HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The 1920
Akron Pros 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 ...
season was the franchise's inaugural season with the
American Professional Football Association The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...
(APFA) and twelfth total season as a team. The Pros entered the season coming off a 5–5 record in
1919 Events January * January 1 ** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (now Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia. ** HMY ''Iolaire'' sinks off the ...
as the Akron Indians in the
Ohio League The Ohio League was an informal and loose association of American football clubs active between 1902 and 1919 that competed for the Ohio Independent Championship (OIC). As the name implied, its teams were mostly based in Ohio. It is the direct pr ...
. 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. Returning to the team for the 1920 season would be most of last year's team, including quarterback Fritz Pollard. The Pros also added end Bob Nash, who previously played for the Tigers, Al Garrett, and end Al Nesser of the famous Nesser brothers. They opened their regular season with a win over the
Wheeling Stogies The Wheeling Stogies was a minor league baseball team based in Wheeling, West Virginia, that played under several different names at various times between 1877 and 1934. They played mostly in the Central League and the Middle Atlantic League, as we ...
, en route to an 8–0–3 record. In week 11, the Pros traded Bob Nash—the first trade in APFA history. A meeting was held by the APFA to determine a winner, and the Pros' season concluded with the team winning the
Brunswick-Balke Collender Cup Brunswick-Balke Collender Cup was a silver trophy donated to the American Professional Football Association (renamed the National Football League in 1922) by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, Tire Division. History According to the Septemb ...
for finishing first place in the APFA. The
Decatur Staleys Decatur may refer to a number of places, streets, military establishments, schools, and others mostly named after Stephen Decatur: Places in the United States * Decatur, Alabama, county seat of Morgan County ** Decatur metropolitan area, Alabam ...
and the
Buffalo All-Americans Buffalo, New York had a turbulent, early-era National Football League team that operated under multiple names and several different owners between the 1910s and 1920s. The early NFL-era franchise was variously called the Buffalo All-Stars from ...
demanded the title because of the number of wins each team had.
Rip King Andrew V. "Rip" King (October 25, 1895 – March 4, 1950) was a professional American football player who played as fullback for six seasons for the Akron Pros, Chicago Cardinals, and Hammond Pros The Hammond Pros from Hammond, Indiana play ...
and
Fritz Pollard Frederick Douglass "Fritz" Pollard (January 27, 1894 – May 11, 1986) was an American football player and coach. In 1921, he became the first African-American head coach in the National Football League (NFL). Pollard and Bobby Marshall were th ...
were named first-team all APFA and
Alf Cobb Alfred Russell Cobb (June 7, 1892 – September 12, 1974) was an American college and professional football player. Cobb played college football for Syracuse University, and later played professionally in the National Football League (NFL). ...
was named second-team all APFA by the '' Rock Island Argus''. The Pros only allowed 7 points all season, which was the lowest among all APFA teams. The 1920 Akron Pros were the first team in the history of the APFA to have an undefeated record, in that they were never defeated in a game. After 1972, the Pros' 8-0-3 record would have been counted as an .856 percentage, but under the rules of the day, tied games were not counted in the standings. In 2005, Pollard became the only player from the 1920 Akron Pros to be elected into the
Professional Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coach ...
.


