- August 20, 1920 - The American Professional Football Conference is formed at Canton Bulldogs' owner Ralph Hay's Hupmobile Showroom in Canton. This orgainzation would later, in 1922, change its name to the National Football League. For more on Ralph Hay please check out this podcast from our friend Arnie Chapman, the Football History Dude, Ralph Hay Episode. Though more teams would sign on on September 17, 1920 the following franchises started business operations within the APFC on this day. The Pro Football Hall of Fame's website credits the following teams with launching their APFA/NFL franchises on August 20, 1920:
- Buffalo All-Americans/Bisons/Rangers/Bisons franchise forms (1920-1929), but had no documented reprsentation at organizational meeting. Friend of the site, Bill Schaefer from Gridiron Uniforms, has graciously shared his research and talents to let us see what the Buffalo players were wearing back then.
Graphics courtesy of Gridiron Uniform Database http://www.gridiron-uniforms.com/
- Rochester Jeffersons franchise forms (1920-1925), but had no documented reprsentation at organizational meeting. See more on this team here: Rochester Jeffs
- Hammond Pros ( 1920 - 1926)
- Akron Pros (1920-26)
- Cleveland Tigers/Indians franchise forms (1920-21). Please read about them below.
- Canton Bulldogs franchise forms (1920-1926). Please read about them below.
- Carl Storck, manager of the Dayton Triangles was also in attendance at this famous meeting.
Author Chris Willis in his great book The Man Who Built the National Football League: Joe F. Carr , says that only four of these franchises met in Hay's offices at the Hupmobile Showroom on August 20, 1920. Besides Hay and his Bulldogs players Jim Thorpe, Frank Neid and partner Art Ranney of the Akron Pros, Cleveland Indians manager Jimmy O'Donnell with PR dirctor Stanley Cofall and Carl Storck manager of the Triangles
The scoop on Canton and Cleveland early teams
The Canton Bulldogs and early Cleveland teams have an extremely interesting history. Our good friend of the site and expert football historian, Larry Schmitt of the Gridiron Uniform Database has shared some great information on the early Canton and Cleveland teams and since he explained it so eloquently I will let his words tell the story to all of you as well:
The Canton & Cleveland teams are among those whose history get confused, and it has to do with name changes and taking a year off.
The Canton Bulldogs are obviously one of the legendary teams that predates the NFL. They were a power house of the 1910s with Jim Thorpe as the first pro football star. They were charter members of the APFA in 1920 and Thorpe was the league's first Commissioner (in reality, it was in title only just to get his name out to the public for credibility), as were the Cleveland Tigers. In 1922 the Tigers were renamed the Indians and disbanded at the conclusion of the season. Meanwhile, the Canton Bulldogs led, by the great player-coach Guy Chamberlin were, the first back-to-back champions in NFL history, dominating the competition with an aggregate 18-1-1 record spanning 1922-1923.
Here's where things can get confusing. Despite their on-field success, Canton was struggling financially and had trouble meeting payroll so they suspended operations for the 1924 season. In 1923 a new Cleveland Indians team was started - this was not the same franchise from 1920-1921. Seeing an opportunity to cash in on some notoriety, the Cleveland team signed several of the Canton players and renamed their team the Bulldogs. (Some people confuse this as the Canton team relocating, but that was not the case). The Cleveland Bulldogs, with their bolstered roster, won the NFL title in 1924, but this should not be thought of as a three-peat, although for some of the players who were in Canton this was their third title in a row. Cleveland was a unique franchise from Canton.
Furthering this point, as well as adding to the confusion, the Canton Bulldogs rejoined the NFL in 1925 but the Cleveland team refused to change their name back to Indians (even though many of the players they had signed in 1924 went back to Canton) so there were two Bulldog teams in the league in 1925 and both finished in the middle of the pack in the standings. Cleveland suspended operations for 1926 while Canton played out the season then folded for good. The Cleveland Bulldogs came back for one more try in 1927 before folding as well.
- August 20, 1922 - Toledo Maroons franchise forms (1922-23)
- August 20, 1991 - Miami Dolphin quarterback Dan Marino becomes the highest paid NFL player when he signed a 5 year extension worth a whopping $25 million. He surpassed Joe Montana who had the NFL record salary prior to that. Now almost 30 years later quarterbacks are making more than that in one season!
