Surf Wiki
Save to docs
sports

From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

1920 Rochester Jeffersons season

National Football League team season

1920 Rochester Jeffersons season

National Football League team season

FieldValue
teamRochester Jeffersons
year1920
record6–3–2 overall
0–1 APFA
league_place6th in APFA
ownerLeo Lyons
coachJack Forsyth
stadiumBaseball Park
playoffs

0–1 APFA

The 1920 Rochester Jeffersons season was the franchise's inaugural season in the American Professional Football Association (APFA) and thirteenth as an American football team. The Jeffersons entered 1920 coming off a six-win, two-loss, two-tie (6–2–2) record in the New York Pro Football League (NYPFL) where it lost the championship game to the Buffalo Prospects. Several representatives from another professional football league, the Ohio League, wanted to form a new national league, and thus the APFA was created.

Ownership, roster, and coaching nearly stayed the same for the 1920 season. The team opened the season with a 10–0 victory over the non-APFA All-Buffalo. The only time the Jeffersons played a game against an APFA team was week six, when they lost to the Buffalo All-Americans. The team ended with a 6–3–2 record, which was good enough for them to finish sixth place in the final standings. The sportswriter Bruce Copeland compiled the 1920 All-Pro list, but no players from the Jeffersonss were on it. As of 2012, no player from the 1920 Rochester Jeffersons has been enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The Jeffersons' 66–0 defeat of Fort Porter remains the largest regular season shutout victory in league history, albeit being against a non-league team.

Offseason

The Rochester Jeffersons finished 6–2–1 in their 1919 season. It lost the NYPFL championship to the Buffalo All-Americans. After the 1919 season, representatives of four Ohio League teams—the Canton Bulldogs, the Cleveland Tigers, the Dayton Triangles, and the Akron Pros—called a meeting on August 20, 1920, to discuss the formation of a new league. At the meeting, they tentatively agreed on a salary cap and pledged not to sign college players or players already under contract with other teams. They also agreed on a name for the circuit: the American Professional Football Conference. They then invited other professional teams to a second meeting on September 17.

At that meeting, held at Bulldogs owner Ralph Hay's Hupmobile showroom in Canton, representatives of the Rock Island Independents, the Muncie Flyers, the Decatur Staleys, the Racine Cardinals, the Massillon Tigers, the Chicago Cardinals, and the Hammond Pros agreed to join the league. Representatives of the All-Americans and Rochester Jeffersons could not attend the meeting, but sent letters to Hay asking to be included in the league. Team representatives changed the league's name slightly to the American Professional Football Association and elected officers, installing Jim Thorpe as president. Under the new league structure, teams created their schedules dynamically as the season progressed, so there were no minimum or maximum number of games needed to be played. Also, representatives of each team voted to determine the winner of the APFA trophy.

Regular season

Scheduling for the Jeffersons was extremely ad hoc. Little over two weeks before the start of the 1920 season, team manager Leo V. Lyons was still putting out feelers for a "good heavyweight opponent" for the home opener. Gene Dooley and his "All-Buffalo" squad met the call but were not heavy enough to go toe-to-toe, falling 10–0 to the Jeffs on a rainy Sunday afternoon in Rochester's Baseball Park.

The Rochester Jeffersons were essentially a regional team, playing local opponents, with 10 of their 11 games in Rochester. The Red Eleven's solitary road game was played in Buffalo — a little over 70 miles away. The Jeffs played opponents solely from upstate New York, including grid squads from Rochester, Buffalo, Syracuse, Tonawanda, and Utica — the last-mentioned being the furthest distance away from Rochester, about 135 miles.

Following the Jeffs' second game of the season, a frolicking 66–0 smash up of a lesser opponent, four Rochester fans approached head coach Jack Forsyth and asked permission to organize a Jeffs rooters' club. Forsyth approved the plan, leaving the details to be worked out by the interested fans themselves, while agreeing to serve as treasurer.

Schedule

Rochester Jeffersonsyear=1920border=2}}"GameRochester Jeffersonsyear=1920border=2}}"DateRochester Jeffersonsyear=1920border=2}}"OpponentRochester Jeffersonsyear=1920border=2}}"ResultRochester Jeffersonsyear=1920border=2}}"RecordRochester Jeffersonsyear=1920border=2}}"VenueRochester Jeffersonsyear=1920border=2}}"AttendanceRochester Jeffersonsyear=1920border=2}}"RecapRochester Jeffersonsyear=1920border=2}}"Sources1234567891011
October 3*All-Buffalo***W** 10–01–0Rochester Baseball Park2,000[Recap](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/192010030rch.htm)
October 10*Fort Porter***W** 66–02–0Rochester Baseball Park[Recap](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/192010100rch.htm)
October 17*Utica Knights of Columbus***T** 0–02–0–1Rochester Baseball Park[Recap](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/192010100rch.htm)
October 24*Syracuse Stars***W** 21–73–0–1Rochester Baseball Park[Recap](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/192010240rch.htm)
October 31at [Buffalo All-Americans](1920-buffalo-all-americans-season)**L** 6–173–1–1Canisius Villa7,500[Recap](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/192010310bff.htm)
November 7*Utica Knights of Columbus***W** 27–74–1–1Rochester Baseball Park[Recap](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/192011070rch.htm)
November 14*All-Tonawanda Lumberjacks***L** 0–64–2–1Rochester Baseball Park"largest since opening day"[Recap](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/192011140rch.htm)
November 21*Rochester Scalpers***W** 16–05–2–1Rochester Baseball Park"largest of season"[Recap](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/192011210rch.htm)
November 25*All-Tonawanda Lumberjacks***L** 3–145–3–1Rochester Baseball Park2,500[Recap](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/192011250rch.htm)
November 28*Rochester Scalpers***W** 7–66–3–1Rochester Baseball Park"good-sized crowd"[Recap](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/192011280ros.htm)
December 5at *Rochester Scalpers***T** 0–06–3–2Edgerton Park Arena[Recap](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/192012050ros.htm)
**Note:** Non-APFA opponents in *italics.* Thanksgiving Day: November 25.

