1920 Decatur Staleys season

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1920 Decatur Staleys season
Head coachGeorge Halas
Home fieldStaley Field
Results
Record10–1–2
League place2nd APFA

The

American Professional Football Association
.

The team improved on their 6–1 record from 1919 to a 10–1–2 record and earning them a second-place finish in the league standings. In the last league game of the season, the Staleys needed a win versus Akron to have a chance at the title. Akron, predictably, played for a tie, achieved that, and won the first APFA title.

The stars of the Staleys were Ed "Dutch" Sternaman, Jimmy Conzelman, and George Halas. Sternaman had a remarkable season with 11 rushing TDs, 1 receiving TDs, 4 field goals, and 3 PATs, totaling 87 points scored out of the Staleys' total of 164. Jimmy Conzelman ran for two scores and threw two more. Halas led the team in receiving scores with 2.

Offseason

The Decatur Staleys finished 6–1 in their 1919 season as an independent team.[2] Their 1919 owner, George Chamberlain, asked George Halas to help manage the team, and Halas accepted.[3] After the 1919 season, representatives of four Ohio League 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 Association.[4][5] They then invited other professional teams to a second meeting on September 17.

At that meeting, held at Bulldogs owner

Buffalo All-Americans and Rochester Jeffersons could not attend the meeting, but sent letters to Hay asking to be included in the league.[6] Team representatives changed the league's name slightly to the American Professional Football Association and elected officers, installing Jim Thorpe as president.[6][7][8] 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.[9][10] Also, representatives of each team voted to determine the winner of the APFA trophy.[11]

Schedule

If a team has a dagger (†), then that team is in a non-APFA team. For the attendance, if a cell is greyed out and has "N/A", then that means there is an unknown figure for that game. The green-colored cells indicates a win; the yellow-colored cells indicates a tie; and the red-colored cells indicate a loss.

Game Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 Bye
2 October 3 vs. Moline Universal Tractors† W 20–0 1–0 Staley Field 1,500
3 October 10 vs. Kewanee Walworths† W 25–7 2–0 Staley Field 1,500
4 October 17 at Rock Island Independents W 7–0 3–0 Douglas Park 7,000
5 October 24 at Chicago Tigers W 10–0 4–0 Cubs Park 5,000
6 October 31 at Rockford A.C.† W 29–0 5–0
Kishwaukee Park
 3,000
7 November 7 at Rock Island Independents T 0–0 5–0–1 Douglas Park 4,991
8 November 11 at Champaign Legion† W 20–0 6–0–1 Champaign, Illinois 500
9 November 14 at
Minneapolis Marines
† 		W 3–0 7–0–1 Nicollet Park —
10 November 21 vs. Hammond Pros W 28–7 8–0–1 Staley Field 3,000
11 November 25 at Chicago Tigers W 6–0 9–0–1 Cubs Park 8,000
12 November 28 at
Chicago Cardinals
 L 6–7 9–1–1 Normal Park 5,000
13 December 5 at
Racine Cardinals
 W 10–0 10–1–1 Cubs Park 11,000
14 December 12 vs. Akron Pros T 0–0 10–1–2 Cubs Park 12,000
15 Bye
# January 15 at Chicago Logan Square A.C.† T 0–0 Exhibition Dexter Pavilion
(indoor) 		—

Game summaries

Week 4: at Rock Island Independents

1 2 3 4 Total
Staleys 0 7 0 0 7
Independents 0 0 0 0 0

October 17, 1920, at Douglas Park

After two games against non-APFA teams, the Staleys played against the APFA Rock Island Independents.[12]

Week 7: at Rock Island Independents

1 2 3 4 Total
Staleys 0 0 0 0 0
Independents 0 0 0 0 0

November 7, 1920, at Douglas Park

On a five-game winning streak, the Staleys played against the Independents again. The game ended in a 0–0 tie. Several injuries occurred throughout the game for the Independents. Sid Nichols, Fred Chicken, and Oke Smith injured their knees on different plays. Harry Gunderson was hit late by George Trafton and the former had to get thirteen stitches on his face, and his hand was broken.[13]

Week 8: at Minneapolis Marines

1 2 3 4 Total
Staleys 0 0 3 0 3
Marines 0 0 0 0 0

November 14, 1920, at Nicollet Park

To conclude their six-game road game streak, the Staleys played against the Minneapolis Marines. The Marines were a non-APFA team but joined the league in 1921.[14] The only score of the game was a 25-yard field goal from Sternaman.[citation needed]

Week 12: vs. Akron Pros

1 2 3 4 Total
Pros 0 0 0 0 0
Staleys 0 0 0 0 0

December 12, 1920, at Cubs Park

The Staleys ended their season in week 12 against the Akron Pros. Prior to the game, Halas moved their home field to the much larger

Chicago Defender reported that the refereeing was biased towards Decatur.[19]

Post-season exhibition game: at Chicago Logan Square A.C.

