1920 APFA season
Player Position Team
Bob Marshall End Rock Island Independents
Bob Nash End Akron Pros
Burt Ingwerson Tackle Decatur Staleys
Walt Buland Tackle Rock Island Independents
Brad Tomlin Guard Akron Pros
Ross Petty Guard Decatur Staleys
Freeman Fitzgerald Center Rock Island Independents
Milt Chee Quarterback Chicago Tigers
Ed Sternaman Halfback Decatur Staleys
Frank Bacon Halfback Dayton Triangles
Pete Calac Fullback Canton Bulldogs
Third-Team All-Pro
The 1920 APFA season was the inaugural season of the American Professional Football Association, renamed the National Football League in 1922. The league was formed on August 20, 1920, by independent professional American football teams from Ohio, all of whom had previously played in the Ohio League or New York Pro Football League (NYPFL). At the meeting, they first called their new league the American Professional Football Conference. A second organizational meeting was held in Canton on September 17, adding more teams to the league, and at the meeting, the name of the league became the American Professional Football Association. Four other teams also joined the Association during the year. Meanwhile, Jim Thorpe of the Canton Bulldogs was named the APFA's first president but continued to play for the team. Scheduling was left up to each team. There were wide variations, both in the overall number of games played, and in the number played against other Association members. Thus, no official standings were maintained. In addition, football teams in the APFA also faced independent football teams not associated with the league. For instance, the Rochester Jeffersons played a schedule consisting mostly of local teams from their local sandlot circuit and the NYPFL, not the APFA. The Akron Pros ended the season as the only undefeated team in the Association.