The 1920 Chicago Tigers season was their sole season in the National Football League. The team finished 2–5–1,[1] tying them for eleventh in the league.
| 1920 Chicago Tigers season | |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Guil Falcon |
| Home field | Cubs Park |
| Results | |
| Record | 2–5–1 1–5–1 APFA |
| League place | T-11th APFA |
Offseason edit
The Chicago Tigers were formed in 1920.[2] After the 1919 season, representatives of four Ohio League, a loose organization of professional football teams, teams—the Canton Bulldogs, the Cleveland Tigers, the Dayton Triangles, and the Akron 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 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.[3][4] They then invited other professional teams to a second meeting on September 17.
At that meeting, held at Bulldogs owner Ralph Hay's Hupmobile showroom in Canton, representatives of the Rock Island Independents, the Muncie Flyers, the Decatur Staleys, the Racine Cardinals, the Massillon Tigers, the Chicago Cardinals, and the Hammond Pros agreed to join the league. Representatives of the Buffalo All-Americans and Rochester Jeffersons could not attend the meeting but sent letters to Hay asking to be included in the league.[5] Team representatives changed the league's name slightly to the American Professional Football Association and elected officers, installing Jim Thorpe as president.[5][6][7] Under the new league structure, teams created their schedules dynamically as the season progressed, so there were no minimum or maximum number of games needed to be played.[8][9] Also, representatives of each team voted to determine the winner of the APFA trophy.[10]
Schedule edit
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bye | |||||
| 2 | Bye | |||||
| 3 | October 10 | Racine Cardinals | T 0–0 | 0–0–1 | Cubs Park | 5,000 |
| 4 | October 17 | Detroit Heralds | W 12–0 | 1–0–1 | Cubs Park | 5,000 |
| 5 | October 24 | Decatur Staleys | L 0–10 | 1–1–1 | Cubs Park | 5,000 |
| 6 | October 31 | at Rock Island Independents | L 7–20 | 1–2–1 | Douglas Park | — |
| 7 | November 7 | Racine Cardinals | L 3–6 | 1–3–1 | Cubs Park | 7,000 |
| 8 | November 14 | at Canton Bulldogs | L 0–21 | 1–4–1 | Lakeside Park | 8,000 |
| 9 | Bye | |||||
| 10 | November 25 | Decatur Staleys | L 0–6 | 1–5–1 | Cubs Park | 8,000 |
| November 28 | Chicago Torn-Tornadoes† | W 27–0 | 2–5–2 | Cubs Park | — | |
| 11 | Bye | |||||
| 12 | Bye | |||||
| 13 | Bye | |||||
Game summaries edit
Week 6: at Rock Island Independents edit
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tigers | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Independents | 6 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 20 |
October 31, 1920, at Douglas Park, Rock Island, Illinois
In week six, the Tigers played the Rock Island Independents. The Independents out-gained the Tigers in first downs, 14 to 3.[11] The first score of the game was a 6-yard rushing touchdown by Independents' Fred Chicken; however, the extra point was missed, so the score was only 6–0.[citation needed] The Tigers took the lead in the second quarter after Annan had a 2-yard rushing touchdown.[citation needed] Chicken ended up having two rushing touchdowns, and Wyman had another rushing touchdown, as the Independents beat the Tigers 20–7.[11]
Week 8: at Canton Bulldogs edit
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tigers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bulldogs | 0 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 21 |
November 14, 1920, at Lakeside Park, Canton Ohio