At the start of 1921 Halas organized an indoor football game on January 15 in Chicago’s Dexter Park Pavilion, a practice that was a semi-regular event among the local Chicago teams. The Bears played against a local team called Chicago Logan Square A.C. to a 0-0 tie.

The Staley monthly journal would state in the February 1921 issue that "the 'Western Champions' Played One Game of Indoor Football and Decided That Once Was Enough for Them."[20]

Standings

1920 APFA standings[21]
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.

Post season

Since there were no playoff system in the APFA until 1932,[22] a meeting was held to determine the champions. Each team that showed up had a vote to determine the champions.[23] The Staleys and the All-Americans each stated they should be the champions because they had more wins and were not beaten by the Akron Pros.[17] However, since the Akron Pros had a 1.000 winning percentage, the Pros were awarded the Brunswick-Balke Collender Cup on April 30, 1921.[24] Seven players from the Staleys were on the 1920 All-Pro team. Guy Chamberlain, Hugh Blacklock, and George Trafton were on the first team; George Halas was on the second team; and Burt Ingwerson, Ross Petty, and Ed Sternaman were on the third team.[25]

Legacy

Five players from the 1920 Decatur Staleys roster went on to be enshrined in the

National Football League 1920s All-Decade Team. Each of the aforementioned Hall-of-Famers are on this team.[31]

Notes

  1. ^ "1920 Decatur Staleys". Independentfootball.site90.com. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved November 7, 2012.
  2. ^ "1919 Decatur Staleys". The Pro Football Archives. Maher Sports Media. Archived from the original on June 7, 2012. Retrieved March 17, 2012.
  3. ^ "1920s Chicago Bears". Bears History. Archived from the original on September 2, 2012. Retrieved September 20, 2012.
  4. ^ PFRA Research (1980), pp. 3–4
  5. ^ Siwoff, Zimmber & Marini (2010), pp. 352–353
  6. ^ a b PFRA Research (1980), p. 4
  7. ^ "Thorpe Made President" (PDF). The New York Times. September 19, 1920.
  8. The Milwaukee Journal. September 19, 1920. p. 24. Archived from the original
    on July 11, 2012.
  9. ^ Peterson (1997), p. 74
  10. ^ Davis (2005), p. 59
  11. Akron Beacon-Journal. Archived
    from the original on July 2, 2011. Retrieved June 23, 2012.
  12. Rock Island Argus
    . October 18, 1920.
  13. Rock Island Argus
    . November 8, 1920.
  14. ^ Quirk (1998), p. 2
  15. ^ Willis (2010), p. 131
  16. ^ Davis (2005), p. 61
  17. ^ a b Carroll (1982), p. 3
  18. ^
    The Milwaukee Sentinel
    . December 13, 1920. p. 6.
  19. ^
    Chicago Defender
    . p. 6.
  20. ^ "Staley's Bears 1920-1921".
  21. ^ "NFL – 1920 Regular Season". National Football League. Retrieved January 6, 2013.
  22. ^ "History: The First Playoff Game". Pro Football Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on June 3, 2011.
  23. ^ PFRA Research (n.d.), p. 1
  24. ^ Price, Mark (April 25, 2011). "Searching for the Lost Trophy". Akron Beacon Journal. Archived from the original on July 2, 2011. Retrieved December 21, 2011.
  25. ^ Hogrogian (1984), pp. 1–2
  26. ^ "Guy Chamberlin". Pro Football Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on March 9, 2012. Retrieved March 17, 2012.
  27. ^ "Jimmy Conzelman". Pro Football Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on March 9, 2012. Retrieved March 17, 2012.
  28. ^ "John (Paddy) Driscoll". Pro Football Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on March 9, 2012. Retrieved March 17, 2012.
  29. ^ "George Halas". Pro Football Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on March 9, 2012. Retrieved March 17, 2012.
  30. ^ "George Trafton". Pro Football Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on March 9, 2012. Retrieved March 17, 2012.
  31. ^ "NFL's All-Decade Team of the 1920s". Pro Football Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on October 4, 2012. Retrieved March 17, 2012.

References

External links
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