Akron Pros

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The Akron Pros were a National Football League team that played in Akron, Ohio from 1920–1925 and as the Akron Indians in 1926. The Pros won the first NFL championship in 1920, though at the time the league operated as the American Professional Football Association.

The team started out in 1916 as the Akron Burkhardts, named after a local family of brewers that sponsored the team. From 1917 the team competed as the Akron Pros. The Pros were a charter member of the APFA.

Fritz Pollard, the first African-American head coach in the NFL, co-coached the Pros in 1921. Paul Robeson played for the team in 1921 as well. In 1926, the name was changed to the Akron Indians, after an earlier Akron semi-pro team. Due to financial problems, the team suspended operations in 1927 and surrendered its franchise the following year.

[edit] Pro Football Hall of Famers

  • Christopher Lee Wilson

[edit] Seasons

Season Team League Regular Season Post Season Results Coach(es)
Finish Wins Losses Ties
Akron Pros
1920 1920 APFA 1st 8 0 3 Named NFL Champions (1)[1] Elgie Tobin
1921 1921 APFA 3rd 8 3 1 The NFL did not hold playoff
games until 1932.		 Elgie Tobin
Fritz Pollard
1922 1922 NFL 10th 3 5 2 Untz Brewer
Paul Sheeks
1923 1923 NFL 15th 1 6 0 Dutch Hendren
Carl Cramer
1924 1924 NFL 13th 2 6 0 Jim Flower
1925 1925 NFL 5th 4 2 2 George Barry
Fritz Pollard
Akron Indians
1926 1926 NFL 16th 1 4 3 The NFL did not hold playoff
games until 1932.		 Fritz Pollard
Al Nesser
Rube Ursella

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ The team with the best record at the end of the season was named the NFL Champion.
v • d • e
Akron Pros/Indians seasons
1920 • 1921 • 1922 • 1923 • 1924 • 1925 • 1926
v • d • e
Akron Pros 1920 NFL Champions
Russ Bailey | Scotty Bierce | Alf Cobb | Tuffy Conn | Charlie Copley | Ken Crawford | Budge Garrett | Harry Harris | Pike Johnson | Rip King | Frank McCormick | Buck Miles | Frank Moran | Bob Nash | Al Nesser | Al Pierotti | Fritz Pollard | Fred Sweetland | Elgie Tobin | Tommy Tomlin
Head Coach Elgie Tobin
v • d • e
Defunct National Football League franchises
1920s
Chicago Tigers (1920) | Cleveland Tigers/Indians (1920 – 21) | Muncie Flyers (1920 – 21) | Rochester Jeffersons (1920 – 25) | Rock Island Independents (1920 – 25) | Akron Pros/Indians (1920 – 26) | Canton Bulldogs (1920 – 26) | Columbus Panhandles/Tigers (1920 – 26) | Hammond Pros (1920 – 26) | Detroit Heralds/Tigers/Panthers/Wolverines (1920 – 28) | Buffalo All-Americans/Bisons/Rangers (1920 – 29) | Dayton Triangles (1920 – 29) | Cincinnati Celts (1921) | New York Giants (Brickley's) (1921) | Tonawanda Kardex (1921) | Washington Senators (1921) | Evansville Crimson Giants (1921 – 22) | Louisville Brecks/Colonels (1921 – 23, 1926) | Minneapolis Marines/Red Jackets (1921 – 24, 1929 – 31) | Oorang Indians (1922 – 23) | Toledo Maroons (1922 – 23) | Racine Legion/Tornadoes (1922 – 24, 1926) | Milwaukee Badgers (1922 – 26) | St. Louis All Stars (1923) | Cleveland Indians/Bulldogs (1923 – 27) | Duluth Kelleys/Eskimos (1923 – 27) | Kenosha Maroons (1924) | Kansas City Blues/Cowboys (1924 – 26) | Frankford Yellow Jackets (1924 – 31) | Pottsville Maroons/Boston Bulldogs (1925 – 29) | Providence Steam Roller (1925 – 31) | Brooklyn Lions (1926) | Hartford Blues (1926) | Los Angeles Buccaneers (1926) | New York Yankees (1927 – 28) | Orange/Newark Tornadoes (1929 – 30) | Staten Island Stapletons (1929 – 32)
1930s
Brooklyn Dodgers/Tigers (1930 – 44) | Cleveland Indians (1931) | Cincinnati Reds (1933 – 34) | St. Louis Gunners (1934)
1940s-50s
Boston Yanks (1944 – 48) | Baltimore Colts (1950) | New York Bulldogs/Yanks (1949 – 51) | Dallas Texans (1952)
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