1920 Buffalo All-Americans season | |
---|---|
Head Coach | Tommy Hughitt |
Home Field | Canisius College Buffalo Baseball Park |
Results | |
Record | 9-1-1 Overall 4-1-1 APFA |
Place | 3rd APFA |
Playoff Finish | Lost title to Akron Pros after 0-0 tie in final game |
Timeline | |
Previous season | Next season |
1919 | 1921 |
The 1920 Buffalo All-Americans season was their inaugural season in the league. The team finished 9-1-1,[1] enough for third place in the league. It was one of only four teams to finish the 1920 season.
This season was most notable for the last two games of the team's schedule. The first of these was a showcase game between the All-Americans and the league's flagship franchise, the Canton Bulldogs, in New York City's Polo Grounds. About 20,000 fans showed up for the game, a significant number for the still-regional league, and it spurred efforts, first with the New York Brickley Giants in 1921 and later with the New York Giants in 1925, to put a team in New York City.
The second game ended up deciding the championship. Held on the next day against the Akron Pros, a win would have likely secured the All-Americans the league title. However, the team only managed a scoreless tie with the Pros. Buffalo, however, still felt it had a strong case for a share of the title, and made their case before the league owners in April 1921. Buffalo stood at 9-1-1 and Akron at 8-0-3. Each team had eight more wins than losses, and Buffalo could also make the case that their lone loss, against Canton, was partially negated by their later win in the Polo Grounds due to a rule that gave more weight to late-season games than earlier ones. Joe Carr didn't buy the argument, and moved to give Akron, by virtue of being undefeated, the sole title and possession of the Brunswick-Balke Collender Cup. The motion was accepted. Buffalo was given third place (the Decatur Staleys, who also made a pitch for a share of the title, took second). Worth noting is that under current interpretation, which counts ties (now very rare due to overtime) as half-wins and half-losses[2], Buffalo and Akron would have indeed been tied for the title at 9½-1½, but league rules ignored ties at the time.
Offseason[]
The Buffalo All-Americans, who were named the Buffalo Prospects, finished 9–1–1 in their 1919 season in the New York Pro Football League.[3] As a result, they won the New York Championship.[4] On August 20, 1920, a meeting attended by representatives of four Ohio League teams—the Canton Bulldogs, the Cleveland Tigers, the Dayton Triangles, and the Akron Pros—was held. At the meeting, the representatives tentatively agreed to introduce a salary cap for the teams, not to sign college players nor players under contract with another team, and called their new league the American Professional Football Conference.[5] They then contacted other major professional teams and invited them to a meeting for September 17.[6]
At the meeting in September, held at the Bulldogs' owner Ralph Hay's Hupmobile showroom, representatives of the Rock Island Independents, the Muncie Flyers, the Decatur Staleys, the Racine Cardinals, the Massillon Tigers, the Chicago Cardinals, the Rochester Jeffersons, and the Hammond Pros were present. During the meeting, the name of American Professional Football Association was chosen; officers of the league were elected with Jim Thorpe as president; the trophy that would be awarded to the league champions; as well as other things.[7][8][9]
Schedule[]
The table below was compiled using the information from NFL History, which used various contemporary newspapers.[10] For the results column, the winning team's score is posted first. For the attendance, if a block has "N/A", then that means there is an unknown figure for that game. The green-colored cells indicates a win; the yellow-colored cells indicates a tie; and the red-colored cells indicate a loss.
Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Venue | Attendance | Record | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | No game scheduled | |||||||
2 | October 3, 1920 | vs. West Buffalo | 32–6 W | Buffalo Canisius Field | N/A | 1–0 | ||
3 | October 10, 1920 | vs. All-Buffalo | 51–0 W | Buffalo Canisius Field | N/A | 2–0 | ||
4 | October 17, 1920 | vs. McKeesport Olympics | 28–7 W | Buffalo Canisius Field | N/A | 3–0 | ||
5 | October 24, 1920 | at Toledo Maroons | 38–0 W | Buffalo Canisius Field | 6,000 | 4–0 | ||
6 | October 31, 1920 | vs. Rochester Jeffersons | 17–6 W | Buffalo Canisius Field | 7,500 | 5–0 | ||
7 | November 7, 1920 | vs. All-Tonawanda Lumberjacks | 35–0 W | Buffalo Canisius Field | 7,000 | 6–0 | ||
8 | November 14, 1920 | vs. Columbus Panhandles | 43–7 W | Buffalo Canisius Field | 9,000 | 7–0 | ||
9 | November 21, 1920 | vs. Canton Bulldogs | 3–0 L | Buffalo Baseball Park | 9,000 | 7–1 | ||
10 | November 28, 1920 | vs. Cleveland Tigers | 7–0 W | Buffalo Baseball Park | 5,000 | 8–1 | ||
11 | December 4, 1920 | vs. Canton Bulldogs | 7–3 W | New York Polo Grounds | 10,000 | 9–1 | ||
December 5, 1920 | vs. Akron Pros | 0–0 T | Buffalo Baseball Park | 3,000 | 9–1–1 | |||
12 | No game scheduled | |||||||
13 | No game scheduled |
Game summaries[]
Week 2[]
West Buffalo (0-0-0) at Buffalo All-Americans (0-0-0) - Canisius Field
On a rainy afternoon in Buffalo the All-Americans dismantled the local semi pro team from West Buffalo. Bodie Weldon ran for an early score in the 1st quarter. Quarterback Tommy Hughitt and Weldon added touchdowns in the 2nd quarter to make the score of the game 19-0 going into halftime. Hughitt scored from a yard out in the third quarter to make the score 25-0. West Buffalo got on the scoreboard when Bob Langdon intercepted a Buffalo pass and ran it back 75 yards for a touchdown. Buffalo finished off the scoring in the 4th quarter and won the game 32-6.[11]
