- 1920 NFL season
Infobox NFL
year = 1920
NFLchampion =Akron Pros
regular_season =September 26 1920 -December 18 1920 The 1920 NFL season was the inaugural
regular season of theNational Football League . The league was formed at the Jordan and Hupmobile auto showroom inCanton, Ohio onAugust 20 by four independent professionalAmerican football teams fromOhio :Akron Pros ,Canton Bulldogs , Cleveland Tigers, andDayton Triangles . The four parties had played against each other unofficially as the "Ohio League" since 1903, complete with "championships," but it wasn't until 1920 that the league was formalized. At the meeting, they first called their new league the "American Professional Football Conference".A second organizational meeting was held in Canton on
September 17 , adding more teams to the league: theHammond Pros and theMuncie Flyers fromIndiana ; theRochester Jeffersons fromNew York ; and theRock Island Independents , theDecatur Staleys , and theRacine Cardinals fromIllinois . At the meeting, the league was given a new name: American Professional Football Association (It would not be changed to National Football League until 1922).Four other teams also joined the Association during the year:
Buffalo All-Americans ,Chicago Tigers ,Columbus Panhandles , andDetroit Heralds . Meanwhile,Jim Thorpe of the Canton Bulldogs was named the APFA's first president, but continued to play for the team.However, the 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.
The Akron Pros ended up being the only undefeated team in the Association. Thus, at the league meetings in Akron on
April 30 1921 , the team was awarded the championship of the 1920 season.Unofficial final standings
"W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT= Winning Percentage"
"Note: Tie games were not counted in the standings until 1972."
References
* "NFL Record and Fact Book" (ISBN 1-932994-36-X)
* [http://www.nfl.com/history/chronology/1911-1920 NFL History 1911-1920] (Last accessed December 4, 2005)
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* "Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League" (ISBN 0-06-270174-6)
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