Doc Young Alvah ( Alva ) Andrew " Doc " Young ( December 18 , 1881 - August 9 , 1942 ) was a founder of the National Football League . He was also the owner of NFL ' s Hammond Pros from 1920 until 1926 . He was also a respected medical doctor and sports trainer . Early career . Young was born December 18 , 1881 , in Hamilton County , Indiana . He received his medical degree from Indiana University ' s Medical School in Indianapolis in 1905 . He then established a general practice in Hammond , Indiana and married a woman from England , Lillian Fallowes Young . He also would assist the police , by serving as the leading authority on gunshot wounds . In 1915 , he briefly left Hammond for New York City to take post graduate work at New York University . During World War I in 1917 - 1918 , he served with the U . S . Army Medical Corps at Camp Travis in San Antonio , Texas . Sports . Young played semi - pro baseball and was a lightweight wrestler in his youth . He also he promoted amateur and semi - pro boxing matches in Hammond . His greatest love was horse racing ; Doc owned a stable of horses and spent several years making the circuit of the leading race tracks . He founded a company called A . A . Young Laboratories that developed a vitamin - calcium supplement for thoroughbreds called Min - O - Lac ( Minerals of Milk ) . Doc became a supporter of professional football in Indiana . He served as team doctor and trainer for the Hammond Clabby Athletic Club during the 1915 - 17 period . In 1919 , promoter Paul Parduhn established the Hammond Pros for the purpose of competing against the Decatur Staleys and Canton Bulldogs . The team played its home games in Cub Park ( now Wrigley Field ) , and one of its stars was George Halas . It is likely that Dr . Young was a part owner of the franchise . In 1919 the Pros lost many of their high - priced players . Many of these players later appeared for the Chicago Tigers . This caused Young to field a new team , but one with fewer stars . Forming the NFL . On September 17 , 1920 , Dr . Young represented Hammond at a meeting of the nation ' s leading pro football team managers held in Canton , Ohio , for the purpose of creating the American Professional Football Association ( later known as the National Football League in 1922 ) . Dr . Young ' s Hammond Pros were charter members of the organization and played in the league from 1920 - 26 . They played three league opponents in 1920 and lost all three games by big scores . In addition to games , Doc attended the league meetings . In Green Bay , Young got into an argument with Curly Lambeau over the kind of football the league would use . The Spalding J - 5 was watermelon - shaped and perfect for drop kicks . However Lambeau wanted to use a thinner ball better - suited for passing , probably since he was the top passer of his day . Race and the NFL . In the 1940s , Fritz Pollard allegeded that several of the NFL ' s owners attempted to raise the issue of a color barrier in pro football . According to Pollard , Young as well as Frank Nied and Art Ranney of the Akron Pros refused to allow the discussion to take place . They could not understand why a player could not be considered a player without his color being brought into account . Many outstanding black stars such as Pollard , Ink Williams , John Shelbourne , and Sol Butler appeared with the team during its years in the league . End of Pros . After Red Grange ' s American Football League ( 1926 ) folded , the NFL pushed most of its small town and traveling team s out of the league . This ended the Akron Indians , Canton Bulldogs , and Hammond . Indiana would not have another NFL team until the Indianapolis Colts would arrive from Baltimore in 1984 . Meanwhile Young continued to practice medicine on bothe people and horses . He died of pneumonia while working late , attending a sick horse in the summer of 1942 .