Offseason

The Akron Pros, who were named the Akron Indians, finished 5–5 in their 1919 season in the
Ohio League The Ohio League was an informal and loose association of American football clubs active between 1902 and 1919 that competed for the Ohio Independent Championship (OIC). As the name implied, its teams were mostly based in Ohio. It is the direct pr ...
. The Indians lost money because of the constant poor performance; the team did not win an Ohio League Championship since 1914. The Indians was sold to Art Ranney and Frank Nied. The two changed the team name to the Akron Pros, as they hoped to achieve a better record and crowd. Representatives of four Ohio League teams—the
Canton Bulldogs 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 (later renamed the National Football Lea ...
, the Cleveland Tigers, the
Dayton Triangles The Dayton Triangles were an original franchise of the American Professional Football Association (now the National Football League (NFL)) in 1920. The Triangles were based in Dayton, Ohio, and took their nickname from their home field, Triangl ...
, and Ranney and Reid for the Pros—called a meeting on August 20, 1920, to discuss the formation of a new league. At the meeting, they tentatively agreed on a
salary cap In professional sports, a salary cap (or wage cap) is an agreement or rule that places a limit on the amount of money that a team can spend on players' salaries. It exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team's roster, or both. Sever ...
and pledged not to sign college players or players already under contract with other teams. They also agreed on a name for the circuit: the American Professional Football Conference. They then contacted other major professional teams and invited them to a meeting for September 17. At that meeting, held at Bulldogs owner
Ralph Hay Ralph Edward Hay (January 12, 1891July 29, 1944) 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 Fo ...
's
Hupmobile Hupmobile was an automobile built from 1909 through 1939 by the Hupp Motor Car Company of Detroit. The prototype was developed in 1908. History Founding In 1909, Bobby Hupp co-founded Hupp Motor Car Company, with Charles Hastings, for ...
showroom in Canton, representatives of the
Rock Island Independents 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
Muncie Flyers The Muncie Flyers, known as the Congerville Flyers for most of their existence, were a professional American football team from Muncie, Indiana, that played from 1905 to 1926. The Flyers were an independent squad for most of their existence, but ...
, the
Decatur Staleys Decatur may refer to a number of places, streets, military establishments, schools, and others mostly named after Stephen Decatur: Places in the United States * Decatur, Alabama, county seat of Morgan County ** Decatur metropolitan area, Alabam ...
, the
Racine Cardinals The professional American football team now known as the Arizona Cardinals previously played in Chicago, Illinois, as the Chicago Cardinals from 1898 to 1959 before relocating to St. Louis, Missouri, for the 1960 through 1987 seasons. Roots c ...
, the
Massillon Tigers The Massillon Tigers were an early professional football team from Massillon, Ohio. Playing in the "Ohio League", the team was a rival to the pre-National Football League version of the Canton Bulldogs. The Tigers won Ohio League championships i ...
, and the
Hammond Pros The Hammond Pros from Hammond, Indiana played in the National Football League from 1920 to 1926 as a traveling team. History The Pros were established by local businessman Paul Parduhn and Dr. Alva Young. Young, a boxing promoter and owner ...
agreed to join the league. Representatives of the
Buffalo All-Americans Buffalo, New York had a turbulent, early-era National Football League team that operated under multiple names and several different owners between the 1910s and 1920s. The early NFL-era franchise was variously called the Buffalo All-Stars from ...
and
Rochester Jeffersons The Rochester Jeffersons from Rochester, New York played from 1898 to 1925, including play in the National Football League from 1920 to 1925. History Formed as an amateur outfit by a rag-tag group of Rochester-area teenagers after the turn of t ...
could not attend the meeting, but sent letters to Hay asking to be included in the league.PFRA Research (1980), p. 4 Team representatives changed the league's name slightly to the American Professional Football Association and elected officers, installing Jim Thorpe as president. Under the new league structure, teams created their schedules dynamically as the season progressed, and representatives of each team voted to determine the winner of the APFA trophy. Ranney wrote all the information from these meetings on stationary and thus was promoted to secretary of the league.


Regular season

Returning to the team for the 1920 season would be most of last year's team including
quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Am ...
and future Hall of Famer
Fritz Pollard Frederick Douglass "Fritz" Pollard (January 27, 1894 – May 11, 1986) was an American football player and coach. In 1921, he became the first African-American head coach in the National Football League (NFL). Pollard and Bobby Marshall were th ...
. The Pros also added end Bob Nash, who previously played for the Tigers, Al Garrett, and end Al Nesser of the famous Nesser brothers. The Pros played all their home games at
League Park League Park was a baseball park located in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was situated at the northeast corner of Dunham Street (now known as East 66th Street) and Lexington Avenue in the Hough neighborhood. It was built in 1891 as a wood ...
in Akron. The regular season schedule was not a fixed schedule but was created dynamically by each team as the season progressed. The first week of the season opened up on September 26, but the Pros did not have a game scheduled that week, and their season is denoted as beginning in week 2. The Pros played nine games against APFA teams and two against non-APFA teams; they played a total of six games at home. The two non-APFA teams the Pros would play in week two and four when the Pros played against the
Wheeling Stogies The Wheeling Stogies was a minor league baseball team based in Wheeling, West Virginia, that played under several different names at various times between 1877 and 1934. They played mostly in the Central League and the Middle Atlantic League, as we ...
and the
Cincinnati Celts The Cincinnati Celts (pronounced with a hard C) was the first professional football team to play in Cincinnati, Ohio. The team played in the unofficial " Ohio League" and the American Professional Football Association (renamed the National Footb ...
, respectively. In week seven, a game was scheduled to play at home against the Detroit Heralds, but the game was cancelled due to rain. During the season, Pollard was treated with disrespect because of being African American. He stated, "The white players were trying to hurt me." By the end of the season, Pollard would be one of the highest paid players in the APFA. The main reasons were because of his skin color as well as being a great player.


