Jim Thorpe, the first president of the AFPA - the predecessors of the NFL (Photo courtesy of ESPN). Thorpe was a player-coach in 1922.
The NFL celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2020 by honoring the first NFL teams ever. That would place the beginning of the NFL in 1920. Dye in the Wool fans will contest that with them (like this author), as the NFL in name was not created until 1922.
The league was still named the American Professional Football Association (APFA) in 1920 and was renamed the National Football League in 1922. Want to learn more about the NFL’s first ex-con? Read about the controversial man here.
The NFL appears to possibly be factually incorrect on their “NFL 100″ website again when they state that the league began with 13 towns and 14 teams. The general consensus is that the APFA began with 10 teams, although some teams may have joined mid-season. The NFL 100 website states that they all began in September of 1920, and that seems to be wrong.
Since the NFL did not technically begin until 1922, we will only be pointing out the teams that were present that year as the trailblazers. There were 18 teams in the NFL in 1922. This author is an available football historian if you’re looking at writing additional articles on this topic.
Original NFL Teams and Towns:
Hang on; we’re here for the long haul. There were 18 games in the NFL’s first season, and some teams played only three games. But in an article that focuses on technicalities, they will be continued and celebrated along with every other team. They were there.
NFL Teams That Played 11-12 Games
These teams were the upper crust of the 1922 NFL season. And a healthy dose of fun facts about how the NFL of yesteryear was different from where we are 101 years later.
Canton Bulldogs of Canton, OH – 12 games
The Canton Bulldogs were the champions of the NFL in 1922, despite the absence of a postseason. They won first due to being 10-0-2 (.917). They played at Lakeside Park in Canton, with Berlin Guy “Champ” Chamberlin as head coach. Another fun fact about the NFL is that ties were not included in the official records until 1972.
Champ was also a head coach, captain, part-owner, and player. He was an end in the NFL. Chamberlin was also responsible for an almost complete rebuild in just one year, only bringing five players back for the 1922 season. Some current NFL teams could use his recruiting skills, considering they were champs despite all the new blood.
Chicago Bears of Chicago, IL- 12 games
The Chicago Staleys became the Chicago Bears in 1922. They had a 9-3 record (.750) and played the greatest number of games in the season.
George Halas was the head coach, and the team played home games at Wrigley Field. Halfback and quarterback Ed “Dutch” Sternaman led scoring for the team for the third year in a row. Congrats Dutch!
Sternaman was also a full partner since 1921 (that wasn’t again the rule at the time). He sold his half to Halas in 1931 and used the money to purchase a lakefront property in Lake Ivanhoe, WI. The Dutch attempted to gentrify the neighborhood with a resort on the property but were thwarted by a civil lawsuit. Congrats, Lake Ivanhoe, WI!
Chicago Cardinals of Chicago, IL – 11 games
As the forefathers of the Arizona Cardinals, the Chicago Cardinals were the second team in 1922 that still exists today. The team had an 8-3 season (7.27), played at Comiskey Park, and was coached by good ol’ John Leo “Paddy” Driscoll.
Driscoll was an example of another early NFL phenomenon: he was the head coach, captain, and player for the Chicago Cardinals for three years (1920–1922). Paddy was a triple threat on the field; he was an excellent drop kicker (a position in the early NFL), halfback, and quarterback. George Hallas called Driscoll the greatest athlete he knew.
Racine Legion of Racine, WI – 11 games
The Racine Legion folded after five seasons in the NFL, with 1926 being their last. They were not high performers in their first year in the league, with six wins, four losses, and one tie at their home stadium, Horlick Field. This is despite having the highest scorer in the league on their team. The fullback-kicker Hank Gillo had 52 points in 1922.
George Gerhard “Babe” Ruetz was the head coach, GM, and grocery store owner in their first season with the NFL. He had played for Racine from roughly 1910–1920 before they entered the league. Babe died suddenly at just 33 years old from undisclosed causes.
A fun fact about the team is that the quarterback for the team, Milton “Mitt” Romney from 1923–1924, was the politician Mitt Romney’s name sake. 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney was named after his father’s cousin, Milton.
