National Football League (NFL)
History 1920-2020 (101 seasons)

Leagues / Football / NFL

On August 20, 1920, a meeting was held by representatives of several professional football teams at the Jordan and Hupmobile auto showroom in Canton, Ohio. This meeting resulted in the formation of the American Professional Football Conference (APFC), a group who intended to "raise the standard of professional football in every way possible, to eliminate bidding for players between rival clubs and to secure cooperation in the formation of schedules". Another meeting held on September 17, 1920 resulted in the renaming of the league to the American Professional Football Association (APFA). The league hired Jim Thorpe as its first president, and consisted of 14 teams. Only two of these teams, the Decatur Staleys (now the Chicago Bears) and the Chicago Cardinals (now the Arizona Cardinals), remain. On June 24, 1922, the APFA changed its name to the National Football League (NFL).

On August 20, 1920, a meeting was held by representatives of several professional football teams at the Jordan and Hupmobile auto showroom in Canton, Ohio. This meeting resulted in the formation of the American Professional Football Conference (APFC), a group who intended to "raise the standard of professional football in every way possible, to eliminate bidding for players between rival clubs and to secure cooperation in the formation of schedules". Another meeting held on September 17, 1920 resulted in the renaming of the league to the American Professional Football Association (APFA). The league hired Jim Thorpe as its first president, and consisted of 14 teams. Only two of these teams, the Decatur Staleys (now the Chicago Bears) and the Chicago Cardinals (now the Arizona Cardinals), remain. On June 24, 1922, the APFA changed its name to the National Football League (NFL).

Other concurrent football leagues:
AFL · AAFC · AFL3 · APFL · AFL2 · AFLG

NFL Champions

Year Team Coach

2020 Tampa Bay Buccaneers Bruce Arians

2019 Kansas City Chiefs Andy Reid

2018 New England Patriots Bill Belichick

2017 Philadelphia Eagles Doug Pederson

2016 New England Patriots Bill Belichick

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#1 Draft Pick

Year Player Team

2020 Joe Burrow / QB Bengals

2019 Kyler Murray / QB Cardinals

2018 Baker Mayfield / QB Browns

2017 Myles Garrett / DE Browns

2016 Jared Goff / QB Rams

View All NFL Draft Picks

League Executives

Tenure Name Title

2006-20 Roger Goodell Commissioner

1989-05 Paul Tagliabue Commissioner

1960-88 Pete Rozelle Commissioner

1959 Austin Gunsel Commissioner

1946-58 Bert Bell Commissioner

1941-45 Elmer Layden Commissioner

1939-40 Carl Storck League President

1921-38 Joseph Carr League President

1920 Jim Thorpe League President

1920 Ralph Hay League Secretary

Players' Union Leaders

Tenure Name Title

2009-20 DeMaurice Smith Union Director

2008 Richard Berthelsen Union Director

1983-07 Gene Upshaw Union Director

1971-82 Ed Garvey Union Director

1970 Malcolm Kennedy Jr. Union Director

1969 John Gordy Union Director

1957-68 Creighton Miller Players' Attorney

1 Comment

Davan S. Mani says:

April 17, 2020 at 11:36 pm

what a year. the competitiveness of the ABL really brought the NBA out of its duldrums.

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