The 1920 All-Pro Team — originally cast as the All-Star Professional Teams — was a select list of top performers of the 1920 season of the American Professional Football Association (APFA), forerunner of the National Football League. The list was the sole creation of Bruce Copeland, sports editor of the ''Rock Island Argus,'' one of the most pro football-centric newspapers of the day. It was published on December 2, 1920.

Background

The 1920 team was a list compiled by Bruce Copeland, sports editor of the ''Rock Island Argus,'' who considered only members of the association's "Big Eight" teams for inclusion.David S. Neft and Richard M. Cohen, ''The Football Encyclopedia: The Complete History of Professional NFL Football from 1892 to the Present.'' New York: St. Martin's Press, 1991; p. 20. These were, in his view, the

Akron Pros The Akron Pros were a professional American football, football team that played in Akron, Ohio, Akron, Ohio from 1908 to 1926. The team originated in 1908 as a semi-professional, semi-pro team named the Akron Indians, but later became Akron Pros ...

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 ...

Chicago 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 ca ...

and

Tigers The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is tradition ...

, Cleveland Tigers,

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, Trian ...

Decatur Staleys The Chicago Bears American football franchise is a charter member of the National Football League (NFL), and has played in all of the league's 100 seasons. The team has captured nine NFL championships – eight NFL championships and one Super ...

, and

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 ...

. He justified these eight teams as constituting an elite of the league based upon "comparative scores."Bruce Copeland
"All-Star Professional Teams,"
''Rock Island Argus,'' December 2, 1920, p. 17. In addition to his "three first teams" of eleven players each, Copeland named three reserve elevens, with an addition 44 players accorded "honorable mention" status.John Hogrogian
"1920 All-Pros,"
''The Coffin Corner'', vol. 6, no. 1 (1984). In all, 111 players were named to Copeland's end-of-season roll call of star performers for 1920. Copeland's three "All-Star Professional Teams" were published in the ''Argus'' on December 2, 1920.

Biases

While five of the six teams excluded were of lesser caliber than their league peers, Copeland did omit one important squad from consideration — 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 fr ...

, who finished fifth in the league standings. The All-Americans never played a game during the 1920 season outside of New York state and the team's personnel and their relative capabilities may have been unknown to Copeland. It has been noted that since this was the list of a single sportswriter, there appears to be a discernible bias towards the "home team," the Rock Island Independents, in Copeland's choices. Copeland himself stated that his selections were based upon personal observations and "past acquaintance with most of the players with the Akron Indians, Canton Bulldogs, and Cleveland Tigers, which did not play this year in Rock Island." Copeland's original article presents rationales for the players selected for first team honors. In these explanations, Copeland intimates that superior defensive performance was the chief consideration for linemen, rather than the offensive blocking ability of interior linemen or the pass-catching prowess of ends. Rock Island end Oak Smith is lauded, for example, as one who could "not be boxed" and who "broke through opposing lines almost at will, spilling the runner, interference, or blocking punts." On the other hand, the two top receiving ends in the league in Copeland's estimation,

Dave Reese David E. Reese (November 19, 1892 – June 26, 1978) was an American football end who played four seasons with the Dayton Triangles of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Denison University. Reese was the first comm ...

and Dutch Thiele of Dayton, are dismissed as "woefully weak" on defense, "as was demonstrated by repeated gains in their direction" during their 1920 appearance in Rock Island.

Teams

References

External links

Pro Football Reference, www.pro-football-reference.com {{NFL All-Pro Teams All-Pro Teams Allpro

Background

Biases

Teams

References

Further reading

External links