9-10 Games Played
Imagine what kind of untapped talent exists in the league at this level.
Green Bay Packers of Green Bay, WI – 10 games
Technically speaking, the Green Bay Packers weren’t exactly the Packers. They filed for a new franchise in 1922 that was named the Green Bay Athletic Club and were registered with the NFL as the Green Bay Blues. However, most people still called them the Packers, so they stuck with that name in future seasons.
A team that was particularly familiar with scandal since the beginning, the Packers had to create a new franchise since they lost the original team in 1921 after they played college players on their team under aliases.
They didn’t exactly blow anyone’s socks off with their record (4-3-3) tie with the Badgers for the most ties of the season. The team had their home games at Hagemeister Park, under the helm of Earl Louis “Curly” Lambeau. You just might recognize his last name.
Curly was a co-founder of the original franchise and was the GM, head coach, and player in 1922. Interestingly, his romantic partners both had his back and took his life. In 1919, Lambeau’s girlfriend, Agnes Aylward, came up with the name “Packers” after the company that supplied the team’s uniforms.
Don’t tell any men out there, but Curly actually passed away at age 67 while waiting for his girlfriend, Mary Jane Van Duyuse, to get ready for the date. A whole new meaning to “bored to death.” It might have been more about what he was doing while waiting than the actual waiting part. The former head coach collapsed, dying of a sudden heart attack while helping Mary Jane’s dad cut the grass. That story leaves more questions than answers.
Buffalo All-Americans of Buffalo, NY – 10 games
The Buffalo All-Americans entered the NFL in 1922, were suspended in 1928, and folded in 1929. The Great Depression proved too great a foe for the team, which was already struggling talent-wise. They have no relation to any current or former Buffalo teams from 1930 and on. The team had five wins, four losses, and one tie in ’22. Their home games were played at Canisius College, a private Jesuit university in Buffalo.
Canadian native Ernest Fredrick “Tommy” Hughitt was both head coach and player in 1922. Hughitt literally did it all as a player—he was a quarterback, wide receiver, running back, punter, placekicker, and defensive player. His lack of induction into the Hall of Fame is attributed to his time as an NFL ref. That was a disqualifying factor until 2021. It’s never too late.
Akron Pros of Akron, OH – 10 games
The Akron Pros entered the NFL in 1922 and folded in 1926. They couldn’t make ends meet in 1927, and they forfeited the team the following year. In their first NFL season, their record was (3-5-2) and their home field was League Park. They were led by Edward “Untz” Brooke Brewer, an accomplished high school and college athlete. He was both head coach and player in 1922.
The Akron Pros (prior to the NFL) were the first team to have an African-American head coach, Fritz Pollard. The team is also credited with helping create the APFA. One of the co-owners of the Pros became the treasurer-secretary of the brand-new league after having the foresight and organizational skills to take minutes from the founding meeting on a napkin. Humble beginnings.
Toledo Maroons of Toledo, OH – 9 games
The Toledo Maroons were only in the NFL for two years before folding and unofficially being moved to Kenosha, WI. They originally were a farm teen team that prepped the boys for a bigger adult league in the city. The team played at Swayne Field, a minor league baseball park. It was not unusual in the early years of the NFL that teams would play literally anywhere they could fit practically.
The Maroons had a .667 record with five wins, two losses, and two ties. Guilford W. “Hawk” Falcon was the team’s only head coach in the NFL. He was a player-coach in 1922 and went on to play for four other NFL teams after leaving the Maroons in 1923.
The team had their own little scandal after repeatedly only playing against “easy” teams that, after two years, frustrated the league into saying they had to move their team or else.
Milwaukee Badgers of Milwaukee, WI – 9 games
The Milwaukee Badgers operated from 1922 until 1926, with a 2-4-3 (.389) record. They played at Bochert Field, a baseball park in the city. Jimmy Conzelman was a head coach and player for the team for three seasons, starting in 1922. The Hall of Famer was quite possibly one of the few who didn’t want to be inducted into Canton, and he was enshrined despite his dissent. He was a humble guy with an inferiority complex with friends who saw things he couldn’t see in himself.