The Tigers' next matchup was against the Canton Bulldogs. Hay cancelled his game against the Hammond Pros and decided to challenge the Tigers instead because he believed the Tigers were a better team.[12] The first scoring came in the second quarter, when the Bulldogs' Bob Higgins recovered a fumble and ran it back for a touchdown.[citation needed] In the same quarter, Henry caught an interception and ran it back 50 yards for a touchdown.[citation needed] Calac then ran for a one-yard touchdown in the third quarter to seal the 21–0 win.[citation needed]
Standings edit
| 1920 APFA standings[13] | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | DPCT | PF | PA | STK | |
| Akron Pros† | 8 | 0 | 3 | 1.000 | 6–0–3 | 1.000 | 151 | 7 | T2 |
| Decatur Staleys | 10 | 1 | 2 | .909 | 5–1–2 | .833 | 164 | 21 | T1 |
| Buffalo All-Americans | 9 | 1 | 1 | .900 | 4–1–1 | .800 | 258 | 32 | T1 |
| Chicago Cardinals | 6 | 2 | 2 | .750 | 3–2–2 | .600 | 101 | 29 | T1 |
| Rock Island Independents | 6 | 2 | 2 | .750 | 4–2–1 | .667 | 201 | 49 | W1 |
| Dayton Triangles | 5 | 2 | 2 | .714 | 4–2–2 | .667 | 150 | 54 | L1 |
| Rochester Jeffersons | 6 | 3 | 2 | .667 | 0–1–0 | .000 | 156 | 57 | T1 |
| Canton Bulldogs | 7 | 4 | 2 | .636 | 4–3–1 | .571 | 208 | 57 | W1 |
| Detroit Heralds | 2 | 3 | 3 | .400 | 1–3–0 | .250 | 53 | 82 | T2 |
| Cleveland Tigers | 2 | 4 | 2 | .333 | 1–4–2 | .200 | 28 | 46 | L1 |
| Chicago Tigers | 2 | 5 | 1 | .286 | 1–5–1 | .167 | 49 | 63 | W1 |
| Hammond Pros | 2 | 5 | 0 | .286 | 0–3–0 | .000 | 41 | 154 | L3 |
| Columbus Panhandles | 2 | 6 | 2 | .250 | 0–4–0 | .000 | 41 | 121 | W1 |
| Muncie Flyers | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0–1–0 | .000 | 0 | 45 | L1 |
† Awarded the Brunswick-Balke Collender Cup and named APFA Champions.
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.
Roster edit
Notes edit
- ^ 1920 Chicago Tigers
- ^ Quirk & Fort 1997, p. 412
- ^ PFRA Research 1980, pp. 3–4
- ^ Siwoff, Zimmber & Marini 2010, pp. 352–353
- ^ a b PFRA Research 1980, p. 4
- ^ "Thorpe Made President" (PDF). The New York Times. September 19, 1920. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
- ^ "Organize Pro Gridders; Choose Thorpe, Prexy". The Milwaukee Journal. September 19, 1920. p. 24. Archived from the original on July 11, 2012. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
- ^ Peterson 1997, p. 74
- ^ Davis 2005, p. 59
- ^ Price, Mark (April 25, 2011). "Searching for Lost Trophy". Akron Beacon-Journal. Retrieved June 23, 2012.
- ^ a b Herrera, Simon. "Chicago Tigers Prove no Match for Locals". RockIslandIndependents.com. Retrieved December 6, 2012.
- ^ "Forward Into Invisibility" (PDF). Professional Football Researchers Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 18, 2010. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
- ^ "NFL – 1920 Regular Season". National Football League. Retrieved January 6, 2013.
- ^ "1920 Chicago Tigers (APFA)". The Pro Football Archives. Maher Sports Media. Retrieved December 6, 2012.
References edit
- Davis, Jeff (2005). Papa Bear, The Life and Legacy of George Halas. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-146054-3.
- Peterson, Robert (1997). Pigskin: The Early Years of Pro Football. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-507607-9.
- Quirk, James; Fort, Rodney (1997). Pay Dirt: The Business of Professional Team Sports. Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691015743.
- PFRA Research (1980). "Happy Birthday NFL?" (PDF). The Coffin Corner. 2 (8). Professional Football Researchers Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 11, 2012.
- Siwoff, Seymour; Zimmber, Jon; Marini, Matt (2010). The Official NFL Record and Fact Book 2010. National Football League. ISBN 978-1-60320-833-8.
- Ziemba, Joe (1999). When Football Was Football: The Chicago Cardinals and the Birth of the NFL. Triumph Books. ISBN 1-57243-317-5.
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