Chicago player, Art Folz, hiring a group of high school football players to play for the Milwaukee Badgers against the Cardinals. This would ensure an inferior opponent for Chicago. The game was used to help prop up their win–loss percentage and as a chance of wresting the 1925 Championship away from the first place Pottsville Maroons.
Arthur F. Folz a.k.a. Art Foltz was a professional American football player who played with the Chicago Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL) from 1923 to 1925. He is best known for his role in the 1925 Chicago Cardinals–Milwaukee Badgers scandal, where Folz hired a group of high school football players from his alma mater, Chicago's Engelwood High School, to play for the Milwaukee Badgers, against the Cardinals. During the recruitment, Folz reportedly told the high schoolers that the game was a "practice game" and would in no part affect their amateur status.
John Alexander was a professional football player with the Massillon Tigers of the Ohio League and the independent Gilberton Cadamounts, Coaldale Big Green, Melrose Athletic Club and Millville Big Blue. He also played in the National Football League for the Milwaukee Badgers and New York Giants. He is best known for becoming the first person to have played outside linebacker.
Douglas Park is a public park located at 18th Avenue and 10th Street in Rock Island, Illinois. A former National Football League venue, Douglas Park was the site of the first-ever National Football League game on September 26, 1920. The Rock Island neighborhood that is today called Douglas Park dates back to the 1830s, with the athletic park being constructed in 1904 to 1905 and utilized for football beginning in 1907.
The Commissioner of the National Football League is the chief executive officer of the National Football League (NFL). The position was created in 1941. The current commissioner is Roger Goodell, who assumed office on September 1, 2006.
The Canton Bulldogs were a professional American football team, based in Canton, Ohio. They played in the Ohio League from 1903 to 1906 and 1911 to 1919, and the American Professional Football Association, from 1920 to 1923, and again from 1925 to 1926. The Bulldogs won the 1916, 1917, and 1919 Ohio League championships. They were the NFL champions in 1922 and 1923. In 1921–1923, the Bulldogs played 25 straight games without a defeat. This remains an NFL record.