Standings

The Jeffs played only one road game, traveling 75 miles to play the Buffalo All-Americans ("Professionals") on the field of Canisius University. About 7,500 fans turned out, generating far and away the biggest gate of the year.

References

References

  1. {{Harvnb. Western New York Committee. 2007
  2. (2023). "2023 NFL Record and Fact Book". [[National Football League]].
  3. "1919 Rochester Jeffersons". Maher Sports Media.
  4. {{Harvnb. Crippen. 2001
  5. {{Harvnb. PFRA Research. 1980
  6. {{Harvnb. Siwoff. Zimmber. Marini. 2010
  7. {{Harvnb. PFRA Research. 1980
  8. (September 19, 1920). "Thorpe Made President". The New York Times.
  9. (September 19, 1920). "Organize Pro Gridders; Choose Thorpe, Prexy". [[The Milwaukee Journal]].
  10. {{Harvnb. Peterson. 1997
  11. {{Harvnb. Davis. 2005
  12. Price, Mark. (April 25, 2011). "Searching for Lost Trophy". [[Akron Beacon-Journal]].
  13. [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-buffalo-news-rochester-jeffersons-se/165042821/ "Football,"] ''Buffalo News,'' Sept. 15, 1920, p. 22.
  14. [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-buffalo-news-jeffs-to-heave-for-all/165043125/ "Jeffs to Heave for All-Buffalo Team,"] ''Buffalo News,'' Oct. 4, 1920, p. 19.
  15. [https://www.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle-football-fans-for/164963555/ "Football Fans Form Jeff Rooters' Club: Big Red Eleven Will Take on Utica Kaysees,"] ''Rochester Democrat and Chronicle,'' Oct. 14, 1920, p. 30.
  16. [https://www.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle-jeffs-too-much-fo/165037663/ "Jeffs Too Much for Windy City Football Team: Big Red Eleven Gets Off to 10–0 Victory,"] ''Rochester Democrat and Chronicle,'' Oct. 4, 1920, p. 22.
  17. [https://www.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle-jeffersons-trounc/165038096/ "Jeffersons Trounce Fort Porter Eleven: Service Team Badly Drubbed by Lyons's Outfit, 66–0,"] ''Rochester Democrat and Chronicle,'' Oct. 11, 1920, p. 22.
  18. [https://www.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle-utica-kaysees-and/165038455/ "Utica Kaysees and Jeffs Play Scoreless Tie: Visitors Give Read Team Great Battle,"] ''Rochester Democrat and Chronicle,'' Oct. 18, 1920, p. 22.
  19. [https://www.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle-jeffs-trounce-syr/165038696/ "Jeffs Trounce Syracuse Team: Reds Come Through After Delayed Awakening,"] ''Rochester Democrat and Chronicle,'' Oct. 25, 1920, p. 23.
  20. [https://www.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle-smoother-teamwork/165038943/ "Smoother Teamwork Enables Crack Buffalo Professional Eleven to Beat Jeffs, 17–6,"] ''Rochester Democrat and Chronicle,'' Nov. 1, 1920, p. 23.
  21. [https://www.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle-jeffs-subdue-utic/165039218/ "Jeffs Subdue Utica Kaysees in Hard-Fought Affair, 27–7: Big Red Line Smears Attack of Visitors, Blocked Punts Netting Two Touchdowns,"] ''Rochester Democrat and Chronicle,'' Nov. 8, 1920, p. 21.
  22. [https://www.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle-all-tonawanda-def/165039539/ "All-Tonawanda Defeats Jeffs in Tight Game: Fumble on Ten Yard Line Decides Encounter,"] ''Rochester Democrat and Chronicle,'' Nov. 15, 1920, p. 21.
  23. [https://www.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle-aerial-attack-giv/165039827/ "Aerial Attack Gives Jeffs Two Touchdowns in Annual Engagement with Scalpers: Fifteenth Warders Fight Hard, But Break Before Onrush of Heavier Opponents,"] ''Rochester Democrat and Chronicle,'' Nov. 22, 1920, p. 22.
  24. [https://www.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle-all-tonawanda-cou/165040480/ "All-Tonawanda Counts for Second Straight Win Over Jefferson Football Eleven,"] ''Rochester Democrat and Chronicle,'' Nov. 26, 1920, p. 31.
  25. [https://www.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle-early-start-enabl/165040739/ "Early Start Enables Jeffs to Defeat Scalpers in Hot Fight for Gridiron Honors,"] ''Rochester Democrat and Chronicle,'' Nov. 29, 1920, p. 21.
  26. [https://www.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle-jeffersons-and-sc/165040973/ "Jeffersons and Scalpers Stage Scoreless Game: Ragged Football Features Closing Encounter,"] ''Rochester Democrat and Chronicle,'' Dec. 6, 1920, p. 21.
  27. {{Harvnb. Western New York Committee. 2007
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

rochester-jeffersons-seasons 1920-apfa-season-by-team 1920-in-sports-in-new-york-(state)
Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about 1920 Rochester Jeffersons season — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report