Columbus Panhandles / Tigers The Columbus Panhandles were a professional football team from Columbus , Ohio who played in the " Ohio League " and later the American Professional Football Association , later renamed the National Football League . The origin of the name " Panhandles " was the Pennsylvania Railroad route from Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania to Columbus called the " Panhandle Division , " once owned by the Panhandle Railroad ( formally the Pittsburgh , Cincinnati , Chicago and St . Louis Railroad ) in the late 19th century . The team often went by the nickname the " Handles " and are historically considered charter members of the National Football League because of their membership in the American Professional Football Association in September 1920 , playing in the league ' s very first game against the Dayton Triangles in Dayton , Ohio . Origins . In 1901 workers at the Panhandle shops of the Pennsylvania Railroad in Columbus , Ohio formed a professional football team called the Columbus Panhandles . The railroad workers , mainly European immigrants , learned the game of football not at a college , but on the sandlots of the Panhandle railroad yards during their lunch breaks . At first , the Panhandles struggled to learn the game of football , both on and off the field . During their first four seasons , the team had five different team managers . The Panhandles fought to keep a team on the field . In 1905 and 1906 , the team didn ’ t even field a team . After sitting out two seasons it looked as if the Panhandles would never play another game . Joe Carr . In 1904 , Joseph F . Carr , who was a sports writer for the " Ohio State Journal " and manager of the railroad ' s baseball team the Famous Panhandle White Sox , first took over the football team . However the Panhandles didn ’ t take off and the team played just two games . Carr tried again three years later in 1907 and the team finally took off . Carr saw the potential for professional football not only to be a great spectator sport but also to become a successful business venture . Carr envisioned pro football being just as popular as Major League Baseball . One of the first things Carr did when he became the owner of the Panhandles was to exploit one the railroad ' s policies . Since most of the team ’ s players were employed by the railroad , they could ride the train free of charge . Because of this perk , Carr was able to schedule mostly road games , eliminating the expenses of stadium rental , game promotion , and security for the field . The players also often slept in haylofts on overnight trips to keep expenses even lower . Each week the Panhandles would just jump on the train Saturday night , play on Sunday , and ride back all night just in time for work on Monday morning . However while the team did play the majority of their games on the road as a traveling team , several of their home games were played at Indianola Park . The Panhandles adopted an amateur sandlot mentality for their playing style . Since the team was composed mainly of railroad workers , the scenario gave the players limited time to practice and prepare for games . The Panhandles did the majority of their preparation during their lunch breaks . Workers had a one - hour break during a normal workday , and the players on the team usually took the first 15 minutes to eat lunch and used the remaining 45 minutes to practice football skills . An athletic field behind the railroad shops in Columbus became the team ' s practice field . The Nessers . However Carr knew that if his team was to succeed , he needed an attraction , so Carr built his team around pro football ’ s most famous family , the Nesser Brothers , who were already drawing crowds throughout the country . Carr used the seven Nesser brothers as the backbone of the Panhandles , and the football - playing family remained in that role for nearly twenty years . None of the Nessers attended college , despite many offers . The seven Nesser brothers , who worked as boilermaker s for the Pennsylvania Railroad , were exceptionally large and strong for people living in the early 20th century . Frank Nesser alone was 6 - foot 3 - inches tall and weighed 235 pounds . They all were exceptionally great athletes for their time . Carr would take out ads by describing his Panhandles as the toughest professional team in football , led by the famous Nesser brothers . In 1921 the Panhandles line - up included player - coach Ted Nesser and his son Charlie . It was the only time in NFL history a father and son played together on the same team . The Nesser brothers nephew , Ted Hopkins and brother - in - law , John Schneider , also played on the team . The Panhandles ’ rosters didn ’ t include many former college players or All - American s , so the athletic field in the railroad yards became the place where the team would find out who could play the game . The team ’ s reputation of “ dirty ” play was learned and developed right on the railroad yards , not in college stadiums . The press sometime criticized the railroaders for their rough play , however the fans who paid the gate money to attend the games loved it . Columbus city champs era . Over a span of twenty years , the Panhandles were also the best pro team in the city of Columbus . The team would compile a 33 – 5 record against opponents from Columbus , including an amazing 32 – 1 record over their last thirty - three games . The Panhandles were the best professional football team to ever come out of the capital city . Between 1914 and 1916 , which were seen as best years of the franchise , the Nesser - led team went a combined 22 – 10 – 1 . The majority of the early pro teams would go out of their way to schedule the Panhandles , as they knew it would be easy to advertise a game featuring the famous Nessers . In 1915 , The Panhandles were rumoured to have played against the legendary Knute Rockne six times in 1915 . According to the team , each time they played Rockne , he was on a different team . The NFL . In 1920 the Columbus Panhandles joined the newly formed American Professional Football Association ( now called the NFL ) . While Carr was involved in the formation of the new league from the beginning , he turned down being president of the league so they could hire Jim Thorpe because the new league needed a big name for publicity . First AFPA / NFL game . The Panhandles may have played in the first AFPA / NFL game . However due to not having the games start at a standardized time , and the failure of the NFL of recording the start times , historians can not determine for sure which two team played in the first league match - up . What is known for a fact is that the first contests between teams listed as APFA members occurred on October 3 , 1920 . On that date , the Panhandles were defeated by the Dayton Triangles , 14 - 0 , at Triangle Park , and the Rock Island Independents beat the Muncie Flyers , 45 - 0 , in Rock Island . One of these two games marked the first league game . Columbus Tigers . Following the 1921 season , Carr became the league ' s new president and renamed the AFPA , the NFL . He then discontinued the Panhandles after the 1922 season . Because of cost and salary demands , the team simply couldn ' t compete in the league . Columbus remained basically a semi - pro team made up almost entirely of hometown players , and the three Nesser brothers still with the team were past their prime . Following the 1922 season , the Panhandles became the Columbus Tigers . This new team was purchased by local businessmen , as a traveling team , and played in the NFL from 1923 to 1926 seasons before disbanding . In 1923 , the Tigers attained their best ranking in the NFL , finishing eighth . The next season , the squad finished tenth , and then ended their final two seasons twentieth and nineteenth respectively .