1927 NFL season
Team Head coach ( es ) Stadium
Buffalo Bisons § Dim Batterson Bison Stadium
Chicago Bears George Halas Wrigley Field
Chicago Cardinals Guy Chamberlain Normal Park
Cleveland Bulldogs † Roy Andrews Dunn Field
Dayton Triangles Lou Mahrt Triangle Park
Duluth Eskimos Ernie Nevers Traveling team
Frankford Yellow Jackets Charley Moran ( 8 games ) , Russ Daugherty , Charley Rogers , Ed Weir and Swede Youngstrom ( 10 games ) Frankford Stadium
Green Bay Packers Curly Lambeau City Stadium
New York Giants Earl Potteiger Polo Grounds
New York Yankees * Ralph Scott Yankee Stadium
Pottsville Maroons Dick Rauch Minersville Park
Providence Steam Roller Jimmy Conzelman Cycledrome
Teams
The league dropped from 22 teams in 1926 to 12 teams in 1927 . Rejoined the NFL † Merged from 1926 AFL * Last active season ^ Last season before hiatus , rejoined league later §
The 1927 NFL season was the eighth regular season of the National Football League. Prior to the season, the league decided to eliminate the financially weaker teams. As a result, the league dropped from 22 to 12 teams. The league absorbed many players and one franchise (the New York Yankees) from the defunct American Football League. Wilfrid Smith in the Chicago Tribune wrote that the reduction formed a more compact circuit and provided better competition. Smith opined that the outstanding feature of the 1927 NFL season was the debut of Benny Friedman who became one of the game's best drawing cards and proved that professional football could support itself in Cleveland. Although five black players participated in the 1926 season (including future Hall of Famer Fritz Pollard), none played during the 1927 season. The New York Yankees were added from the American Football League (albeit technically as a continuation of the defunct Brooklyn franchise), Cleveland Bulldogs returned and Buffalo Rangers returned to the Buffalo Bisons name. The Bisons suspended operations five games into the season (all losses). The axed teams were Kansas City Cowboys, Los Angeles Buccaneers, Detroit Panthers, Hartford Blues, Brooklyn Lions, Canton Bulldogs, Milwaukee Badgers, Akron Indians, Racine Tornadoes, Columbus Tigers, Hammond Pros, and Louisville Colonels. The excising of the majority of the Ohio teams left the Dayton Triangles as the last surviving connection to the Ohio League, which served as the basis for the NFL's founding. The New York Giants were named the NFL champions after finishing the season with the best record.