The Badgers were unique for trying “integration” out by having a record three African Americans on their team in 1922. They were all canned by the following year, when the Badgers wanted to try something else. The Milwaukee team folded in 1926 because of the 1925 scandal and the ensuing fines they couldn’t afford after playing four high school football players they had recruited.
Oorang Indians of LaRue, OH – 9 games
The Oorang team was an incredible and industrious NFL team that worked with what they were given. The owners of the team, along with the complicit NFL, are a stain on American history. Native Americans (and everyone who wasn’t white) had severely limited opportunity in the league and were only allowed to attend certain high schools and colleges for Native Americans, which limited that pathway into the NFL.
The owner of the Oorang dog kennels put together a “novelty” team to market their business, which required all players to be Native Americans to play. The owner was friends with Jim Thorpe, who likely saw what an ideal opportunity this could be for Native Americans who would otherwise not get into the NFL.
Between the requirement that the team take care of the dogs all season long, having the same nutritionists and medical professionals as the kennel dogs, and the requirement that they participate in half-time shows that display a mockery of stereotypical Native American culture exaggerated for entertainment purposes, this team was sickening.
The majority of the players were forced to attend extremely abusive boarding schools for Native Americans if they were given the opportunity to receive any education at all. If they were lucky, they would make their way into a trade school or college that had football teams, and then they would get the opportunity to be on a team as long as they were willing to mock the culture that people had worked so hard to strip from them since they were young children. Disgusting, absolutely repulsive.
The team only existed for two seasons, starting in 1922 and operating as a traveling team with no home field. That first year, they had a .366 record with three wins and six losses. Jim Thorpe was the head coach, player, and GM both years.
NFL Teams That Played 6-8 Games
From here on out, the lack of games played can be attributed to the league teams going defunct. This was incredibly common. The most common reason was financial difficulty. Professional football was not lucrative for the teams or the players for quite some time. A lack of willing or easily accessible opponents was another factor, depending on performance and location.
Dayton Triangles of Dayton, OH – 8 games
The Dayton Triangles have a confusing family tree but have ties to the Indianapolis Colts that the current NFL team does not acknowledge. The name and city changed and morphed many times over the years, but the Triangle’s legacy lives on. Dayton named their team after the field they played on, Triangle Park. Their record was 4-3-1 (.563).
Head coach Carl Storck was a co-founder of the NFL and served as treasurer and secretary for 19 seasons and president for a few more. The NFL of old didn’t have a firm concept of the conflict of interest thing, as Storck was treasurer-secretary and coach. He is also one of the few coaches who didn’t play in the NFL; he did some college and semi-pro ball.
The Triangles were one of three teams that survived the 1920s in the NFL. The league had moved away from mid-city Midwestern teams and was centered more in major cities. The team actually switched to being a traveling team after their smaller, less fancy stadium was off-putting for guests. Another fatal flaw was their hiring process for players, which went local instead of recruiting from colleges. The team was bought, moved to Brooklyn, and became the Dodgers in 1930.
Columbus Panhandles of Columbus, OH – 8 games
The Panhandles were discontinued after a 0–8 record in 1922. They were a traveling team, and Herb Dell was their head coach. It was his only coaching gig. He preferred his officiating career despite mixed reviews of his performance. Dell actually enlisted in the military at 53 years old. Hopefully, he found a career he was good at there.
Of note, future NFL president and Hall of Famer Joseph Carr was the head coach and owner of the Panhandles. When he entered the picture, Columbus was a railroad team of “big hardy railroad men.”
Rock Island Independents of Rock Island, IL – 7 games
The Rock Island Independents were yet another team that collapsed in 1926. The Independents had home games at what is now a public park, Douglas Park. They had a .643 record (4-2-1). one of the more bizarre elements of the 1922 season. Jimmy Conzelman was the head coach for two teams. He left the Independents for the Badgers at the tail end of the latter’s season.
The prior year, the former head coach and player, Frank Coughlin, was fired mid-game despite the fact that the Independents were leading and Coughlin had scored both touchdowns for Rock Island. Conzelman leaving feels karmatic.
