Greatness Isn't Cheap; It Takes a Lot of Hard Work to Reach This Level of Play A marauding band of football players were roaming our nation's landscape, trying to build a new league, but generally just trying to play for the enjoyment of completing at the highest level of football. A New League Was Formed! By John R. Balazs administrator@footballhistorian.com 1922 National Football League - First Season Final Standing: Canton Bulldogs 10-0-2... Chicago Bears 9-3-0... Chicago Cardinals 8-3-0... Toledo Maroons 5-2-2... Rock Island Independents 4-2-1... Racine Legion 6-4-1... Dayton Triangles 4-3-1... Green Bay Packers 4-3-3... Buffalo All-Americans 5-4-1... Akron Pros 3-5-2... Milwaukee Badgers 2-4-3... Oorang Indians 2-6-0... Minneapolis Marines 1-3-0... Louisville Brecks 1-3-0... Evansville Crimson Giants 0-3-0... Rochester Jeffersons 0-4-1... Hammond Pros 0-5-1... Columbus Panhandles 0-7-0...

* In 1922, two player-coaches, had the honor of picking All-Pro performers. George Halas, Chicago Bears, selected players for several newspapers and Guy Chamberlin, Canton (Ohio) Bulldogs, for the 'Canton Daily News'. Starting in 1923, an All-Pro team appeared annually in the 'Green Bay Press-Gazette', where pro football was covered thoroughly. The 'Press-Gazette' polled sportswriters from large cities, coaches, team owners and NFL officials to collect their All Pro team. They ran the poll from 1923-1931 and 1933-1935.

* Curly Lambeau, Green Bay Packers Tailback, BB, Fullback, End - 1921-1929, a big-name backfield star, he was selected All Pro in three straight years, 1922-24, and is regarded as one of the early pioneers of NFL football. * Luke Urban, Buffalo All-Americans End and Blocking Back - a native of Massachusetts, he well-regarded star at Boston College. Urban played just three pro football seasons, all with Buffalo, and was honored as an All-Pro performer each year, 1921-23. * Al 'Whitey' Nesser, Canton Bulldogs, Guard - a native of Ohio, he played from 1920-1931, and the 6-ft, 195-pounder was an All Pro five consecutive years - 1921 thru 1925. A swift moving, muscular guard, Nesser played a big-role in Canton's winning three straight pro championships - 1921-23.

Not Up To Snuff... Evansville Crimson Giants
Organized in 1921... the Evansville, Indiana squad called it quits after just the third game in 1922

The Evansville Crimson Giants debuted in the pro leagues in 1921 and played in the American Professional Football Association. According to an old local newspaper - 'they surprised local fans in developing a winning team' and 'the Giants' one-sided victories over inferior non-league teams has had good fan reaction.'

The team went 3-2-1 in league play in 1921 but their initial year in the NFL (1922) was clearly a disaster. First they lost their home field to a semi-pro team and had to schedule all games on the road.

Secondly, they got shutout, 15-0, in the season opener to the Toledo Maroons, and got crushed 60-0 by the Rock Island Independents in their second game, and after losing 13-6 in their third game to the Louisville Brecks - the Evansville Crimson Giants folded.

Football History

Dayton Triangles
1920-1929... Early NFL Team

A charter member of the NFL, the team was 4-3-1 in 1922

Led by manager Carl Stock, the Dayton, Ohio, team started in the American Professional Football Association back in 1920. Led by backfield ball carriers Lou Partlow and Francis Bacon, and tailback/quarterback Al Mahrt the Triangles compiled a 4-3-1 record in 1922 - its last winning NFL season.

Playing in a small park, the Dayton Triangles failed to draw crowds, and were forced to play the majority of their games on the road. After two winless season - 1928-1929 -, the team was sold to investors in Brooklyn and renamed the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Later, Carl Stock served as NFL secretary for almost two decades and assumed the office of league president after Joe Carr passed away.

A well-known fullback, Louis Partlow played 10 years with the Dayton squad and retired when the team was moved to Brooklyn. Frank Bacon, one of the fastest player in the league, attended Wabash College prior to joining the Triangles and played with the team from 1920-1925. Alphonse 'Al' Mahrt, a native of Ohio and the team's passer, starred at the University of Dayton, and played three seasons - 1920-1922.

