1920 Chicago Tigers season

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

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

1920 Chicago Tigers season

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Venue	Attendance	Record
1	No game scheduled
2	No game scheduled
3	October 10, 1920	vs. Chicago Cardinals	0–0 T	Cubs Park	5,000	0–0–1
4	October 17, 1920	vs. Detroit Heralds	12–0 W	Cubs Park	5,000	1–0–1
5	October 24, 1920	vs. Decatur Staleys	10–0 L	Cubs Park	5,000	1–1–1
6	October 31, 1920	at Rock Island Independents	20–7 L	Douglas Park	N/A	1–2–1
7	November 7, 1920	vs. Chicago Cardinals	6–3 L	Cubs Park	7,000	1–3–1
8	November 14, 1920	at Canton Bulldogs	21–0 L	Lakeside Park	8,000	1–4–1
9	No game scheduled
10	November 25, 1920	vs. Decatur Staleys	6–0 L	Cubs Park	8,000	1–5–1
	November 28, 1920	vs. Chicago Torn-Tornadoes	27–0 W	Cubs Park	N/A	2–5–1
11	No game scheduled
12	No game scheduled
13	No game scheduled

Game summaries

Week 6: at Rock Island Independents

	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. The Tigers took the lead in the second quarter after Annan had a 2-yard rushing touchdown. 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

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tigers	0	0	6	0	6
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. In the same quarter, Henry caught an interception and ran it back 50 yards for a touchdown. Calac then ran for a one-yard touchdown in the third quarter to seal the 21–0 win.

Standings

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

1920 Chicago Cardinals[14] final roster

	Quarterbacks – Milt Ghee Running backs – Dunc Annan TB – Johnny Barrett (American football) TB – Ralph Capron WB – Ben Derr TB – Alfred Eissler FB – Guil Falcon FB – Grover Malone WB Wide receivers – N/A Tight ends – N/A		Offensive linemen – Sid Bennett OT – John Bosdett LOE – Garland Buckeye ROG – Paul Des Jardien C – Dick Falcon ROG – Emmett Keefe LOG – Oscar Knop ROE – Neil Mathews LOT – Jack Meagher LOE – Jock Mungavin LOE – Dick Pierce ROG – Lew Reeve LOT – Frank Rydzewski ROT – Walter Voight LOG – Pete Volz LOG Defensive linemen – Sid Bennett DT – John Bosdett DE – Garland Buckeye DG – Dick Falcon DG – Emmett Keefe DG – Oscar Knop DE – Neil Mathews DT – Jack Meagher DE – Jock Mungavin DE – Dick Pierce DG – Lew Reeve DT – Frank Rydzewski DT – Walter Voight DG – Pete Volz DG		Linebackers – Alfred Eissler – Guil Falcon Defensive backs – Dunc Annan – Johnny Barrett (American football) – Ralph Capron – Ben Derr – Milt Ghee – Grover Malone Special teams – N/A		Reserve lists – N/A Practice squad – N/A Rookies in italics 23 active, 0 inactive, 0 practice squad

Notes

1. 1920 Chicago Tigers
2. Quirk & Fort 1997, p. 412
3. PFRA Research 1980, pp. 3–4
4. Siwoff, Zimmber & Marini 2010, pp. 352–353
5. PFRA Research 1980, p. 4
6. "Thorpe Made President" (PDF). The New York Times. September 19, 1920. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
7. "Organize Pro Gridders; Choose Thorpe, Prexy". The Milwaukee Journal. September 19, 1920. p. 24. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
8. Peterson 1997, p. 74
9. Davis 2005, p. 59
10. Price, Mark (April 25, 2011). "Searching for Lost Trophy". Akron Beacon-Journal. Retrieved June 23, 2012.
11. Herrera, Simon. "Chicago Tigers Prove no Match for Locals". RockIslandIndependents.com. Retrieved December 6, 2012.
12. "Forward Into Invisibility" (PDF). Professional Football Researchers Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 2, 2012. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
13. "NFL – 1920 Regular Season". National Football League. Retrieved January 6, 2013.
14. "1920 Chicago Tigers (APFA)". The Pro Football Archives. Maher Sports Media. Retrieved December 6, 2012.

References

• Davis, Jeff (2005). Papa Bear, The Life and Legacy of George Halas. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-146054-3.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Peterson, Robert (1997). Pigskin: The Early Years of Pro Football. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-507607-9.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Quirk, James; Fort, Rodney (1997). Pay Dirt: The Business of Professional Team Sports. Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691015743.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• PFRA Research (1980). "Happy Birthday NFL?" (PDF). The Coffin Corner. Professional Football Researchers Association. 2 (8). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 2, 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.