Schedule

The table below was compiled using the information from the Pro Football Archives and ''
The Coffin Corner The Professional Football Researchers Association (PFRA) is an organization of researchers whose mission is to preserve and, in some cases, reconstruct professional football history. It was founded on June 22, 1979 in Canton, Ohio by writer/hist ...
'', both of which used contemporary newspapers. A dagger () by a team means that team was not affiliated with the APFA. For the results column, the winning team's score is posted first followed by the result for the Pros. The green-colored rows indicates a win; and the yellow-colored rows indicate a tie.


Game summaries


Week 2: vs Wheeling Stogies

''October 3, 1920, at League Park'' The Pros made their AFPA debut against the
Wheeling Stogies The Wheeling Stogies was a minor league baseball team based in Wheeling, West Virginia, that played under several different names at various times between 1877 and 1934. They played mostly in the Central League and the Middle Atlantic League, as we ...
. Playing in front of 4,000 fans, the Pros' defense started the game off with a
safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly di ...
in the first quarter. Throughout the game, Nesser scored three touchdowns—two fumble recoveries and one blocked
field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ba ...
. Pollard also scored two rushing touchdowns to help lead Akron to a 43–0 victory over the Stogies. Blocking back Harry Harris also contributed by adding one rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter.


Week 3: vs Columbus Panhandles

''October 10, 1920, at League Park'' The Pros' next game was against the
Columbus Panhandles 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 fold ...
. Running back
Frank McCormick Frank Andrew McCormick (June 9, 1911 – November 21, 1982) was an American baseball first baseman who played fifteen seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Nicknamed "Buck" in honor of Frank Buck, he played for the Cincinnati Reds, Philadelph ...
rushed for two touchdowns to give Akron a 14–0 lead in the second quarter. Bob Nash later recovered a fumble in the end zone. Harris and fullback Fred Sweetland also contributed, scoring one rushing touchdown each. Sweetland was hired by coach Elgie Tobin to be a backup, but the coach decided to play Sweetland this game. The defense added another safety in the fourth quarter to give the Akron Pros a 37–0 victory.


Week 4: vs Cincinnati Celts

''October 17, 1920, at League Park'' In week four, the Pros played against the
Cincinnati Celts The Cincinnati Celts (pronounced with a hard C) was the first professional football team to play in Cincinnati, Ohio. The team played in the unofficial " Ohio League" and the American Professional Football Association (renamed the National Footb ...
. The Celts were not directly affiliated with the APFA and would not join the league until the following year. Fullback
Rip King Andrew V. "Rip" King (October 25, 1895 – March 4, 1950) was a professional American football player who played as fullback for six seasons for the Akron Pros, Chicago Cardinals, and Hammond Pros The Hammond Pros from Hammond, Indiana play ...
scored the first touchdown by a five-yard rush in the first quarter. Pollard also scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter en route to a 13–0 Akron victory. The Pro's kicker for that game,
Charlie Copley Charles Francis Copley (September 1, 1887 – May 29, 1944) was a professional football player who played for the Akron Pros and the Milwaukee Badgers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Muhlenberg College and ...
, made one extra point and missed the other. The Pros' defense was so dominant that the Celts did not get a single first down all game long.


