1920 NFL season The 1920 NFL season was the inaugural regular season of the National Football League . The league was formed at the Jordan and Hupmobile auto showroom in Canton , Ohio on August 20 by four independent professional American football teams from Ohio : Akron Pros , Canton Bulldogs , Cleveland Tigers , and Dayton Triangles . The four parties had played against each other unofficially as the " Ohio League " since 1903 , complete with " championships , " but it wasn ' t until 1920 that the league was formalized . At the meeting , they first called their new league the " American Professional Football Conference . " A second organizational meeting was held in Canton on September 17 , adding more teams to the league : the Hammond Pros and the Muncie Flyers from Indiana ; the Rochester Jeffersons from the New York Pro Football League ; and the Rock Island Independents , the Decatur Staleys , and the Racine Cardinals from Illinois . At the meeting , the league was given a new name : American Professional Football Association ( It would not be changed to National Football League until 1922 ) . Four other teams also joined the Association during the year : Buffalo All - Americans ( also from the NYPFL ) , Chicago Tigers , Columbus Panhandles , and Detroit Heralds . Meanwhile , Jim Thorpe of the Canton Bulldogs was named the APFA ' s first president , but continued to play for the team . However , the scheduling was left up to each team . There were wide variations , both in the overall number of games played and in the number played against other Association members . Thus , no official standings were maintained . In addition , football teams in the APFA also faced independent football teams not associated with the league . For instance , the Rochester Jeffersons played a schedule consisting mostly of local teams from their local sandlot circuit and the NYPFL , not the APFA . The Akron Pros ended up being the only undefeated team in the Association . Despite this , two one - loss teams ( the Decatur Staleys and Buffalo All - Americans ) , who both tied Akron that year , also made cases for a co - championship . At the league meetings in Akron on April 30 , 1921 , the Pros were awarded the Brunswick - Balke Collender Cup for the 1920 season , the only year the trophy was used , at the motion of Columbus Panhandles manager Joe Carr , who would be elected as league president several weeks later at the next meeting . According to modern NFL tie - breaking rules , the 1920 Buffalo All - Americans would be co - champions . They would be tied with the Akron Pros in win percentage , 9½ wins to 1½ losses ( . 864 ) , both teams beating out the Decatur Staleys , who would have a season that counted 11 wins to 2 losses ( . 846 ) . Unofficial final standings . These are the unofficial standings of teams within the APFA . Records of independent football teams are not included , but games by members against such teams are . " W = Wins , L = Losses , T = Ties , PCT = Winning Percentage , PF = Points For , PA = Points Against " " Note : Tie games were not counted in the standings until 1972 . " Postseason and legacy . As there was no playoff system in the APFA until 1932 , a meeting was held to determine the 1920 Champions . Each team that showed up had a vote to determine the champions . Since the Akron Pros had a 1 . 000 winning percentage , the Pros were awarded the Brunswick - Balke Collender Cup on April 30 , 1921 . The trophy was a " silver loving cup " , donated by the Brunswick - Balke - Collender Company . This decision , however , would arise with controversy . The Staleys and the All - Americans each stated that they should win the award because they had more wins and were not beaten by the Akron Pros . Each player from the Pros was also awarded with a golden fob ; this was in the shape of a football and inscribed with " 1920 " , " WORLD CHAMPIONS " , and each players ' first initial and last name . The Pros did not officially celebrate their championship season until the following year . In October 1921 , most of the team was invited to the Elks Club of Akron , which was labeled as " a grand homecoming celebration for the world ' s champions " . Pollard was congratulated during an Akron Merchants Association of Colored Business Men ' s meeting . The Pros were the first team in the history of the APFA to complete a non - modern " perfect season " . Only four other teams has accomplished this feat : the 1922 Canton Bulldogs at 10 – 0 – 2 , the 1923 Canton Bulldogs at 11 – 0 – 1 , the 1929 Green Bay Packers at 12 – 0 – 1 , and the 1972 Miami Dolphins at 17 – 0 – 0 . In 1972 , the NFL changed the rules so ties count as a half - win and a half - loss . If this rule had applied in 1920 , the All - Americans and the Pros would each have a . 864 winning percentage . Even though the Pros were given the trophy in 1920 , the league lost track of the event and for a long time published in its own record books that the 1920 championship was undecided . It was not until the 1970s that the NFL remembered its early vote on awarding the Akron Pros the championship . Awards . All - Pro . Bruce Copeland , sportswriter for the " Rock Island Argus " , compiled the All - Pro list for 1920 . He used the games played in Rock Island , other newspapers , and his own memory to determine the first - , second - , and third - team All - Pro list . Pro - Football - Reference . com uses this list as the official All - Pro list of 1920 . Twenty of the players were from Illinois and thirteen were from Ohio . The Rock Island Independents had the most players on the list ( 9 ) , and Racine Cardinals had the least ( 1 ) . Hall of Fame . As of 2012 , 10 players have been enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame who played in the 1920 APFA season . One non - player , Joseph Carr , the owner of the Columbus Panhandles in the 1920 season and league president from 1921 – 1939 , was also elected to the Hall .