Akron Pros

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Akron Pros
Founded	1908c
Folded	1927
Based in	Akron, Ohio, United States
Home field	League Park
League	National Football League
Team History	Akron Burkhardts (1908-16) Akron Pros (1917-25) Akron Indians (1926)
Team Colors	Blue, White, Khaki
Head coaches	Elgie Tobin (1920-21) Fritz Pollard (1921) Untz Brewer (1922) Carl Cramer & Dutch Hendrian (1923) Jim Flower (1924) George Barry (1925) Rube Ursella & Al Nesser (1926)
Owner(s)	Frank Nied, Art Ranney
NFL Championship wins	1920
Other League Championship wins	1908, 1909, 1913, 1914 (Ohio League)

The Akron Pros were a National Football League team that played in Akron, Ohio from 1908–1925 and as the Akron Indians in 1926.^[1] The Pros won the first NFL championship in 1920, though at the time the league operated as the American Professional Football Association.

The team started out in 1916 as the Akron Burkhardts, named after a local family of brewers that sponsored the team. The Pros were a charter member of the APFA.

Fritz Pollard, the first African-American head coach in the NFL, co-coached the Pros in 1921. Paul Robeson played for the team in 1921 as well. He was among the earliest stars of professional football before it became segregated from 1934 to 1946. In 1926, the name was changed to the Akron Indians, after an earlier Akron semi-pro team. Due to financial problems, the team suspended operations in 1927 and surrendered its franchise the following year.

Contents 1 Origins 1.1 Founding of the NFL 2 1920 NFL Champions 3 Hall of Famers 4 Seasons 5 External links 5.1 Footnotes

[edit] Origins

Akron had been fielding pro football teams since 1904. Those teams went on to win Ohio League championships in 1913 and 1914. They were always referred to as the Indians by the fans.

After experiencing finanicial losses from 1912-1919, The team was sold to Art Ranney, an Akron businessman and former football player at Akron University, and Frank Nied, a cigar store proprietor in 1920. The 1919 Indians finished the season 5-5-0 and lost money despite the presence of one of the country's best breakaway runners, Fritz Pollard. The new owners soon dropped the Indian monicker and went with "Pros," hoping to inspire better results, or at least better attendance.

[edit] Founding of the NFL

The minutes for the September 17, 1920 meeting that formed the AFPA, were kept on the stationary of the Akron Pros football team by one of the owners, Art Ranney. Ranney was then elected secretary-treasurer of the league.

[edit] 1920 NFL Champions

Pollard and most of the top 1919 players planned to return to the Pros in 1920. The team opened the season at League Park in early October by defeating the Wheeling Stogies, 43-0. Al Nesser, one of the infamous football-playing Nesser brothers, reportedly scored three touchdowns on fumble recoveries. The following week the Pros defeated the Columbus Panhandles 37-0 using former guard, Frank McCormick as a wingback. After a 13-0 win over the Cincinnati Celts, the Pros played the Cleveland Tigers, a team comprised mainly of ex-stars from the Massillon Tigers. Ironically Bob Nash, who played for Massillon in 1919, broke up a Stan Cofall punt resulting in an Akron touchdown and a final score of 7-0. The Pros then shocked the league by beating the Canton Bulldogs, who were considered the top team in the nation in 1920 with stars Jim Thorpe, Joe Guyon, Pete Calac and Pete Henry, 10-0. However after a rained out game against the Detroit Heralds, the Pros played a reorganized Tigers team that held the Pros to a 7-7 tie. The team, under the rushing of Pollard and McCormick, rebounded by defeating the Dayton Triangles 13-0. After a 7-0 victory in a rematch to Canton, as well as a second win over Dayton, the Pros were recognized as the top team in Ohio.

The Pros then held the Buffalo All-Americans to a scoreless tie in front of only 3,000. At the game, Nied and Ranney agreed to sell Bob Nash to Buffalo for $300 and five per cent of the gate, in the first known player deal between NFL clubs. However since the Pros held the best record in the league, they only had to avoid losing a game, while Buffalo and the Chicago Staleys had to win in order to capture the AFPA Championship. The Pros held the Staleys to a scoreless tie in front of 12,000 fans at Cub Park.

