National Football League (USA) Champions 1920-1932
Enda Mulcahy
National Football League Logo [Ref: 2]
Champions 1920-1932
Year
P
W
L
T
Pct
1920 +
Akron Pros
11
8
0
3
1.000
1921
Chicago Staleys
11
9
1
1
.900
1922
Canton Bulldogs
12
10
0
2
1.000
1923
Canton Bulldogs
12
11
0
1
1.000
1924
Cleveland Bulldogs
9
7
1
1
.875
1925
Chicago Cardinals
14
11
2
1
.846
1926
Frankford Yellow Jackets
17
14
1
2
.933
1927
New York Giants
13
11
1
1
.917
1928
Providence Steam Roller
11
8
1
2
.889
1929
Green Bay Packers
13
12
0
1
1.000
1930
Green Bay Packers
14
10
3
1
.769
1931
Green Bay Packers
14
12
2
0
.857
1932 *
Chicago Bears
14
7
1
6
.875
National Football League Champions 1920-1932 [Ref: 1]
Note: + No Official Standings kept in 1920. * Chicago Bears won Playoff against Portsmouth Spartans 9-0 after both teams finished tied at the top with 6 wins and 1 loss.
Note 2: Chicago Staleys are considered the same team as the Chicago Bears by the NFL. The Bears owner bought out the Decatur Staleys franchise in 1921 and moved them to Chicago, but the owner of the Staleys paid the new owner to keep the name Staleys for one year, after which they became the Chicago Bears.
Note 3: Ties were discounted in calculating W-L Winning Percentages at the time.
Report
The American Professional Football association was formed in late 1919 by the leading teams in the Ohio League (then the most pre-eminent Pro Football League in the USA) in order to provide a common set of rules and prevent players jumping from team to team in search of the biggest pay packet. The four original franchises (Canton Bulldogs, Akro Pros, Rock Island Independents and Dayton Triangles) invited the top teams from the New York Pro Football Circuit (Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse), Pennsylvania and New York City / New Jersey Circuits to join them in forming the first true National Football League.
The League changed its name to the National Football League from APFA in 1922, and in 1932 after the League finished in a tie the first Championship Game was arranged after the season ended. Chicago Bears defeated the Portsmouth Spartans 9-0 to win the Championship. After this the decision was made to split the League into two divisions (Eastern and Western) with a pre-arranged Championship Game between the Division Winners.
The Champions of the APFA / NFL during these years were Akron Pros (1920), Chicago Staleys (1921), Canton Bulldogs (1922, 1923), Cleveland Bulldogs (1924), Chicago Cardinals (1925), Frankford Yellow Jackets (Philadelphia suburb) (1926), New York Giants (1927), Providence Steam Roller (1928), Green Bay Packers (1929-1931) and Chicago Bears (1932).
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