A nameless professional American football team, based in Syracuse, New York and generically known as the Syracuse Pros or Syracuse Eleven , was once thought to have joined the American Professional Football Association (now the National Football League (NFL) for the 1921 season. The team was coached by Mike Purdy and managed by Andy Friedman . Syracuse University multi-sport standout John Barsha was the team's franchise player .
25-585: An article posted in the Professional Football Researchers Association journal Coffin Corner in 1991 considered the fact that Syracuse said they were in the league as sufficient evidence to say they were, claiming that since professional football was not that popular at the time, the team had nothing to gain from lying about their status (even though the team's announcement trumpeted the ability to play "the top teams in
50-706: A league opponent. No record of the league admitting a team from Syracuse to the league or removing them from the league exists; only a statement from the team itself says it was (and even that uses the erroneous name "National Professional Football Association", in 1921 it was the American Professional Football Association and changed its name to the National Football League in 1922). Only the Chicago Tigers , who played seven games against NFL teams during
75-540: A series of tough games against Rochester and Buffalo. However both teams canceled their games against Syracuse. A week later the Pros finally played their second game against an APFA team. However this game against the Washington Senators resulted in a 20–7 Syracuse loss. The Pros ended their only possible AFPA-NFL season with 12–0 loss to Rochester, them with an APFA record of 0–2–1. What is known for certain
100-544: A team's season. The 1966 Green Bay Packers: Profiles of Vince Lombardi's Super Bowl I Champions was released in 2016, and The 1958 Baltimore Colts: Profiles of the NFL's First Sudden Death Champions followed in 2018. Writing is underway for the chapters of a book about the 1951 Los Angeles Rams season , was released in 2022. The fourth book, about the 1964 Buffalo Bills season , will follow in 2024. The PFRA maintains ongoing database projects, with committees of members who update
125-537: A variety of pro football subjects. In cooperation with McFarland & Company , the PFRA is now working on the third installment in its "Great Teams in Pro Football History" series, edited by George Bozeka. Individual members of the association volunteer to author the different chapters, profiling in detail the players, the coaching staff, the preseason, regular season and postseason, and other elements of
150-633: Is a list of professional football Championship Games in the United States, involving: Prior to 1920, no national professional football league existed, and play was scattered across semi-pro and professional leagues in the upper midwest. The first efforts at pro football championships were the World Series of Professional Football , featuring teams from and around New York City and the 1902 "National" Football League in Pennsylvania; two of
175-550: Is an organization of researchers whose mission is to preserve and, in some cases, reconstruct professional American football history. It was founded on June 22, 1979 in Canton, Ohio by writer/historian Bob Carroll and six other football researchers and is currently headed by an executive committee led by its president, George Bozeka, and executive director Leon Elder. Membership in the organization includes some of professional football's foremost historians and authors. The organization
200-477: Is based in Guilford, New York . The PFRA publishes books and a bimonthly magazine, The Coffin Corner , devoted to topics in professional football history. The organization also gives out awards each year for outstanding achievement in the field of football research. The Coffin Corner is a semimonthly magazine devoted to topics in professional football history. PFRA members publish their research findings in
225-578: Is that organized football in Syracuse had been around since at least 1890, with the formation of the Syracuse Athletic Club . Syracuse A.C. existed from 1890 to 1900, and according to PFRA contributor Kenneth Crippen had a tumultuous but prolific existence. A new Syracuse A.C. reformed in 1902, under Frank "Buck" O'Neill , and is notable for being the first national pro football champion ; using ringers such as Pop Warner and members of
250-499: The 1920 NFL season , have been generally recognized as league members without having formally been admitted to or removed from the league. (A few teams, such as the New York Brickley Giants , have either admission or removal records missing, but not both.) At least one team, that year's runner-up Buffalo All-Americans , refused to recognize their membership and canceled two games against them, and possibly pressured
275-487: The Akron Pros into canceling a game against Syracuse as well. The Pros opened their 1921 campaign, with former two-time college All American Doc Alexander playing for the team, with a scoreless tie against Tonawanda at Star Park . A touchdown pass from player-coach Mike Purdy to Lew Andreas in the last minute of play was called back on a holding penalty , costing Syracuse a win. Only 800 spectators showed up to
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#1732780961380300-514: The Canton Bulldogs owner whose Hupmobile Automobile showroom was the site of the NFL's first organizational meeting, is awarded for "lifetime achievement in pro football research and historiography." Past winners have been: The Nelson Ross Award is presented annually by the PFRA for "outstanding achievement in pro football research and historiography." Past winners are: Professional American football championship games Below