Both the All-Americans and the Staleys complained about the championship, arguing that Akron had not defeated them. The Pros were not named the AFPA Champs until April 30, 1921, after the team managers got together at Canton and voted the title to Akron.

[edit] Hall of Famers

• Fritz Pollard

[edit] Seasons

Season	Team	League	Regular Season				Post Season Results	Coach(es)
			Finish	Wins	Losses	Ties
Akron Pros
1920	1920	APFA	1st	8	0	3	Named NFL Champions (1)[2]	Elgie Tobin
1921	1921	APFA	3rd	8	3	1	The NFL did not hold playoff games until 1932.	Elgie Tobin Fritz Pollard
1922	1922	NFL	10th	3	5	2		Untz Brewer Paul Sheeks
1923	1923	NFL	15th	1	6	0		Dutch Hendrian Carl Cramer
1924	1924	NFL	13th	2	6	0		Jim Flower
1925	1925	NFL	5th	4	2	2		George Barry Fritz Pollard
Akron Indians
1926	1926	NFL	16th	1	4	3	The NFL did not hold playoff games until 1932.	Fritz Pollard Al Nesser Rube Ursella

[edit] External links

• Official NFL team colors listing
• Football @ JT-SW.com: Akron Pros-Indians History
• Akron Pros 1920

[edit] Footnotes

v • d • e Akron Pros/Indians seasons 1920 • 1921 • 1922 • 1923 • 1924 • 1925 • 1926

v • d • e Akron Pros 1920 NFL Champions Russ Bailey | Scotty Bierce | Alf Cobb | Tuffy Conn | Charlie Copley | Ken Crawford | Budge Garrett | Harry Harris | Pike Johnson | Rip King | Frank McCormick | Buck Miles | Frank Moran | Bob Nash | Al Nesser | Al Pierotti | Fritz Pollard | Fred Sweetland | Elgie Tobin | Tommy Tomlin Head Coach Elgie Tobin

v • d • e Defunct National Football League franchises Chicago Tigers (1920) | Cleveland Tigers/Indians (1920 – 21) | Muncie Flyers (1920 – 21) | Rochester Jeffersons (1920 – 25) | Rock Island Independents (1920 – 25) | Akron Pros/Indians (1920 – 26) | Canton Bulldogs (1920 – 26) | Columbus Panhandles/Tigers (1920 – 26) | Hammond Pros (1920 – 26) | Detroit Heralds/Tigers/Panthers/Wolverines (1920 – 28) | Buffalo All-Americans/Bisons/Rangers (1920 – 29) | Dayton Triangles (1920 – 29) | Cincinnati Celts (1921) | New York Brickley Giants (1921) | Syracuse Pros (1921, disputed)  | Tonawanda Kardex (1921) | Washington Senators (1921) | Evansville Crimson Giants (1921 – 22) | Louisville Breckenridges (Brecks)/Colonels (1921 – 23, 1926) | Minneapolis Marines/Red Jackets (1921 – 24, 1929 – 31) | Oorang Indians (1922 – 23) | Toledo Maroons (1922 – 23) | Racine Legion/Tornadoes (1922 – 24, 1926) | Milwaukee Badgers (1922 – 26) | St. Louis All Stars (1923) | Cleveland Indians/Bulldogs (1923 – 27) | Duluth Kelleys/Eskimos (1923 – 27) | Kenosha Maroons (1924) | Kansas City Blues/Cowboys (1924 – 26) | Frankford Yellow Jackets (1924 – 31) | Pottsville Maroons/Boston Bulldogs (1925 – 29) | Providence Steam Roller (1925 – 31) | Brooklyn Lions (1926) | Hartford Blues (1926) | Los Angeles Buccaneers (1926) | New York Yankees (1927 – 28) | Orange/Newark Tornadoes (1929 – 30) | Staten Island Stapletons (1929 – 32) | Brooklyn Dodgers/Tigers (1930 – 44) | Cleveland Indians (1931) | Cincinnati Reds (1933 – 34) | St. Louis Gunners (1934) | Boston Yanks (1944 – 48) | Baltimore Colts (1950) | New York Bulldogs/Yanks (1949 – 51) | Dallas Texans (1952)