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N0KFQ > TODAY 20.08.16 16:28l 56 Lines 2685 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 5010_N0KFQ
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Subj: Today in History - Aug 20
Path: IW8PGT<CX2SA<N9PMO<NS2B<N0KFQ
Sent: 160820/1418Z 5010@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ6.0.12
1920
Professional football is born
On this day in 1920, seven men, including legendary all-around
athlete and football star Jim Thorpe, meet to organize a
professional football league at the Jordan and Hupmobile Auto
Showroom in Canton, Ohio. The meeting led to the creation of the
American Professional Football Conference (APFC), the forerunner
to the hugely successful National Football League.
Professional football developed in the 1890s in Pennsylvania, as
local athletic clubs engaged in increasingly intense competition.
Former Yale football star William "Pudge" Heffelfinger became the
first-ever professional football player when he was hired by the
Allegheny Athletic Association to play in a game against their
rival the Pittsburgh Athletic Club in November 1892. By 1896, the
Allegheny Athletic Association was made up entirely of paid
players, making it the sport's first-ever professional team. As
football became more and more popular, local semi-pro and pro
teams were organized across the country.
Professional football first proved itself a viable spectator
sport in the 1910s with the establishment of The Ohio League.
Canton, the premiere team in the league, featured legendary
decathlete and football star Jim Thorpe. From his play with the
Carlisle School to his gold medal in the decathlon in Stockholm
in 1912 and his time in the outfield with John McGraw's New York
Giants, Thorpe was an international star who brought legitimacy
to professional football. The crowds that Thorpe and the Canton
team drew created a market for professional football in Ohio and
beyond. Still, the league was struggling due to escalating player
salaries, a reliance on college players who then had to forfeit
their college eligibility and a general lack of organization.
On August 20, 1920, the owners of four Ohio League teams-the
Akron Pros, Canton Bulldogs, Cleveland Indians and Dayton
Triangles-met to form a new professional league. Jim Thorpe was
nominated as president of the new league, as it was hoped
Thorpe's fame would help the league to be taken seriously. On
September 17, the league met again, changing its short-lived name
to the American Professional Football Association (APFA) and
officially electing Jim Thorpe as the league's first president.
The APFA began play on September 26, with the Rock Island
Independents of Illinois defeating a team from outside the
league, the St. Paul Ideals, 48-0. A week later, Dayton beat
Columbus 14-0 in the first game between two teams from the APFA,
the forerunner of the modern NFL.
73 - K.O., n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
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