Week 8: vs. Columbus Panhandles[]
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Panhandles | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
All-Americans | 6 | 23 | 7 | 7 | 43 |
November 14, 1920 at Canisius Field
Under 9,000 fans, the All-Americans played an APFA opponent, the Columbus Panhandles.[12] At the end of the first quarter, the game near-even; the score was 7–6, Panhandles. After that, the game "proved disastrous" to the Panhandles.[13] The final score was 43–7; the only score was a receiving touchdown from Homer Ruh.[14] The All-Americans had six rushing touchdowns, four of which came from Smith. The other two came from Anderson and Hughitt. From these six rushing touchdowns, five of the extra points were converted, and the Panhandles' offense allowed a safety.[14]
Week 11: vs. Akron Pros[]
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pros | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
All-Americans | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
December 5, 1920 at Buffalo Baseball Park
The All-Americans had the Akron Pros as their next opponent. The All-Americans were tired from their victory against the Canton Bulldogs the day before.[15] Before the start of the game, Bob Nash of Akron was sold to the All-Americans for $300 and 5% of the Akron-Buffalo gate, making the first deal in APFA history.[15] The reason for the trade was because rain caused a low amount of fans.[15] However, Nash did not appear in the game for either team, and Scotty Bierce replaced Nash for the Pros.[15] The rain caused sloppy game play as well as a small crowd of 3,000 people.[15][16] It resulted in a 0–0 tie.[16]
Standings[]
1920 APFA standings | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | STK | |||
Akron Pros | 8 | 0 | 3 | 1.000 | 151 | 7 | T2 | ||
Decatur Staleys | 10 | 1 | 2 | .909 | 164 | 21 | T1 | ||
Buffalo All-Americans | 9 | 1 | 1 | .900 | 258 | 32 | T1 | ||
Chicago Cardinals | 6 | 2 | 1 | .750 | 101 | 29 | L1 | ||
Rock Island Independents | 6 | 2 | 2 | .750 | 201 | 49 | W1 | ||
Dayton Triangles | 5 | 2 | 2 | .714 | 150 | 54 | L1 | ||
Rochester Jeffersons | 6 | 3 | 2 | .667 | 156 | 57 | T1 | ||
Canton Bulldogs | 7 | 4 | 2 | .636 | 208 | 57 | W1 | ||
Detroit Heralds | 2 | 3 | 3 | .400 | 53 | 82 | T2 | ||
Cleveland Tigers | 2 | 4 | 2 | .333 | 28 | 46 | L1 | ||
Chicago Tigers | 2 | 5 | 1 | .286 | 49 | 63 | W1 | ||
Hammond Pros | 2 | 5 | 0 | .286 | 41 | 154 | L3 | ||
Columbus Panhandles | 2 | 6 | 2 | .250 | 41 | 121 | W1 | ||
Muncie Flyers | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 45 | L1 |
Notes[]
- ↑ 1920 Buffalo All-Americans
- ↑ http://www.nfl.com/standings/tiebreakingprocedures
- ↑ Crippen (2001), p. 4
- ↑ Crippen (2001), p. 3
- ↑ Siwoff, Zimmber & Marini (2010), pp. 352–353
- ↑ PFRA Research (1980), pp. 1
- ↑ Carroll (1982), p. 1
- ↑ "Thorpe Made President" (PDF). The New York Times. September 19, 1920. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9503E5DC173AE532A2575AC1A96F9C946195D6CF. Retrieved December 11, 2011.
- ↑ "Organize Pro Gridders; Choose Thorpe, Prexy". The Milwaukee Journal: p. 24. September 19, 1920. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=f8MWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=OiEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3568,5105560&dq=gridders&hl=en. Retrieved December 11, 2011.
- ↑ NFL History (2003), pp. 1–7
- ↑ http://www.angelfire.com/sports/Buffalofootballhist/
- ↑ Willis (2007), p. 174
- ↑ Willis (2007), p. 173
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 NFL History (2003), p. 5
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 Carroll (1982), p.3
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 NFL History (2003), p. 6
References[]
- Carroll, Bob (1982). "Akron Pros 1920". The Coffin Corner (Professional Football Researchers Association) 4 (12). http://www.profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/04-12-119.pdf.
- Crippen, Ken (2001). "1919 Buffalo Prospects". The Coffin Corner (Professional Football Researchers Association) 23 (5). http://www.profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/23-05-910.pdf.
- NFL History (March 10, 2003). "1920 American Professional Football Association". NFL History. Archived from the original on February 7, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070222012552/http://nflhistory.net/linescores/pdf/1920.pdf.
- PFRA Research (1980). "Happy Birthday NFL?". The Coffin Corner (Professional Football Researchers Association) 2 (8). http://www.profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/02-08-038.pdf.
- Siwoff, Seymour; Zimmber, Jon; Marini, Matt (2010). The Official NFL Record and Fact Book 2010. National Football League. ISBN 978-1-60320-833-8.
- Willis, Chris (2007). The Columbus Panhandles: A Complete History of Pro Football's Toughest Team, 1900–1922. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-5893-0.
Further reading[]
- Miller, Jeffrey (2004). Buffalo's Forgotten Champions: The Story of Buffalo's First Professional Football Team and the Lost 1921 Title. Philadelphia, PA: Xlibris Corporation. ISBN 978-1-4134-5006-4. OCLC 62741326.
Akron | Buffalo | Canton | Chicago Cardinals | Chicago Tigers | Cleveland |
Columbus | Dayton | Decatur | Detroit | Hammond | Muncie |
Rochester | Rock Island |
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