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History Of The NFL Commissioner
The National Football League Commissioner 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. Until 1941, the NFL's chief executive was the league president. On January 17, 1941, the NFL franchise owners amended the league's constitution to change the chief executive's title from "president" to "commissioner." Temporary Secretary Ralph Hay (1920) In 1920, the Canton Bulldogs were one of 14 teams to form the American Professional Football Association (APFA), which would become the National Football League (NFL) two years later. Bulldogs owner Ralph Hay was named the first head of the league (the title was officially ("Temporary Secretary") until a permanent president could be chosen. Hay did make one notable contribution in his short tenure as Temporary Secretary. Vernon Maginnis, who operated one of Akron's professional teams in 1919, wanted t ...
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Roger Goodell
Roger Stokoe Goodell (born February 19, 1959) is an American businessman who is currently the commissioner of the National Football League (NFL). On August 8, 2006, Goodell was chosen to succeed retiring commissioner Paul Tagliabue. He was chosen for the position over four finalists; he won a close vote on the fifth ballot before being unanimously approved by acclamation of the owners. He officially began his tenure on September 1, 2006, just prior to the beginning of the 2006 NFL season. On December 6, 2017, the NFL announced that Goodell signed a new contract that would start in 2019. Commentators have described him as "the most powerful man in sports." Goodell is the son of former congressman and U.S. Senator for New York Charles Goodell. Early life Goodell was born in Jamestown, New York on February 19, 1959, to United States Senator Charles Ellsworth Goodell of New York, and his first wife Jean (Rice) Goodell of Buffalo, New York. Goodell graduated from Bronxville High S ...
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Chicago Tigers
The Chicago Tigers of the American Professional Football Association (APFA) played their first and only season in 1920, the first year of the league (1920), and have the distinction of being the first NFL team to fold. They had a record of 2 wins, 5 losses and 1 tie. The team played its home games at Chicago's Wrigley Field (then called Cubs Park) and was the first NFL team to do so. The Tigers were never formally members of the APFA. However, since the team played seven games against APFA teams in 1920, resulting in a 1–5–1 league record, they are generally included in the league standings. The franchise According to Emil Klosiinkski in the book, ''Pro Football in the Days of Rockne'', the Tigers' main offensive weapon was their passing game. This specifically referred to the passes thrown by Johnny Barrett and Milt Ghee to Jack Meagher and Oscar Knop. On October 24, 1920, the Decatur Staleys (renamed the Chicago Bears in 1922) played a game against the Tigers at Cubs ...
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1921 NFL Season
The 1921 APFA season was the second season of the American Professional Football Association, which was renamed the National Football League in 1922. At the league meeting in Akron, Ohio on April 30 prior to the season, the Association was reorganized, with Joe Carr of the Columbus Panhandles named as president. The Association's headquarters was moved to Columbus, Ohio, and a league constitution and by-laws were drafted, giving teams territorial rights, restricting player movements, and developing membership criteria for the franchises. The league would play under the rules of college football, and official standings were issued for the first time so that there would be a clear champion: the most notable change was that only games played against league teams would count toward the standings, which had the dual effect of both encouraging independent teams (such as those from the Ohio League and the NYPFL) to join, and also causing those that did not join to fold within a few ...
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Reserve Clause
The reserve clause, in North American professional sports, was part of a player contract which stated that the rights to players were retained by the team upon the contract's expiration. Players under these contracts were not free to enter into another contract with another team. Once signed to a contract, players could, at the team's whim, be reassigned, traded, sold, or released. The only negotiating leverage of most players was to hold out at contract time and to refuse to play unless their conditions were met. Players were bound to negotiate a new contract to play another year for the same team or to ask to be released or traded. They had no freedom to change teams unless they were given an unconditional release. In the days of the reserve clause, that was the only way a player could be a free agent. Once common in sports, the clause was abolished in baseball in 1975. The reserve clause system has, for the most part, been replaced by free agency. Baseball history In the lat ...