Week 5: vs Cleveland Tigers

''October 24, 1920, at League Park'' The Cleveland Tigers were the Pros next opponent. Playing in front of 6,000 fans, the game was called a "punting duel" by the ''Youngstown Vindicator''. The only score came from a
punt block In gridiron football, a punt is a kick performed by dropping the ball from the hands and then kicking the ball before it hits the ground. The most common use of this tactic is to punt the ball downfield to the opposing team, usually on the final d ...
by Bob Nash in the first quarter. Nash grabbed the ball from the Tigers' punter,
Stan Cofall Stanley Bingham Cofall (May 5, 1894 – September 21, 1961) was an American football player and coach. Early life Cofall was born in Cleveland, Ohio to Fred and Ida Bingham Cofall. In 1910 he played football at East Technical High School. He the ...
on the 8-yard line and ran in for the score. With an extra point from
Charlie Copley Charles Francis Copley (September 1, 1887 – May 29, 1944) was a professional football player who played for the Akron Pros and the Milwaukee Badgers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Muhlenberg College and ...
, the Pros defeated the Tigers 7–0 to keep their undefeated season alive. During the game, injuries for both teams occurred. Pollard dislocated his right shoulder, and
Tuffy Conn George Washington "Tuffy" Conn (February 22, 1892 – August 2, 1973) was a professional American football player who played in 1920 for the Cleveland Tigers and the Akron Pros of the American Professional Football Association (renamed the Natio ...
for the Tigers injured his right leg in the fourth quarter.


Week 6: at Canton Bulldogs

''October 31, 1920, at Lakeside Park,
Canton, Ohio Canton () is a city in and the county seat of Stark County, Ohio. It is located approximately south of Cleveland and south of Akron in Northeast Ohio. The city lies on the edge of Ohio's extensive Amish country, particularly in Holmes an ...
'' "With four games under their belt", the Pros were starting to gain attention around the league. Their next game was against the Bulldogs. This game, according to the ''Youngstown Vindicator'', was the first of a two-game series for the "national professional football championship". Playing under a crowd of 10,000, the Pros defeated the Bulldogs 10 to 0. In the first quarter, after an exchange in punts and a long pass which resulted in 13-yards,
Charlie Copley Charles Francis Copley (September 1, 1887 – May 29, 1944) was a professional football player who played for the Akron Pros and the Milwaukee Badgers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Muhlenberg College and ...
of the Pros kicked a 38-yard field goal. On a Bulldog possession at midfield, Gilroy attempted to pass the ball, but it was tipped by the Pros' Copley and Bob Nash.
Pike Johnson Karl Hilmer "Pike" Johnson (May 2, 1896 – November 6, 1985) was a professional football player in the American Professional Football Association (APFA) (later renamed the National Football League in 1922) for the Akron Pros. In 1920 he and th ...
caught the ball before it landed and ran it back 55 yards for a touchdown. The ''Youngstown Vindicator'' called it the "most sensational play of the contest". In the third quarter, Jim Thorpe came into the game, but could not help the Bulldogs score.


Week 8: at Cleveland Tigers

''November 14, 1920, at Dunn Park,
Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S ...
'' In week eight, the Pros played against the Tigers. Playing in front of 8,000 fans, the Pros allowed their first and only points of the year from a 50-yard touchdown pass from Mark Devlin to
Tuffy Conn George Washington "Tuffy" Conn (February 22, 1892 – August 2, 1973) was a professional American football player who played in 1920 for the Cleveland Tigers and the Akron Pros of the American Professional Football Association (renamed the Natio ...
and an extra point by
Al Pierotti Albert Felix Pierotti (October 24, 1895 – February 12, 1964) was a professional American football center and Major League Baseball pitcher. Football career Pierotti played in the American Professional Football League with the Akron Pros, Cle ...
in the third quarter. Pollard had a 20-yard rushing touchdown in the second quarter and Copley made an extra point to tie the game at 7–7, making the first tie for the Pros of the season.


Week 9: vs Dayton Triangles

''November 21, 1920, at League Park'' The Triangles came into this game as one of the few teams left undefeated. The game started out with three scoreless quarters until King threw a 15-yard passing touchdown in the fourth quarter to McCormick. Pollard also rushed for a 17-yard touchdown and Copley made one extra point and missed another one to beat the Triangles 13–0. This brought one of only two loses the Triangles had this season.


