The Akron Pros were a professional football team that played in Akron, Ohio from 1908 to 1926. The team originated in 1908 as a semi-pro team named the Akron Indians, but later became Akron Pros in 1920 as the team set out to become a charter member of the American Professional Football Association. Fritz Pollard, the first black head coach in the NFL, co-coached the Akron Pros in 1921. Paul Robeson played for the team in 1921 as well. He was among the earliest stars of professional football before football became segregated from 1934 to 1946. In 1926, the name was changed back to the Akron Indians, after the earlier semi-pro team. Due to financial problems, the team suspended operations in 1927 and surrendered its franchise the following year.
The Cleveland Tigers were the first Cleveland team franchise in what became the National Football League (NFL). The Tigers played in the "Ohio League" before joining the American Professional Football Association during the 1920 and 1921 seasons.
Louisville, Kentucky had two professional American football teams in the National Football League: the Louisville Breckenridges from 1921 to 1924 and the Louisville Colonels in 1926.
The Oorang Indians were a traveling team in the National Football League from LaRue, Ohio. The franchise was a novelty team put together by Walter Lingo to market his Oorang dog kennels. All of the Indians players were Native American, with Jim Thorpe serving as its leading player and coach. The team played in the National Football League in 1922 and 1923. Of the 20 games they played over two seasons, only one was played at "home" in nearby Marion. With a population well under a thousand people, LaRue remains the smallest town ever to have been the home of an NFL franchise, or probably any professional team in any league in the United States.
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."
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.
Joseph Napoleon "Big Chief" Guyon was an American Indian from the Ojibwa tribe (Chippewa) who was an American football and baseball player and coach. He played college football at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School from 1912 to 1913 and Georgia Tech from 1917 to 1918 and with a number of professional clubs from 1919 to 1927. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1966 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1971.
Wilbur Francis "Pete" Henry was an American football player, coach, and athletic administrator. He was a charter inductee into both the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963.
The 1920 Akron Pros season was the franchise's inaugural season with the American Professional Football Association (APFA) and twelfth total season as a team. The Pros entered the season coming off a 5–5 record in 1919 as the Akron Indians in the Ohio League. The Indians were sold to Art Ranney and Frank Nied, two businessmen, to help achieve a better record and crowd. Several representatives from the Ohio League wanted to form a new professional league; thus, the APFA was created.
The Cleveland Panthers were a professional American football team. They were an independent team founded in 1919 from the remains of the Youngstown Patricians. The Panthers played, with various degrees of success, continuously from 1919 and eventually, as fewer opponents played them each year after 1926, sputtered to a quiet folding in 1933.
The 1920 Chicago Tigers season was their sole season in the National Football League. The team finished 2–5–1, tying them for eleventh in the league.
The 1920 Cleveland Tigers season was the franchise's inaugural season in the American Professional Football Association (APFA) and fifth total as an American football team. The Tigers entered the season coming off a 5-win, 2-loss, 2-tie (5–2–2) record in 1919. After the 1919 season, several representatives from the Ohio League, a loose organization of professional football teams, wanted to form a new professional league; thus, the APFA was created.
Pedro "Pete" Calac was a professional football player who played in the Ohio League and during the early years of the National Football League (NFL). Over the course of his 10-year career he played for the Canton Bulldogs, Cleveland Indians, Washington Senators, Oorang Indians and the Buffalo Bisons.
Thomas Leo "Ted" St. Germaine was an American football player, coach, and lawyer. He served as the head football coach at Villanova College—now known as Villanova University—for one season, in 1913, compiling a record of 4–2–1. Germaine played professionally in the National Football League (NFL) during the 1922 season. That season, he joined the NFL's Oorang Indians, a team based in LaRue, Ohio, which was composed solely of Native Americans, and coached by Jim Thorpe. St. Germaine was qualified to play for the Indians since he was a Chippewa.
Stillwell Saunooke was a professional football player who played in the National Football League during the 1922 season. That season, he joined the NFL's Oorang Indians. The Indians were a team based in LaRue, Ohio, composed only of Native Americans, and coached by Jim Thorpe. Saunooke attend and played college football at the Carlisle Indian School located in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and was Eastern Band Cherokee.
Arda "Ard" Crawford Bowser was a professional football player who spent two years of the National Football League with the Canton Bulldogs and the Cleveland Indians. Bowser won an NFL championship with the Bulldogs in 1922. In 1923, he played for the Indians. He was the first NFL player to use the kicking tee. Arda was considered the last surviving member of the 1922 Canton Bulldogs team, when he died in 1996.
Ralph Edward Hay was the owner of the Canton Bulldogs from 1918 through the 1922 season. However, he is mostly recognized for organizing the first meeting of teams that would later form the American Professional Football Association, later called the National Football League (NFL).
Walter Harrison Flanigan was an American football player and owner of the Rock Island Independents. He was also one of the co-founders of the National Football League (NFL).
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 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.
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