325-563: The Watertown Red & Black , the Syracuse A.C. upset the favorite "New York" team in round 1 of the 1902 World Series of Pro Football and went on to win the tournament. Since the tournament was held in New York City's Madison Square Garden , the Syracuse A.C. played in the first professional indoor football game. An independent team known as "All-Syracuse" also existed both before and after 1921. Another Syracuse-based team,
350-550: The "Syracuse Stars," is listed in the Rochester Jeffersons' 1920 season records , and is more likely than not the same team as the Syracuse Pros. This is a list of known players who played for the Syracuse Pros in 1921 . It includes players that have played at least one match with the team: Professional Football Researchers Association The Professional Football Researchers Association ( PFRA )
375-406: The NFL, convinced the NFL in 1933 to play a Championship Game between the two Division winners following the success of the 1932 Playoff Game . Thus, 1933 was the year of the first national professional football Championship Game in the United States. See National Football League championships : note that game scores marked with a † (1921 and 1932) were de facto Championship Games, as these were
400-419: The articles, regardless of prior writing experience. In the case of newer authors and first-time contributors, the magazine's editors assist, anonymously, in helping develop the narratives for publication. The $ 35.00 annual membership in the organization includes a subscription to six issues of The Coffin Corner , as well as access to the "Members Only" section of their website, which contains detailed research on
425-487: The country;" this hypothesis also does not take into account the possibility of the team being turned down for league membership, or dropping out before the season started). This hypothesis has not been accepted in modern times. The National Football League itself does not consider Syracuse to have been a member of the league in its official league records. Research centered on the Tonawanda Kardex suggests that
450-613: The deciding games in determining a Championship, and also the last game played in that season - further, the Portsmouth Spartans , who were defeated in the 1932 Game, finished third as the Game counted in the season standings. All games are listed under the year in which the majority of regular season games were played: especially since the 1960s, many championship games have been played in the January or, since 2002, February of
475-527: The game because of inclement weather. The next two games were to be on the road against the AFPA's Buffalo All-Americans and New York Brickley Giants. However, both were later canceled for reason that are unknown. To fill the first open date, manager Andy Friedman lined up a game with the Oakdales, a local semi-pro team. Syracuse then coasted to an easy 19–0 victory before a slightly improved crowd of 1,000. For
500-481: The league was later renamed the National Football League (NFL). The NFL conducted play for thirteen years before creating a "Championship Game" : from 1920 through 1932, league "champions" were determined by won-loss record with ties excluded, but the schedules and rules were so ill-defined that conflicts exist to this day over who the actual champions were: some teams played more games than others, while some played against college or semi-pro teams, some played after
525-580: The next home game, Syracuse was to play the defending AFPA champions, the Akron Pros. However a few days later, Akron canceled the game in order to play the Rochester Jeffersons. In return, Syracuse played an incarnation of the Akron Indians , the one all- Native American football team, led by Suey Welch . The Pros defeated the Indians 47–0 in front of only 1,500 people. The Pros then prepared for
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#1732780961380550-533: The record as information develops, or as it is discovered in the course of research. Select committees may be disbanded as their work is completed. The "Hall of Very Good" is a project done to highlight the best players, coaches and contributors not yet inducted into the Hall of Fame. The * indicates that person was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame afterwards. The Ralph Hay Award , named after
575-742: The season was over, and some stopped play before a season was over. For example, in 1921, the Buffalo All-Americans disputed the Chicago Staleys ' title, and in 1925, the Pottsville Maroons claimed the championship was theirs, not the Chicago Cardinals '. The APFA also had no official Championship Games before it changed its name to the NFL in 1922. Boston/ Washington Redskins owner George Preston Marshall , who credited with significant innovations by
600-622: The team was still known as All-Syracuse , an independent team, and it is sometimes said that the Rochester Jeffersons only won two games against NFL opponents in their existence, against Tonawanda and the Columbus Panhandles —even though Rochester beat Syracuse in 1921. The game is counted in Syracuse's records but not Rochester's. A third game, against the Washington Senators , was also played against
625-602: The three "N"FL teams participated as one team in the World Series of Pro Football. The Ohio League and New York Pro Football League were two prominent regional associations in the 1910s (the NYPFL held an actual championship game in 1919). In 1920, teams from the Ohio League and New York Pro Football League, along with other midwestern teams, formalized into the American Professional Football Association (APFA), and
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