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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 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 Panhandles are credited with playing in the first NFL game against the Dayton Triangles. They have no NFL championships, but Joseph Carr, the team's owner from 1907 to 1922, is enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame for his work as NFL president. Origins The earliest existence of the Panhandles was in 1900; the ''Columbus Press-Post'' reported Jack Walsh creating the "Panhandle railroad team" consisting of "big hardy railroad men." No other articles in 1900 we ...
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Joseph Carr
Joseph Francis Carr (October 22, 1879 – May 20, 1939) was an American sports executive in American 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. A native and lifelong resident of Columbus, Ohio, Carr worked in his early years as a machinist for the Panhandle Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad and a sports writer for a Columbus newspaper. While working for the Panhandle Division, he founded the Famous Panhandle White Sox baseball team in approximately 1900. He also revived the Columbus Panhandles football team in 1907, manning the team with railroad emplo ...
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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 member of the American Professional Football Association (later renamed the National Football League (NFL) in 1922). 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. History Origins Before 1908, several semi-pro and amateur teams dominated the Akron football scene. The most dominant of these was a team known as the Akron East Ends. The ...
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Carl Storck
Carl H. Storck (born November 14, 1892 – March 13, 1950) was a co-founder of the National Football League, as well as the founding owner of the Dayton Triangles. He was also the Triangles coach from 1922 until 1926. Storck served as the NFL's secretary-treasurer from 1921 to 1939 and president from 1939 to 1941. Dayton Triangles Storck started his football career as a local football hero in Dayton, Ohio, playing for St. Mary's College (now known as the University of Dayton). After graduation, Stork played semi-pro football for a local team that would later become the Dayton Triangles. Storck became the team's manager in 1918 and guided his team into the NFL (then called the American Professional Football Association). He represented Dayton at Ralph Hay's Hupmobile dealership on September 17, 1920. This meeting marked the formation of the NFL. The Triangles would have trouble competing in the increasingly competitive NFL, and Storck would eventual sell them in 1930 to Bill Dw ...
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Art Ranney
Arthur Fobare Ranney (February 17, 1889 – April 22, 1970) was a co-founder of the American Professional Football Association (later renamed the National Football League in 1922), as an owner of the Akron Pros, one of the league's charter teams. The Pros were renamed the Akron Indians in 1926. Purchasing the Indians In 1920, Ranney was a local businessman in Akron, Ohio, as well as an ex-football player for the University of Akron. After experiencing financial losses from 1912 to 1919, the Akron Indians, of the "Ohio League", was sold to Ranney and Frank Nied, a local cigar store owner. The 1919 Indians finished the season 5–5–0 and suffered financial losses, despite the presence of one of the country's best breakaway runners, Fritz Pollard. As the team's new owners, Ranney and Neid dropped the Indian moniker and adopted a new name, the "Akron Pros," hoping to inspire better results, or at least better attendance. Founding of the NFL Ranney and Neid attended the August 20, 1 ...
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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 then moved to East High School where he became all-scholastic in football and ice hockey. Notre Dame Cofall attended the University of Notre Dame where he played halfback. Cofall was prohibited from playing on the varsity team during the 1913 season due to the new freshmen eligibility rules, so he played in the University's own residence hall intramural system, known colloquially as "interhall", and was selected for the All-Interhall team as a left halfback from Sorin Hall. In 1914, Cofall's first year with the Irish varsity team, he scored 9 touchdowns, and led the team with 82 points. The following year, Cofall scored 9 touchdowns and again led the team with 71 points. After scoring 12 touchdowns and 84 points in 1916, he was named to ...
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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 September 17, 1920 founding meeting minutes of the NFL–APFA, the trophy was a silver loving cup, donated to the Association by a "Mr. Marshall". It was then to be presented to the team "awarded championship by the Association". This wording established the precedent for the 1920 season of awarding the title by a vote of the league's managers, rather than who finished at the top of the standings. The minutes also state that "any team winning the cup three times should be adjudged the owner f the trophy. The motion to include the cup as the Association's trophy was moved and seconded and a vote of thanks was extended by the secretary to "Mr. Marshall". The Akron Pros were awarded the 1920 APFA Championship on April 30, 1921 during an associat ...
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