1920 Buffalo All-Americans season

The 1920 Buffalo All-Americans season was their inaugural season in the league. The team finished 9-1-1,^[1] enough for third place in the league. It was one of only four teams to finish the 1920 season.

This season was most notable for the last two games of the team's schedule. The first of these was a showcase game between the All-Americans and the league's flagship franchise, the Canton Bulldogs, in New York City's Polo Grounds. About 20,000 fans showed up for the game, a significant number for the still-regional league, and it spurred efforts, first with the New York Brickley Giants in 1921 and later with the New York Football Giants in 1925, to put a team in New York City.

The second game ended up deciding the championship. Held on the next day against the Akron Pros, a win would have likely secured the All-Americans the league title. However, the team only managed a scoreless tie with the Pros. Buffalo, however, still felt it had a strong case for a share of the title, and made their case before the league owners in April 1921. Buffalo stood at 9-1-1 and Akron at 8-0-3. Each team had eight more wins than losses, and Buffalo could also make the case that their lone loss, against Canton, was partially negated by their later win in the Polo Grounds due to a rule that gave more weight to late-season games than earlier ones. Joe Carr didn't buy the argument, and moved to give Akron, by virtue of being undefeated, the sole title and possession of the Brunswick-Balke Collender Cup. The motion was accepted. Buffalo was given third place (the Decatur Staleys, who also made a pitch for a share of the title, took second). Worth noting is that under current interpretation, which counts ties (now very rare due to overtime) as half-wins and half-losses^[2], Buffalo and Akron would have indeed been tied for the title at 9½-1½, but league rules ignored ties at the time.

Schedule

• Games in italics are against non-NFL teams.

Week 2

West Buffalo (0-0-0) at Buffalo All-Americans (0-0-0) - Canisius Field

On a rainy afternoon in Buffalo the All-Americans dismantled the local semi pro team from West Buffalo. Bodie Weldon ran for an early score in the 1st quarter. Quarterback Tommy Hughitt and Weldon added touchdowns in the 2nd quarter to make the score of the game 19-0 going into halftime. Hughitt scored from a yard out in the third quarter to make the score 25-0. West Buffalo got on the scoreboard when Bob Langdon intercepted a Buffalo pass and ran it back 75 yards for a touchdown. Buffalo finished off the scoring in the 4th quarter and won the game 32-6.^[3]

Standings

References