# 1921 Rock Island Independents season

The 1921 Rock Island Independents season was their second completed in the young American Professional Football Association (APFA), later rechristened the National Football League. The team failed to improve on their previous record against league opponents of 6–2–2, winning only four games. They finished fifth in the league.

## Background

The Independents entered their second season in the American Professional Football Association (APFA) with an air of positivity. Eight league games were tentatively scheduled for 1921 — four at home and four on the road, concluding with a November 27 match-up with the Columbus Panhandles at Rock Island's Douglas Park. Ultimately, only seven league games would be managed, with just two of these contests at home, both weakly attended. It would be a forgettable year.
This lack of home dates and poor attendance was ironic, as seating at Douglas park was significantly expanded for the 1921 season. On September 30 a squad of fifty men slapped up new bleacher seating to increase capacity at the facility to 6,000, with the ability to accommodate an additional 1,500 people watching from cars or in standing room.
The team was broadly supported by the community of Rock Island, Illinois and other neighboring members of the "Tri-Cities", Moline, Illinois, and Davenport, Iowa. The evening of Saturday, October 1, the night before the big opening game against the Detroit Tigers, a marching band led an automobile parade of 1,000 Islander fans that traveled to all three cities to promote the team and the season. For away games one local newspaper, the Rock Island Argus, put up a large gridboard outside its offices and kept up with the game by direct wire, marking the position of the ball on the board. Large crowds were attracted to follow the action, with more than 2,000 people blocking Second Avenue to follow the progress of the Green Bay Packers game on October 30.
For all the energy and support shown the team, the small number of people through the gate — just 3,300 for the opener and fewer than 2,000 for the team's second and final home game of the season against Minneapolis the first Sunday in November — had to be a major disappointment to the team and its organizers.

## Schedule

| Game | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Recap |
| 1 | October 2 | Detroit Tigers | T 0–0 | 0–0–1 | Douglas Park | 3,304 | Recap |
| 2 | October 10 | at Chicago Staleys | L 10–14 | 0–1–1 | Staley Field | 4,000 | Recap |
| 3 | October 16 | at Chicago Cardinals | W 14–7 | 1–1–1 | Normal Park | 4,000 | Recap |
| 4 | October 23 | at Detroit Tigers | W 14–0 | 2–1–1 | Navin Field | 3,000 | Recap |
| 5 | October 30 | at Green Bay Packers | W 13–3 | 3–1–1 | Hagemeister Park | 6,000 | Recap |
| 6 | November 6 | Minneapolis Marines | W 14–3 | 4–1–1 | Douglas Park | < 2,000 | Recap |
| 7 | November 13 | at Chicago Staleys | L 0–3 | 4–2–1 | Cubs Park | 6,000 | Recap |
| – | November 20 | Duluth Knights of Columbus | W 28–0 | 5–2–1 | Douglas Park | 800 | — |
| – | November 27 | Columbus Panhandles | (scheduled) | (scheduled) | (scheduled) | (scheduled) | (scheduled) |
| Note: Games in italics indicate a non-league opponent. |||||||||

## Standings

APFA standings :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | STK |
| Chicago Staleys | 9 | 1 | 1 | .900 | 128 | 53 | T1 |
| Buffalo All-Americans | 9 | 1 | 2 | .900 | 211 | 29 | L1 |
| Akron Pros | 8 | 3 | 1 | .727 | 148 | 31 | W1 |
| Canton Bulldogs | 5 | 2 | 3 | .714 | 106 | 55 | W1 |
| Rock Island Independents | 4 | 2 | 1 | .667 | 65 | 30 | L1 |
| Evansville Crimson Giants | 3 | 2 | 0 | .600 | 89 | 46 | W1 |
| Green Bay Packers | 3 | 2 | 1 | .600 | 70 | 55 | L1 |
| Dayton Triangles | 4 | 4 | 1 | .500 | 96 | 67 | L1 |
| Chicago Cardinals | 3 | 3 | 2 | .500 | 54 | 53 | T1 |
| Rochester Jeffersons | 2 | 3 | 0 | .400 | 85 | 76 | W2 |
| Cleveland Tigers | 3 | 5 | 0 | .375 | 95 | 58 | L1 |
| Washington Senators | 1 | 2 | 0 | .334 | 21 | 43 | L1 |
| Cincinnati Celts | 1 | 3 | 0 | .250 | 14 | 117 | L2 |
| Hammond Pros | 1 | 3 | 1 | .250 | 17 | 45 | L2 |
| Minneapolis Marines | 1 | 3 | 0 | .250 | 37 | 41 | L1 |
| Detroit Tigers | 1 | 5 | 1 | .167 | 19 | 109 | L5 |
| Columbus Panhandles | 1 | 8 | 0 | .111 | 47 | 222 | W1 |
| Tonawanda Kardex | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 45 | L1 |
| Muncie Flyers | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 28 | L2 |
| Louisville Brecks | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 27 | L2 |
| New York Brickley Giants | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 72 | L2 |
    Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

## Roster

The following individuals appeared in at least one game for the 1921 Rock Island Independents. The total number of NFL games in which they saw action in 1921 follows in parentheses.
There were two future members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame on the roster — tackle Ed Healey and quarterback Jimmy Conzelman, both members of the hall's second class, inducted in September 1964.
Linemen
* Dick Barker (3)
* Walt Buland (6)
* Frank Coughlin (3)
* Jug Earp (6)
* Freeman Fitzgerald (2)
* Hal Hanson (6)
* John Hasbrouck (3)
* Dave Hayes (3)
* Ed Healey (7)
* Emmett Keefe (7)
* Dewey Lyle (7)
* Vic Menefee (2)
* Brick Travis (5)
* Obe Wenig (7)
Backs
* Lane Bridgford (5)
* Walt Brindley (2)
* Jimmy Conzelman (7)
* Eddie Duggan (3)
* Buck Gavin (3)
* Jerry Johnson (2)
* Grover Malone (3)
* Jerry Mansfield (1)
* Sid Nichols (7)
* Eddie Novak (7)
* Paddy Quinn (1)
* Viv Vanderloo (3)