1920 Rochester Jeffersons season

National Football League team season March 2026 November 2013 Rochester Jeffersons 1920 6–3–2 overall 0–1 APFA 6th in APFA Leo LyonsWestern New York Committee 2007 1 Jack Forsyth Baseball Park The 1920 Rochester Jeffersons season was the franchise's inaugural season in the American Professional Football Association (APFA) and thirteenth as an American football team. The Jeffersons entered 1920 coming off a six-win, two-loss, two-tie (6–2–2) record in the New York Pro Football League (NYPFL) where it lost the championship game to the Buffalo Prospects. Several representatives from another professional football league, the Ohio League, wanted to form a new national league, and thus the APFA was created. Ownership, roster, and coaching nearly stayed the same for the 1920 season. The team opened the season with a 10–0 victory over the non-APFA All-Buffalo. The only time the Jeffersons played a game against an APFA team was week six, when they lost to the Buffalo All-Americans. The team ended with a 6–3–2 record, which was good enough for them to finish sixth place in the final standings. The sportswriter Bruce Copeland compiled the 1920 All-Pro list, but no players from the Jeffersonss were on it. As of 2012, no player from the 1920 Rochester Jeffersons has been enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The Jeffersons' 66–0 defeat of Fort Porter remains the largest regular season shutout victory in league history, albeit being against a non-league team.https://operations.nfl.com/media/nppjkdp1/2023-record-and-fact-book.pdf National Football League 2023 2023 NFL Record and Fact Book 297 Offseason The Rochester Jeffersons finished 6–2–1 in their 1919 season.http://profootballarchives.com/1919rochj.html 1919 Rochester Jeffersons The Pro Football Archives Maher Sports Media October 22, 2012 It lost the NYPFL championship to the Buffalo All-Americans.Crippen 2001 3 After the 1919 season, representatives of four Ohio League teams—the Canton Bulldogs, the Cleveland Tigers, the Dayton Triangles, and the Akron Pros—called a meeting on August 20, 1920, to discuss the formation of a new league. At the meeting, they tentatively agreed on a salary cap and pledged not to sign college players or players already under contract with other teams. They also agreed on a name for the circuit: the American Professional Football Conference.PFRA Research 1980 3–4Siwoff Zimmber Marini 2010 352–353 They then invited other professional teams to a second meeting on September 17. At that meeting, held at Bulldogs owner Ralph Hay's Hupmobile showroom in Canton, representatives of the Rock Island Independents, the Muncie Flyers, the Decatur Staleys, the Racine Cardinals, the Massillon Tigers, the Chicago Cardinals, and the Hammond Pros agreed to join the league. Representatives of the All-Americans and Rochester Jeffersons could not attend the meeting, but sent letters to Hay asking to be included in the league.PFRA Research 1980 4 Team representatives changed the league's name slightly to the American Professional Football Association and elected officers, installing Jim Thorpe as president.https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1920/09/19/113313269.pdf Thorpe Made President The New York Times September 19, 1920 https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=f8MWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=OiEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3568,5105560&dq=gridders&hl=en https://archive.today/20120711044518/http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=f8MWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=OiEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3568,5105560&dq=gridders&hl=en dead July 11, 2012 Organize Pro Gridders; Choose Thorpe, Prexy The Milwaukee Journal September 19, 1920 24 Under the new league structure, teams created their schedules dynamically as the season progressed, so there were no minimum or maximum number of games needed to be played.Peterson 1997 74Davis 2005 59 Also, representatives of each team voted to determine the winner of the APFA trophy.Price Mark April 25, 2011 http://www.ohio.com/news/searching-for-lost-trophy-1.204246 Searching for Lost Trophy Akron Beacon-Journal June 23, 2012 Regular season Scheduling for the Jeffersons was extremely ad hoc. Little over two weeks before the start of the 1920 season, team manager Leo V. Lyons was still putting out feelers for a "good heavyweight opponent" for the home opener."Football," Buffalo News, Sept. 15, 1920, p. 22. Gene Dooley and his "All-Buffalo" squad met the call but were not heavy enough to go toe-to-toe, falling 10–0 to the Jeffs on a rainy Sunday afternoon in Rochester's Baseball Park."Jeffs to Heave for All-Buffalo Team," Buffalo News, Oct. 4, 1920, p. 19. The Rochester Jeffersons were essentially a regional team, playing local opponents, with 10 of their 11 games in Rochester. The Red Eleven's solitary road game was played in Buffalo — a little over 70 miles away. The Jeffs played opponents solely from upstate New York, including grid squads from Rochester, Buffalo, Syracuse, Tonawanda, and Utica — the last-mentioned being the furthest distance away from Rochester, about 135 miles. Following the Jeffs' second game of the season, a frolicking 66–0 smash up of a lesser opponent, four Rochester fans approached head coach Jack Forsyth and asked permission to organize a Jeffs rooters' club."Football Fans Form Jeff Rooters' Club: Big Red Eleven Will Take on Utica Kaysees," Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Oct. 14, 1920, p. 30. Forsyth approved the plan, leaving the details to be worked out by the interested fans themselves, while agreeing to serve as treasurer. Schedule Game Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap Sources 1 October 3 All-Buffalo W 10–0 1–0 Rochester Baseball Park 2,000 Recap "Jeffs Too Much for Windy City Football Team: Big Red Eleven Gets Off to 10–0 Victory," Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Oct. 4, 1920, p. 22. 