1920 Rochester Jeffersons season

The 1920 Rochester Jeffersons season was the franchise's inaugural season in the American Professional Football Association (APFA) and thirteenth as an American football team. The Jeffersons entered 1920 coming off a six-win, two-loss, two-tie (6–2–2) record in the New York Pro Football League (NYPFL) where it lose the championship game to the Buffalo Prospects. Several representatives from another professional football league, the Ohio League, wanted to form a new national league, and thus the APFA was created.

Ownership, roster, and coaching nearly stayed the same for the 1920 season. The team opened the season with a 10–0 victory over the non-APFA All-Buffalo. The only time the Jeffersons played a game against an APFA team was week six, when they lost to the Buffalo All-Americans. The team ended with a 6–3–2 record, which was good enough for them to finish sixth place in the final standings. The sportswriter Bruce Copeland compiled the 1920 All-Pro list, but no players from the Jeffersonss were on it. As of 2012, no player from the 1920 Rochester Jeffersons has been enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Offseason

The Rochester Jeffersons finished 6–2–1 in their 1919 season.^[3] It lost the NYPFL championship to the Buffalo All-Americans.^[4] 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 Conference.^[5][6] They then invited other professional teams to a second meeting on September 17.

At that meeting, held at Bulldogs owner Ralph Hay's Hupmobile showroom in Canton, representatives of the Rock Island Independents, the Muncie Flyers, the Decatur Staleys, the Racine Cardinals, the Massillon Tigers, the Chicago Cardinals, and the Hammond Pros agreed to join the league. Representatives of the All-Americans and Rochester Jeffersons could not attend the meeting, but sent letters to Hay asking to be included in the league.^[7] Team representatives changed the league's name slightly to the American Professional Football Association and elected officers, installing Jim Thorpe as president.^[7][8][9] 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.^[10][11] Also, representatives of each team voted to determine the winner of the APFA trophy.^[12]

Schedule

1920 Rochester Jeffersons schedule^[13][14]

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Venue	Attendance	Record
1	No game scheduled
2	October 3, 1920	vs. All-Buffalo	10–0 W	Baseball Park	2,000	1–0
3	October 10, 1920	vs. Fort Porter	66–0 W	Baseball Park	N/A	2–0
4	October 17, 1920	vs. Utica Knights of Columbus	0–0 T	Baseball Park/Canisius Field[A]	N/A	2–0–1
5	October 24, 1920	vs. Syracuse Stars	21–7 W	Baseball Park	N/A	3–0–1
6	October 31, 1920	at Buffalo All-Americans	17–6 L	Canisius Field	7,500	3–1–1
7	November 7, 1920	vs. Utica Knights of Columbus	27–7 W	Baseball Park	N/A	4–1–1
8	November 14, 1920	vs. All-Tonawanda Lumberjacks	6–0 L	Baseball Park	N/A	4–2–1
9	November 21, 1920	vs. Rochester Scalpers	16–0 W	Baseball Park	N/A	5–2–1
10	November 25, 1920	vs. All-Tonawanda Lumberjacks	14–3 L	Baseball Park	2,500	5–3–1
	November 28, 1920	vs. Rochester Scalpers	7–6 W	Baseball Park	N/A	6–3–1
11	December 5, 1920	vs. Rochester Scalpers	0–0 T	Exposition Park	N/A	6–3–2
12	No game scheduled
13	No game scheduled
A dagger () indicates teams not affiliated with the APFA.

• A ^ NFL History states this game was played at Baseball Park, while the Professional Football Researchers Association states the game was played at Canisius Field.

Standings

1920 APFA standings[15]
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	PF	PA	STK
Akron Pros	8	0	3	1.000	6–0–3	151	7	T2
Decatur Staleys	10	1	2	.909	5–1–2	164	21	T1
Buffalo All-Americans	9	1	1	.900	4–1–1	258	32	T1
Chicago Cardinals	6	2	2	.750	3–2–2	101	29	T1
Rock Island Independents	6	2	2	.750	4–2–1	201	49	W1
Dayton Triangles	5	2	2	.714	4–2–2	150	54	L1
Rochester Jeffersons	6	3	2	.667	0–1	156	57	T1
Canton Bulldogs	7	4	2	.636	4–3–1	208	57	W1
Detroit Heralds	2	3	3	.400	1–3	53	82	T2
Cleveland Tigers	2	4	2	.333	1–4–2	28	46	L1
Chicago Tigers	2	5	1	.286	1–5–1	49	63	W1
Hammond Pros	2	5	0	.286	0–3	41	154	L3
Columbus Panhandles	2	6	2	.250	0–4	41	121	W1
Muncie Flyers	0	1	0	.000	0–1	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.

Notes

References

• Davis, Jeff (2005). Papa Bear, The Life and Legacy of George Halas. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-146054-3. 
• Hogrogian, John (1984). "1920 All-Pros" (PDF). The Coffin Corner. Professional Football Researchers Association. 6 (1). 
• Peterson, Robert (1997). Pigskin: The Early Years of Pro Football. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-507607-9. 
• PFRA Research (1980). "Happy Birthday NFL?" (PDF). The Coffin Corner. Professional Football Researchers Association. 2 (8). 
• Quirk, James; Fort, Rodney (1997). Pay Dirt: The Business of Professional Team Sports. Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691015743. 
• Siwoff, Seymour; Zimmber, Jon; Marini, Matt (2010). The Official NFL Record and Fact Book 2010. National Football League. ISBN 978-1-60320-833-8. 
• Western New York Committee (January 8, 2007). "1920 Rochester Jeffersons" (PDF). Professional Football Researchers Association. Retrieved November 23, 2012. 

External links

• Crippen, Ken (July 27, 2009). "The Rochester Jeffersons Take to the National Stage (Part 1)". Two Bills Drive. Retrieved March 14, 1920.