Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

NFL is formally celebrating its 100th Anniversary. Is there a universal acceptance to what the first NFL game was? Seems to be a complicated question to me...is the answer 9/26/1920 Rock Island 48 St. Paul 0?

Yeah, but not if you want both teams to be league members, then this excerpt from the 1920 CC research article is relevant:

"On October 3, both the Muncie Flyers at Rock Island and the Columbus Panhandles at Dayton Triangles qualify. The question of the true league inaugural comes down to a comparison of time zones.
By an hour, the nod goes to Columbus at Dayton."

TanksAndSpartans wrote:Yeah, but not if you want both teams to be league members, then this excerpt from the 1920 CC research article is relevant:

"On October 3, both the Muncie Flyers at Rock Island and the Columbus Panhandles at Dayton Triangles qualify. The question of the true league inaugural comes down to a comparison of time zones.
By an hour, the nod goes to Columbus at Dayton."

Well, of course, you are assuming both games started at the same time - they didn't.
The kickoff for the Rock Island game was at 3:04 PM (yes, 3:04 according to the Rock Island Argus) and the Dayton game was scheduled to start at 2:30 PM. So, Dayton by an hour and 34 minutes (if my calculations are correct!).

Bryan wrote:NFL is formally celebrating its 100th Anniversary. Is there a universal acceptance to what the first NFL game was? Seems to be a complicated question to me...is the answer 9/26/1920 Rock Island 48 St. Paul 0?

I would really like to know what idiot at the NFL decided to retroactively count all those non-league games in 1920.

TodMaher wrote:

Bryan wrote:NFL is formally celebrating its 100th Anniversary. Is there a universal acceptance to what the first NFL game was? Seems to be a complicated question to me...is the answer 9/26/1920 Rock Island 48 St. Paul 0?

I would really like to know what idiot at the NFL decided to retroactively count all those non-league games in 1920.

Tod, those count? From what I remember in the football encyclopedia (Neft et. al.) non-league games didn't count in the standings. They changed it for 1920?

Just a fine point that irks me. This is a celebration of the NFL's 100th season. It is not the 100th Anniversary. If you got married in 1920, your 1st anniversary is 1921, 2nd anniversary is 1922...100th anniversary is 2020.

I saw that a lot in Super Bowl 50, media and even league officials calling it the 50th anniversary.

conace21 wrote:Just a fine point that irks me. This is a celebration of the NFL's 100th season. It is not the 100th Anniversary. If you got married in 1920, your 1st anniversary is 1921, 2nd anniversary is 1922...100th anniversary is 2020.

I saw that a lot in Super Bowl 50, media and even league officials calling it the 50th anniversary.

So what, are you an accountant or something?

conace21 wrote:Just a fine point that irks me. This is a celebration of the NFL's 100th season. It is not the 100th Anniversary. If you got married in 1920, your 1st anniversary is 1921, 2nd anniversary is 1922...100th anniversary is 2020.

I saw that a lot in Super Bowl 50, media and even league officials calling it the 50th anniversary.

I'm with you. It also irks me, just as it irked me when many people thought the year 2000 marked the beginning of a milennium.