2 October 10 Fort Porter W 66–0 2–0 Rochester Baseball Park Recap "Jeffersons Trounce Fort Porter Eleven: Service Team Badly Drubbed by Lyons's Outfit, 66–0," Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Oct. 11, 1920, p. 22. 3 October 17 Utica Knights of Columbus T 0–0 2–0–1 Rochester Baseball Park Recap "Utica Kaysees and Jeffs Play Scoreless Tie: Visitors Give Read Team Great Battle," Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Oct. 18, 1920, p. 22. 4 October 24 Syracuse Stars W 21–7 3–0–1 Rochester Baseball Park Recap "Jeffs Trounce Syracuse Team: Reds Come Through After Delayed Awakening," Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Oct. 25, 1920, p. 23. 5 October 31 at Buffalo All-Americans L 6–17 3–1–1 Canisius Villa 7,500 Recap "Smoother Teamwork Enables Crack Buffalo Professional Eleven to Beat Jeffs, 17–6," Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Nov. 1, 1920, p. 23. 6 November 7 Utica Knights of Columbus W 27–7 4–1–1 Rochester Baseball Park Recap "Jeffs Subdue Utica Kaysees in Hard-Fought Affair, 27–7: Big Red Line Smears Attack of Visitors, Blocked Punts Netting Two Touchdowns," Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Nov. 8, 1920, p. 21. 7 November 14 All-Tonawanda Lumberjacks L 0–6 4–2–1 Rochester Baseball Park "largest since opening day" Recap "All-Tonawanda Defeats Jeffs in Tight Game: Fumble on Ten Yard Line Decides Encounter," Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Nov. 15, 1920, p. 21. 8 November 21 Rochester Scalpers W 16–0 5–2–1 Rochester Baseball Park "largest of season" Recap "Aerial Attack Gives Jeffs Two Touchdowns in Annual Engagement with Scalpers: Fifteenth Warders Fight Hard, But Break Before Onrush of Heavier Opponents," Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Nov. 22, 1920, p. 22. 9 November 25 All-Tonawanda Lumberjacks L 3–14 5–3–1 Rochester Baseball Park 2,500 Recap "All-Tonawanda Counts for Second Straight Win Over Jefferson Football Eleven," Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Nov. 26, 1920, p. 31. 10 November 28 Rochester Scalpers W 7–6 6–3–1 Rochester Baseball Park "good-sized crowd" Recap "Early Start Enables Jeffs to Defeat Scalpers in Hot Fight for Gridiron Honors," Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Nov. 29, 1920, p. 21. 11 December 5 at Rochester Scalpers T 0–0 6–3–2 Edgerton Park Arena Recap "Jeffersons and Scalpers Stage Scoreless Game: Ragged Football Features Closing Encounter," Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Dec. 6, 1920, p. 21. Note: Non-APFA opponents in italics. Thanksgiving Day: November 25. Western New York Committee 2007 2–9 Standings thumb|right|360px|The Jeffs played only one road game, traveling 75 miles to play the Buffalo All-Americans ("Professionals") on the field of Canisius University. About 7,500 fans turned out, generating far and away the biggest gate of the year. References 35em Further reading Crippen Ken 2001 http://www.profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/23-05-910.pdf 1919 Buffalo Prospects The Coffin Corner Professional Football Researchers Association 23 5 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20121022112115/http://www.profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/23-05-910.pdf October 22, 2012 Davis Jeff Papa Bear, The Life and Legacy of George Halas McGraw-Hill 2005 0-07-146054-3 https://archive.org/details/papabear00jeff Hogrogian John 1984 1920 All-Pros http://www.profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/06-01-173.pdf The Coffin Corner Professional Football Researchers Association 6 1 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20140808122855/http://www.profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/06-01-173.pdf August 8, 2014 Peterson Robert 1997 Pigskin: The Early Years of Pro Football Oxford University Press 0-19-507607-9 https://archive.org/details/pigskinearlyyear00pete_0 PFRA Research 1980 http://www.profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/02-08-038.pdf Happy Birthday NFL? The Coffin Corner Professional Football Researchers Association 2 8 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20110817020602/http://www.profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/02-08-038.pdf August 17, 2011 Quirk James Fort Rodney 1997 Pay Dirt: The Business of Professional Team Sports Princeton University Press 9780691015743 https://archive.org/details/paydirtbusinesso00quir Siwoff Seymour Zimmber Jon Marini Matt 2010 The Official NFL Record and Fact Book 2010 National Football League 978-1-60320-833-8 Western New York Committee January 8, 2007 http://www.profootballresearchers.org/WNY/1920_Rochester_Jeffersons.pdf 1920 Rochester Jeffersons Professional Football Researchers Association November 23, 2012 February 2019 InternetArchiveBot yes External links Crippen, Ken (July 27, 2009). "The Rochester Jeffersons Take to the National Stage (Part 1)". Two Bills Drive. Retrieved March 14, 1920. Category:Rochester Jeffersons seasons Rochester Jeffersons Rochester