The 1900's through the 1945
This is page is dedicated to those Cleveland area teams and people that paved the way for the institution we now call the NFL and the Cleveland Browns. In this page, you will find out that Ohio was the center of professional football. You will also learn about early Ohio teams, their coaches, leagues, players, and statistics. Please note that there is some information on this page that I have failed to dig up, and if you know any of this information, please let me know. My goal in this is to be 100% accurate and have 100% of the information. Thanks and enjoy!
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Past Cleveland Teams:
This is a list of all of the professional Cleveland teams of the past. A couple of notes about this section: There are 3 instances of "Cleveland Indians" in this list. That is because the first two went out of business. They were three separate teams, with different players and different owners. If there is a (c) in the playoff column, it denotes a championship game. A double question mark (??) denotes missing information. If you can supply the information, I would be more than happy to list you as a source on my credit page, as well as provide a link to any page you may have. Click on the link in the highlight column to view a short story about the team. And finally, once again, if there is any information that you feel is incorrect on this page, please let me know. I hope that you will find this reading as interesting as it was for me to research and write.
Name |
Year
|
League
|
Record
|
Finish
|
Playoff* | Coach | highlight |
Tigers |
1920
|
APFA
|
1-4-2
|
9th
|
None | Stan Cofal | |
1921
|
AFPA
|
3-5-0
|
11th
|
None | Jim Thorpe | ||
Indians |
1923
|
NFL
|
3-1-3
|
5th
|
None | Cap Edwards | |
Bulldogs* |
1924
|
NFL
|
7-1-1
|
1st
|
Note1 | Guy Chamberlin | |
1925
|
NFL
|
5-8-1
|
12th
|
None | Cap Edwards | ||
Panthers |
1926
|
AFL
|
3-2-1
|
3rd
|
None | Ray Watts | Note 2 |
Bulldogs |
1927
|
NFL
|
8-4-1
|
4th
|
None | Roy Andrews | |
Indians | 1931 | NFL | 2-8-0 | 8th | None | Al Cornsweet/ Hodge Workman | |
Rams |
1937
|
NFL
|
1-10-0
|
5W**
|
None | Hugo Bezdet | |
1938
|
NFL
|
4-7-0
|
4W**
|
None | Hugo Bezdet/ Art Lewis | ||
1939
|
NFL
|
5-5-1
|
4W**
|
None | Dutch Clark | ||
1940
|
NFL
|
4-6-1
|
4W**
|
None | Dutch Clark | ||
1941
|
NFL
|
2-9-0
|
5W**
|
None | Dutch Clark | ||
1942
|
NFL
|
5-6-0
|
3W**
|
None | Dutch Clark | ||
1943
|
NFL
|
Note3
|
-
|
- | - | ||
1944
|
NFL
|
4-6-0
|
4W**
|
None | Buff Donelli | ||
Rams |
1945
|
NFL
|
9-1-0
|
1W**
|
Beat Was 15-14 c | Adam Walsh |
* - Formerly the Canton Bulldogs (1920-1923)
** - W means NFL Western Division
Note1: The Bulldogs played a post-season game with the Chicago Bears, and the Bears won 11-5. The local Chicago newspapers declared Chicago the champions, however, in the off-season before, George Halas (owner and coach of the Bears) pushed through a rule that awarded the league championship to the team with the best winning percentage in the regular season. Cleveland had the best record and was awarded the championship despite protests from Chicago.
Note 2: Went out of business and disbanded after 6 games.
Note 3: Did not play that year Due to WWII. Some players were "leased" out to other teams for that year, but were still under contract with Cleveland.
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Other Ohio Teams
The same applies to this table of information as did above. The reason that I have included the following team information on this page is because Northeast Ohio was the center of the pro football world in the early days. The area is rich in tradition, and there are many stories to tell, and I would like to tell them all.