Week 10: vs Canton Bulldogs

''November 25, 1920, at League Park'' In their first game of week ten, the Pros played against the Canton for the second time this season, and the Bulldogs were still upset from their loss earlier in the season against the Pros. A fumbled punt by the Bulldogs gave the Pros the ball at the 32-yard line. On their next drive, the Pros' passing game gave them the lone score, a passing touchdown from King to Nash in the first quarter. Once again, the Pros shutout the Bulldogs, winning 7–0. This was the first game played on
Thanksgiving Day Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden and ...
, which launched a yearly tradition.


Week 10: at Dayton Triangles

''November 28, 1920, at Triangle Park,
Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, Ohio, Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County, Ohio, Greene County. The 2020 United S ...
'' The Pros were now recognized as the top team in Ohio, and in their second game of week ten, the Pros played against the Triangles. The game could have been classified as a World Championship because of both teams' records, but the APFA had widened its battlefield with Buffalo and Decatur still with a high winning percentage. Pollard returned a punt for a touchdown early in the first quarter and also had one receiving touchdown in the third quarter from King.


Week 11: at Buffalo All-Americans

''December 5, 1920, at
Buffalo Baseball Park Olympic Park is the name shared by two former baseball grounds located in Buffalo, New York, United States. Prelude From 1878 through 1883, Buffalo's baseball teams had played at an initially unnamed ballpark at Fargo Avenue and Rhode Island ...
,
Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...
'' Pros had the Buffalo All-Americans as their next opponent. The All-Americans were tired from their 7 to 3 victory against the Canton Bulldogs the day before. Before the start of the game, Nash was sold to the All-Americans for $300 and 5% of the Akron-Buffalo gate, making the first deal in APFA history. The reason for the trade was because rain caused a low number of fans. However, Nash did not appear in the game for either team, and Scotty Bierce replaced Nash for the Pros. The rain caused sloppy game play as well as a small crowd of 3,000 people. It resulted in a 0–0 tie.


Week 12: at Decatur Staleys

''December 12, 1920, at Cubs Park,
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
'' The Pros would end their season in week twelve against the Staleys. Prior to the game, the Staleys' coach,
George Halas George Stanley Halas Sr. (; February 2, 1895October 31, 1983), nicknamed "Papa Bear" and "Mr. Everything", was an American professional football player, coach, and team owner. He was the founder and owner of the National Football League's Chi ...
, moved their home field to the much larger Cubs Park in Chicago and hired
Paddy Driscoll John Leo "Paddy" Driscoll (January 11, 1895 – June 29, 1968) was an American professional football and baseball player and football coach. A triple-threat man in football, he was regarded as the best drop kicker and one of the best overall pl ...
from the Cardinals to play on his team in order to help defeat the Pros, which was against league rules at the time. Twelve thousand fans, which was the largest recorded crowd of the season, showed up to watch the game. Of the crowd, about 2,000 were from Pollard's hometown. The Pros almost scored twice, but failed once because of ineligible receiver penalties. On the other hand, Pollard made a touchdown-saving tackle against Sternment in the third quarter. On the same drive, the Staleys missed a 30-yard field goal. The Staleys' Chamberlin attempted to injure Pollard twice in an attempt to remove him from the game. The final score ended in a 0–0 tie; however, the ''
Chicago Defender ''The Chicago Defender'' is a Chicago-based online African-American newspaper. It was founded in 1905 by Robert S. Abbott and was once considered the "most important" newspaper of its kind. Abbott's newspaper reported and campaigned against J ...
'' reported that the refereeing was biased towards Decatur.