Hammond Pros of Hammond, IN – 6 games
When did the Hammond Pros fold? 1926! In 1922, they had a 0-5-1 season (.083). Chicago was the team’s unofficial home, with their “home” stadium being Cubs Park. Information is somewhat limited on head coach and player Walter Bernard “Wally” Hess. Wally was a player for the Pros for six years and a player-coach for three.
Six of the nine African-Americans played for the Pros in their seven seasons of existence. The NFL actually escorted them out of the league due to being from a smaller city. The majority of players were local and worked full-time with limited practice. As a result, their lack of skill was noticeable.
3-5 Games Played
Including these teams feels like a bit more of a stretch, but they were there, and accurate history matters.
Rochester Jeffersons of Rochester, NY – 5 games
The Rochester Jeffersons were named after their stadium, which was on Jefferson Street, where they played when the NFL was created. Much like some of our other smaller teams, the Jeffersons were a local, small-town team. It began as backyard teenage football in 1898 and eventually folded in 1928. Joe Alexander was the head coach and player in 1922, with a record of 0-4-1 (.100). Alexander’s nickname was “doc,” as he had a medical degree.
Rochester tried to adjust to the modern NFL, but their fan base wanted sand-lot football or no ball at all. The Jefferson’s tried to recruit college graduates, but they weren’t exactly a desirable location, and the fans didn’t want to see them. Local men or nothing! Rochester was good enough to beat all of the semi-pro local teams, but bad enough to lose often in the NFL.
Louisville Breckenridges of Louisville, KY – 4 games
As the lone South-East team in a mostly mid-western league, the Louisville Breckenridges were unique. Their nickname was “Brecks.” Another team that was born from small-town youth laying sand-lot ball, the Brecks, were found in 1899 and disbanded in 1926. Although mostly a traveling team that often played out of Chicago like the Hammond Pros, the Brecks did play at a Louisville field called Eclipse Park. Hubert Thomas Wiggs was the head coach and player in 1922, with a record of 1-3 (.250).
The Brecks only scored in one of the four games they played in 1922. An interesting fact is that there was a fire at Eclipse Park, and the team had to cancel their last two home games. Had they been able to play, they likely would have broken even fiscally in 1922.
Minneapolis Marines of Minneapolis, MN – 4 games
Although the Minneapolis Marines were not located in a small town, they still had the same teenage casual team that many other NFL teams did in this era. The team was founded in 1905 and folded in 1930. Playing out of many local stadiums, the team had a .250 record with one win and three losses. Their head coach was Russell Tollefson in 1922. Tollefson was a bit unique because he had a background in coaching, having coached college ball for a few seasons prior.
The team had an unprecedented number of professional players in a league full of small-town folks. Interestingly, they had “weight classes” in the 1900s. They managed to move from 115 pounds to 145 pounds. This is an unusual term for football, traditionally.
Evansville Crimson Giants of Evansville, IN – 3 games
Last but surely not least, the Evansville Crimson Giants are considered 18th in a league of 18 teams. They played three games in 1922 and lost all of them. The Giants only existed for two seasons, and 1922 was the last one. Evansville’s home games were played at Bosse Field. The experienced footballer, Frank Fausch, was a player, co-founder, owner, president, GM, and head coach for the team in 1922.
Fausch lost the home field rights at Bosse Field and attempted to get them back, but negotiations did not go well, and they cancelled their home games and only played three away games. They were the only team that went under between the end of the 1922 season and the beginning of the 1923 one. Roughly one of the 18 teams had made an actual profit in 1922; just breaking even and not going under was the goal. Frasch considered reorganizing the team in 1923 but decided against it. In 1921, the Crimson Giants had three lawyers, one physician, and one dentist on the roster. That redefines professional ball.
Wait, So How Many Cities and Teams?
In total, that makes 18 teams in the inaugural year of the NFL. These teams hail from 16 cities (Chicago had two teams) and seven states (Ohio, Illinois, New York, Wisconsin, Indiana, Minnesota, and Kentucky).
83% of the teams (15 of the 18) hail from the Midwest; two teams are from the North East (both in New York); and just one team is from the Southeast. We’ll talk more about this inaugural team in the future. Thank you, first NFL teams; you helped make the league what it is today.
