Saturday, September 26, 2020

September 26, 1920. The first NFL game played, sort of.

The first football game played by a member team of the AFPA, the precursor today's NFL, the Rock Island Independents was played against non AFPA St. Paul Ideas.  It was counted in the associations season in spite of a non AFPA professional team being the competitor.

The first games between member teams would occur on October 3, 1920 when their were seven matches, but even then two of those seven were against non member teams.  Non member teams would figure as a minority of teams that played in the season, but they played nonetheless. The season ran into December.

It's interesting that even in 1920 Sunday games were their norm.

Of the original fourteen teams, only the Chicago Bears remains.  Most folded in the 1920s.  The Bears were originally the Decatur Staleys.

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