Standings


Post season

Since there were no playoff system in the APFA until 1932, a meeting was held to determine the 1920
NFL Champions The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...
. Each team that showed up had a vote to determine the champions. Since the Akron Pros had a 1.000 winning percentage, the Pros were awarded the
Brunswick-Balke Collender Cup Brunswick-Balke Collender Cup was a silver trophy donated to the American Professional Football Association (renamed the National Football League in 1922) by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, Tire Division. History According to the Septemb ...
on April 30, 1921. The trophy was a "silver-loving cup", donated by the
Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company Brunswick Corporation, formerly known as the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, is an American corporation that has been developing, manufacturing and marketing a wide variety of products since 1845. Today, Brunswick has more than 13,000 employ ...
. This decision, however, would arise with controversy. The Staleys and the All-Americans each stated that they should win the award because they had more wins and were not beaten by the Akron Pros. Each player from the Pros was also awarded with a golden fob. It was of a football and "1920", "WORLD CHAMPIONS", and each players' first initial and last name was inscribed on the fob. Five players from the Pros received awards. On December 2, King and Pollard were named 1st Team,
Alf Cobb Alfred Russell Cobb (June 7, 1892 – September 12, 1974) was an American college and professional football player. Cobb played college football for Syracuse University, and later played professionally in the National Football League (NFL). ...
was named 2nd Team, and Nash as well as Brad Tomlin were named 3rd Team all AFPA by the '' Rock Island Argus''. The Pros did not officially celebrate their championship season until the following year. In October 1921, most of the team was invited to the Elks Club of Akron, which was labeled as "a grand homecoming celebration for the world's champions". Pollard was congratulated during an Akron Merchants Association of Colored Business Men's meeting.


Legacy

In their inaugural AFPA season, the Pros posted an undefeated, 8–0–3 season. As a result, they were the first team in the history to complete a non-modern "perfect season". Only four other teams has accomplished this feat: the 1922 Canton Bulldogs at 10–0–2, the 1923 Canton Bulldogs at 11–0–1, the 1929 Green Bay Packers at 12–0–1, and the 1972 Miami Dolphins at 17–0. Prior to 1972, the NFL did not count ties into winning percentage; however, in that year the NFL retrospectively altered its standings to treat tied games as being worth half of a win. With that being said, the 1972 Miami Dolphins are the only team to have a modern perfect season. Three other teams accumulated a perfect regular season record, but lost in the post season. The
1934 Chicago Bears The 1934 season was the Chicago Bears' 15th in the National Football League and 12th season under head coach George Halas. The team was able to improve on their 10–2–1 record from 1933 and finished with an undefeated 13–0 record. The ...
posted a 13–0 record but lost in the 1934 NFL Championship Game to the
New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...
. The 1942 Chicago Bears posted an 11–0 record but lost in the
1942 NFL Championship Game The 1942 NFL Championship Game was the tenth title game of the National Football League (NFL), played at Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C. on December 13, with a sellout capacity attendance of 36,006. It matched the undefeated Western Divi ...
to the
Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) ...
. Lastly, the 2007 New England Patriots posted a 16–0 record but lost in
Super Bowl XLII Super Bowl XLII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...
to the New York Giants. The 1920 Akron Pros had one of only two African American players in the AFPA,
Fritz Pollard Frederick Douglass "Fritz" Pollard (January 27, 1894 – May 11, 1986) was an American football player and coach. In 1921, he became the first African-American head coach in the National Football League (NFL). Pollard and Bobby Marshall were th ...
. He later went on to be in the
Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coa ...
's class of 2005. Even though the Pros were given the trophy in 1920, the league lost track of the event and for a long time published in its own record books that the 1920 championship was undecided. It was not until the 1970s that the NFL remembered its early vote on awarding the Akron Pros the championship.


Roster


Scores by quarter


See also

*
1920 APFA season 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 ...
*
List of NFL champions Throughout its history, the National Football League (NFL) and other rival American football leagues have used several different formats to determine their league champions, including a period of inter-league matchups to determine a true national c ...
*
Perfect season A perfect season is a sports season, including any requisite playoff portion, in which a team remains and finishes undefeated and untied. The feat is extremely rare at the professional level of any team sport, and has occurred more commonly at the ...


Notes


References

* * * * * * * * * *


External links


1920 Akron Pros
at Pro-Football-Reference.com
Akron Pros 1920 Stats, History, Awards and More
at DatabaseFootball.com {{DEFAULTSORT:1920 Akron Pros Season National Football League championship seasons
Akron Pros 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 ...
Akron Pros seasons
Akron Pros 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 ...