Tonawanda Kardex

The Tonawanda Kardex (also known as the "Tonawanda Lumbermen" and, during its first season, the "All-Tonawanda Lumberjacks") was an American football team active between 1920 and 1921. They played their games in Tonawanda, New York, a suburb of Buffalo. The team is most notable for their one game as a member of the National Football League, the shortest lived team in the league's history.

The 1920 "All Tonawanda Lumberjacks" were a very successful team, garnering a record of 7-1 against two local "American Professional Football Association" (the predecessor to the NFL) franchises and other independent teams, only allowing more than 6 points in one of their contests (the one loss, a 35-0 decision to Buffalo). Their last game of the season against the Rochester Jeffersons was among the first Thanksgiving Classics. With the success, and a crackdown by the league on playing non-league franchises, the Lumberjacks joined the league in 1921 as the "Tonawanda Kardex," named for (and presumably sponsored by) the office supply company of the same name, still in business today ^{[http://www.kardex.com]} .

The 1921 season began much like the first, with a 0-0 tie against the Syracuse Pros, then an independent (although they'd join the league later in the season). However, on November 6, 1921, the Kardex traveled to Rochester to face the Rochester Jeffersons, where they played their worst game in existence-- a 45-0 blowout loss to the Jeffs in front of 2,700 fans. It turned out to be their only game as a member of the league, and appears to be their last in existence.

eason-by-season

References

* [http://www.wnypfra.org/ Western New York Pro Football Researchers Association]