Toledo Maroons
Played two years in the NFL - 1922-1923

The Maroons from Toledo, Ohio, ran up a 5-2-2 record in their initial NFL season, 1922. However, to tell the truth - the level of competition was suspect. Their opponents' combined mark was only 7-23-2. And, the Maroons scheduled easy opponents again in 1923 and finished this season at 3-3-2. However, when they were blasted 28-0 in the last game of the season by the Dayton Bulldogs, the Toledo squad played its last game.

Football History

Leading Scorers - 1922
From NFL Archives - First Official Season

1922 Leading Scorers:

Hank Gillo, Racine Legion, 52 Points - 5 TD, 6FG, 4XP... Jimmy Conzelman, Rock Island Independents, 48 Points - 7 TD, 2FG... Guy Chamberlin, Canton Bulldogs, 42 Points - 7 TD... Edward 'Dutch' Sternaman, Chicago Bears, 41 Points - 3 TD, 6FG, 5XP... Paddy Driscoll, Chicago Cardinals, 40 Points - 2 TD, 8FG, 4XP...

Touchdown Leaders: Guy Chamberlin, Canton Bulldogs - 7 Touchdowns... Jimmy Conzelman, Chicago Cardinals - 7 Touchdowns

Field Goal Leader: Paddy Driscoll, Cardinals - 8 Field Goals

Extra Point Leader: Russ Hathaway, Dayton Triangles and Canton Bulldogs - 9 Extra Points

Breakdown of Teams' Locations:

1922 NFL Teams:

Canton Bulldogs from Ohio... Toledo Maroons from Ohio... Rock Island Independents from Illinois... Racine Legion from Wisconsin... Akron Pros from Ohio... Oorang Indians from LaRue, Ohio... Evansville Crimson Giants from Indiana... Rochester Jeffersons from New York... Hammond Pros from Indiana... Columbus Panhandles from Ohio... Chicago Bears and Chicago Cardinals from Illinois... Buffalo All-Americans from New York... Dayton Triangles from Ohio... Milwaukee Badgers from Wisconsin... Green Bay Packers from Wisconsin... Minneapolis Marines from Minnesota... Louisville Brecks from Ketucky...

Bronco defense upends Raiders - 1981 Opening Game

Defending Super Bowl Champs fall 9-7 to Denver From the Chicago Sun-Times - Sept 7, 1981 Newspaper Clipping as follows: Denver - Despite four botched field-goal attempts in the fourth period and a conservative game plan, the Denver Broncos bumped off the defending Super Bowl champion Oakland Raiders 9-7 Sunday and made a success of Dan Reeves regular-season debut as a head coach. 'It's hard to explain, it's just hard to believe you can come out and win a game against the defending world champions like that,' Reeves said. 'I can't say enough about our entire team, in particular the defense. Craig Morton threw a 44-yard scoring pass to Rick Upchurch, helping Denver to a halftime lead, and the Bronco defense forced three turnovers in the final quarter. Morton said his TD pass play was 'designed perfectly. Oakland didn't roll into a zone, in which case I would have looked at (tight end) Odoms, so I just put the ball up and let Upchurch run under it.' Oakland coach Tom Flores said it was 'disappointing to lose the opener.' 'We gave them too much life,' Flores said. 'Their defense played well and they ran the ball well on us. We have no excuses.' The Raiders scored on their first possession, with Jim Plunkett hitting tight end Raymond Chester on a nine-yard scoring toss. But Oakland was ineffective after that, giving up the ball on downs twice in the fourth quarter, and suffering an interception and a fumble, on which the Broncos ultimately weren't able to capitalize. Five minutes after Chester's TD, Morton hit Upchurch in the end zone. But the Broncos failed on the extra-point attempt because of a bad snap and Oakland led 7-6. Early in the second quarter, after the Bronco defense had pinned Oakland deep in its own territory, Morton hit Haven Moses on a 24-yard pass to set up Fred Steinfort's 29-yard field goal with 9:31 left.... footballhistorian.com - Archives - Newspaper Clipping

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