# 1920 All-Pro Team

The 1920 All-Pro Team — originally cast as the All-Star Professional Teams — was a select list of top performers of the 1920 season of the American Professional Football Association (APFA), forerunner of the National Football League. The list was the sole creation of Bruce Copeland, sports editor of the Rock Island Argus, one of the most pro football-centric newspapers of the day. It was published on December 2, 1920.

## Background

The 1920 team was a list compiled by Bruce Copeland, sports editor of the Rock Island Argus, who considered only members of the association's "Big Eight" teams for inclusion. These were, in his view, the Akron Pros, Canton Bulldogs, Chicago Cardinals and Tigers, Cleveland Tigers, Dayton Triangles, Decatur Staleys, and Rock Island Independents. He justified these eight teams as constituting an elite of the league based upon "comparative scores."
In addition to his "three first teams" of eleven players each, Copeland named three reserve elevens, with an addition 44 players accorded "honorable mention" status. In all, 111 players were named to Copeland's end-of-season roll call of star performers for 1920.
Copeland's three "All-Star Professional Teams" were published in the Argus on December 2, 1920.

## Biases

While five of the six teams excluded were of lesser caliber than their league peers, Copeland did omit one important squad from consideration — the Buffalo All-Americans, who finished fifth in the league standings. The All-Americans never played a game during the 1920 season outside of New York state and the team's personnel and their relative capabilities may have been unknown to Copeland.
It has been noted that since this was the list of a single sportswriter, there appears to be a discernible bias towards the "home team," the Rock Island Independents, in Copeland's choices. Copeland himself stated that his selections were based upon personal observations and "past acquaintance with most of the players with the Akron Indians, Canton Bulldogs, and Cleveland Tigers, which did not play this year in Rock Island."
Copeland's original article presents rationales for the players selected for first team honors. In these explanations, Copeland intimates that superior defensive performance was the chief consideration for linemen, rather than the offensive blocking ability of interior linemen or the pass-catching prowess of ends. Rock Island end Oak Smith is lauded, for example, as one who could "not be boxed" and who "broke through opposing lines almost at will, spilling the runner, interference, or blocking punts." On the other hand, the two top receiving ends in the league in Copeland's estimation, Dave Reese and Dutch Thiele of Dayton, are dismissed as "woefully weak" on defense, "as was demonstrated by repeated gains in their direction" during their 1920 appearance in Rock Island.

## Teams

First team :
| Position | Player | Team |
| End | Guy Chamberlin | Decatur Staleys |
| End | Oak Smith | Rock Island Independents |
| Tackle | Wilbur Henry | Canton Bulldogs |
| Tackle | Hugh Blacklock | Decatur Staleys |
| Guard | Fred Denfeld | Rock Island Independents |
| Guard | Dewey Lyle | Rock Island Independents |
| Center | George Trafton | Decatur Staleys |
| Quarterback | Paddy Driscoll | Chicago Cardinals |
| Halfback | Eddie Novak | Rock Island Independents |
| Halfback | Fritz Pollard | Akron Pros |
| Fullback | Rip King | Akron Pros |
Second team :
| Position | Player | Team |
| End | George Halas | Decatur Staleys |
| End | Obe Wenig | Rock Island Independents |
| Tackle | Cub Buck | Canton Bulldogs |
| Tackle | Ed Shaw | Rock Island Independents |
| Guard | Alf Cobb | Akron Pros |
| Guard | Harrie Dadmun | Canton Bulldogs |
| Center | Paul Des Jardien | Chicago Tigers |
| Quarterback | Al Mahrt | Dayton Triangles |
| Halfback | Norb Sacksteder | Dayton Triangles |
| Halfback | Joe Guyon | Canton Bulldogs |
| Fullback | Guil Falcon | Chicago Tigers |
Third team :
| Position | Player | Team |
| End | Bobby Marshall | Rock Island Independents |
| End | Bob Nash | Akron Pros |
| Tackle | Burt Ingwersen | Decatur Staleys |
| Tackle | Walt Buland | Rock Island Independents |
| Guard | Tommy Tomlin | Akron Pros |
| Guard | Ross Petty | Decatur Staleys |
| Center | Freeman Fitzgerald | Rock Island Independents |
| Quarterback | Milt Ghee | Chicago Tigers |
| Halfback | Dutch Sternaman | Decatur Staleys |
| Halfback | Frank Bacon | Dayton Triangles |
| Fullback | Pete Calac | Canton Bulldogs |