Program From the First NFL Season - Akron Pros versus Columbus Panhandles, 1921

One of the rarest professional football programs comes from the NFL’s first full scheduled season in 1921 when the Akron Pros hosted the Columbus Panhandles. In 1921, the professional league was named the American Professional Football Association, re-named the NFL later in the year, and it had 22 teams, up from 14 from the previous 1920 initial season. In 1920 several teams failed to make it past the half-way point. Jim Thorpe and Hall of Fame player/coach George Halas had been instrumental in starting the league. Akron was led by pioneering Hall of Fame player-coach Fritz Pollard, the first African American to play and coach in professional football. Akron, which had captured the first ever professional championship in 1920 with an 8-0-1 record, finished second in 1921 with an 8-3-1 record, and its opponent, Columbus, finished at the bottom with a 1-8 record.  Columbus was led by the famed Nesser Boys, seven players from the same family who had the reputation for being larger than most players of their era. They played the sport with brutal, bone busting tenacity and came to be the most famous football family in the country,. Other teams in the league for the 1921 season included: Louisville Brecks, Rochester Jeffersons, Green Bay Packers, Evansville Crimson Giants, Rock Island Independents, Canton Bulldogs (Thorpe’s team), Buffalo All-Americans, Chicago Staleys (George Halas’ team), Dayton Triangles, Washington Senators, Hammond Pros, Muncie Flyers, Tonawanda Kardex, and New York Giants.  Chicago, the team that changed its name to Bears the next year, won the league with a 9-1-1 record. This is one of the few remaining programs from the first full season of the NFL. It remains in presentable very good condition, with a center horizontal and vertical fold and miscellaneous creases.