Name |
Year
|
League
|
Record
|
Finish
|
Playoff* | Coach | Hilite |
Akron Pros
|
1920
|
AFPA
|
6-0-3
|
1st
|
Note A | Elgie Tobin | |
1921
|
AFPA
|
8-3-1
|
3rd
|
None | Tobin/Fritz Pollard | ||
1922
|
NFL
|
3-5-2
|
10th
|
None | Paul Sheeks | ||
1923
|
NFL
|
1-6-0
|
17th
|
None | Dutch Hendrian/ Carl Cramer | ||
1924
|
NFL
|
2-6-0
|
13th (t)
|
None | Jim Fowler | ||
1925
|
NFL
|
4-2-2
|
5th
|
None | George Berry/ Fritz Pollard | ||
Akron Indians
|
1926
|
NFL
|
1-4-3
|
16th
|
None | Fritz Pollard/ Al Nesser | |
Canton Bulldogs
|
1920
|
AFPA
|
4-3-1
|
7th
|
Note B | Jim Thorpe | |
1921
|
AFPA
|
5-2-3
|
4th
|
None | Cap Edwards/Bob Higgens | ||
1922
|
NFL
|
10-0-2
|
1st
|
None | Guy Chamberlin | ||
1923
|
NFL
|
11-0-1
|
1st
|
None | Guy Chamberlin | ||
Canton Bulldogs |
1925
|
NFL
|
4-4-0
|
11th
|
None | Harry Robb | |
1926
|
NFL
|
1-9-3
|
20th
|
None | Harry Robb/ Pete Henry | ||
Marion Oragne Indians
|
1922
|
NFL
|
3-6-0
|
12th
|
None | Jim Thorpe | |
1923
|
NFL
|
1-10-0
|
18th
|
None | Jim Thorpe | ||
Dayton Triangles
|
1922
|
NFL
|
4-3-1
|
7th
|
None | Carl Storck | |
1923
|
NFL
|
1-6-1
|
16th
|
None | Carl Storck | ||
1924
|
NFL
|
2-6-0
|
13th (t)
|
None | Carl Storck | ||
1925
|
NFL
|
0-7-1
|
19th
|
None | Carl Storck | ||
1926
|
NFL
|
1-4-1
|
17th
|
None | Carl Storck | ||
1927
|
NFL
|
1-6-1
|
10th
|
None | Lou Mahrt | ||
1928
|
NFL
|
0-7-0
|
9th
|
None | Fay Abbott | ||
1929
|
NFL
|
0-6-0
|
12th
|
None | Fay Abbott | ||
Columbus Bullies
|
1921
|
AFL
|
??
|
??
|
?? | ?? | |
Columbus Panhandles
|
1920
|
AFPA
|
0-5-0
|
14th
|
None | Ted Nesser | |
1921
|
AFPA
|
1-8-0
|
17th
|
None | Ted Nesser | ||
1922
|
NFL
|
0-8-0
|
18th
|
None | Herb Dell | ||
Columbus Tigers
|
1923
|
NFL
|
5-4-1
|
8th
|
None | Pete Stinchcomb/Gus Tebell | |
1924
|
NFL
|
4-4-0
|
10th
|
None | Red Weaver | ||
1925
|
NFL
|
0-9-0
|
20th
|
None | Red Weaver | ||
1926
|
NFL
|
1-6-0
|
19th
|
None | Jack Heldt | ||
Cincinatti Bengals
|
1927
|
NFL
|
?? | ?? | Got info? | ||
Cincinatti Bengals
|
1931
|
NFL
|
?? | ?? | Got info? | ||
Cincinatti Celts
|
1921
|
AFPA
|
1-3-1
|
14th(t)
|
None | Bill Doherty | |
Cincinatti Reds
|
1933
|
NFL
|
3-6-1
|
None | Al Jolly/ Mike Palm | ||
1934
|
NFL
|
0-8-0
|
5th
|
None | Algy Clark | ||
Portsmouth Spartans |
1930
|
NFL
|
5-6-3
|
8th
|
None | ?? | |
1931
|
NFL
|
11-3-0
|
2nd
|
None | ?? | ||
Toledo Maroons
|
1922
|
NFL
|
5-2-2
|
4th
|
None | Guil Falcon | |
1923
|
NFL
|
3-3-2
|
11th
|
None | Guil Falcon |
Note B.: The Bulldogs played in an unsanctioned post-season game with the Chicago
Staleys and lost.
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