The First NFL Team To Fold - The Story Of The Chicago Tigers

The Chicago Tigers of the American Professional Football Association (APFA) played their first and only season in 1920, the first year of the league (1920), and have the distinction of being the first NFL team to fold. They had a record of 2 wins, 5 losses and 1 tie. The team played its home games at Chicago's Wrigley Field (then called Cubs Park) and was the first NFL team to do so. The Tigers were never formally members of the APFA. However, since the team played seven games against APFA teams in 1920, resulting in a 1–5–1 league record, they are generally included in the league standings.

According to Emil Klosiinkski in the book, Pro Football in the Days of Rockne, the Tigers' main offensive weapon was their passing game. This specifically referred to the passes thrown by Johnny Barrett and Milt Ghee to Jack Meagher and Oscar Knop. On October 24, 1920, the Decatur Staleys (renamed the Chicago Bears in 1922) played a game against the Tigers at Cubs Park and billed it as "the season's most professional game" that would also determine the "pro title". Many Decatur games, at the time, were billed as championships in an attempt to lure crowds. The Staleys defeated the Tigers 10–0.

In 1920 the Tigers and Racine Cardinals were playing for the same Chicago fan dollar. Legend has it that the Cardinals' owner Chris O’Brien offered to play for the right to represent the city of Chicago in the APFA, and that Tigers’ owner Guil Falcon had agreed to the terms. The game resulted in a 6–3 Cardinals win, with Paddy Driscoll scoring the game's only touchdown on a 40-yard run. The Tigers finished the season with a 2–5–1 record and, as allegedly promised, dropped out of the league.

However, there are three problems with this story: first, the Tigers played two more league games after losing to the Cardinals; second, O'Brien was willing to let the Decatur Staleys play in Chicago the following season (in fact, it was the Staleys that proved to be the Tigers' actual last league opponent); and third, there is no contemporary evidence for the challenge. According to the NFL, the Chicago Tigers folded between the 1920 and 1921 seasons. The team is just a small footnote in the history of the National Football League.

Who Were The First Three Franchises In Detroit?

In 1905, several University of Detroit football players, led by Bill Marshall, organized the Heralds as an amateur team after the university did not field a squad. While the university's football team resumed play in 1906, the Heralds continued to play as an amateur team. In 1911, the team dropped its amateur status and became semi-professional. In 1916, several out-of-town players were brought in to replace some of the older players, several of whom had been with the Heralds since 1905.

Despite not being based in Ohio, the Heralds played many of their games against teams in the Ohio League. In 1917, the team recorded an 8–2 record, their only losses coming at the hands of the Ohio League champion Canton Bulldogs and a military team from Battle Creek. The Heralds were a rarity in 1918; while most teams either stopped play or reduced their schedules to only local teams because of World War I and the flu pandemic, the Heralds continued to play a full schedule and even travel to other cities, accruing a 6–2 record with both losses coming to the Ohio League champion Dayton Triangles. In 1919, as the suspended teams resumed play and travel restrictions eased significantly, the Heralds went 1–4–2, including losses to Bulldogs and the Massillon Tigers.

In 1920, the American Professional Football Association, predecessor to the National Football League, was established. While the Heralds did not officially join the association, they are listed in league standings for the season. Overall, the Heralds went 2–3–3. The Heralds were reorganized into the Detroit Tigers, after the city's major league baseball team, for the 1921 season. However, after a tie and a win in their first two games, the Tigers lost the next five. Several players complained about not getting paid and left the team during the season. The team officially folded at the end of the season in mid-November. Its remaining players were given to the Buffalo All-Americans.

In 1925, Detroit fielded its second NFL franchise, the Detroit Panthers. The team was organized by future Hall of Famer, Jimmy Conzelman. Conzelman was a quarterback who had recently played with the Decatur Staleys, Rock Island Independents and the Milwaukee Badgers. Conzelman served as the team's owner, coach, and starting quarterback. The Panthers started the season 8–1. However, a 6–3 upset loss to the Independents on Thanksgiving Day knocked them out of first place and they ended the season in third.

The Panthers hoped to build on their 1925 season, but they opened the 1926 season with an 0–3 record. After rallying to a 4–0–2 record in their next six games, they lost their last three. Conzelman gave up the franchise and joined the Providence Steam Roller as player-coach.

Following the 1927 season, the Cleveland Bulldogs were sold to a group of investors, who moved the team to Detroit. Coached by LeRoy Andrews, the team was renamed the Detroit Wolverines. They were named after quarterback Benny Friedman's alma mater, the Michigan Wolverines. The Wolverines finished their 1928 season in third place with a 7–2-1 record, losing only to the Providence Steam Roller and the Frankford Yellow Jackets, the NFL's first and second place teams.

During the offseason, Tim Mara, the owner of the New York Giants, was interested in acquiring Friedman. Rather than simply trade for Friedman, Mara bought the entire Wolverines franchise and promptly deactivated it, delivering Friedman and other star Wolverines players to New York. The NFL would not return to the Motor City for six years, until the Portsmouth Spartans became the Detroit Lions in 1934.

While the Lions are well known for playing on Thanksgiving Day, the other Detroit teams had a history of playing on Thanksgiving Day as well. Here is a list of the games.

• 1917 Heralds vs. Canton Bulldogs (lost 7–0)
• 1920 Heralds at Dayton Triangles (lost 28–0)
• 1921 Tigers, merged with the Buffalo All-Americans, at Chicago Staleys (won 7–6)
• 1925 Panthers vs. Rock Island Independents (lost 6–3)
• 1926 Panthers vs. Los Angeles Buccaneers (lost 9–6)
• 1928 Wolverines vs. Dayton Triangles (won 33–0)