September 26, 1920: The 1st NFL Game

September 26, 1920: The 1st National Football League game is played – although the NFL was known as the American Professional Football Association (AFPA) for its 1st 2 seasons.

It is played at Douglas Park in Rock Island, Illinois (part of the "Quad Cities" based in Davenport, Iowa), and the Rock Island Independents defeat the St. Paul Ideals 48-0. The Independents scored 14 points in each of the 1st 3 quarters, and 6 in the 4th. All 6 touchdowns were by rushing, hardly a surprise in the days of what baseball historian John Thorn once called "caveman football." Ed Novak and Ray Mansfield each scored 2, and 1 each came from Fred Chicken and Ray Kuehl.

Douglas Park, circa 1920

Yes, Fred Chicken. No, he was not a Native American, from the Carlisle Indian School that produced Jim Thorpe and a few other early NFL players, or otherwise. He was born Fred Slepnicka, in Minneapolis, and, when turning pro, he and his brother changed their Czech surname to its English translation: "Chicken." Both brothers played for the Minneapolis Marines, one of the best pro teams before the founding of the NFL, and NFL members from 1921 to 1924. They were famed for their annual Thanksgiving Day game against a team of former University of Minnesota all-stars.

The Ideals were not an APFA member, just a semipro team that didn't last much longer. The Independents had been playing since 1907, and were undefeated in 1908, '10, '12, '13, and '18. They went 6-2-2 in 1920, but that's as good as it got for them in the NFL. With a glut of teams in 1926, they were among the majority that didn't make it to 1927.

Douglas Park was a 5,000-seat baseball stadium that opened in 1904, and was still hosting minor-league baseball as late as 1937. There is still a park and a baseball field on the site.

Douglas Park, circa 2020

In 2015, a "vintage football" game was played on the site, to honor the Independents' history.

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September 26, 1920 was, as you might guess, a Sunday. Most of the charter APFA/NFL teams started their seasons the following Sunday, October 3; a few, the one after that, October 10.

These Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Washington Senators, 9-5 at the Polo Grounds. Aaron Ward hit 2 home runs. Babe Ruth, unusually playing center field, went 1-for-3 with a walk. Jack Quinn went the distance for the win.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers -- or the Brooklyn Robins, as they were named after manager Wilbert Robinson from 1914 to 1931 -- beat their arch-rivals, the New York Giants, 4-2 at Ebbets Field.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 8-0 at Redland Field in Cincinnati. (It was renamed Crosley Field in 1934.)

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 8-1 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. For the Tigers, Ty Cobb went 1-for-4. For the White Sox, Eddie Collins went 1-for-3 with 2 walks, Shoeless Joe Jackson went 0-for-4 with a walk, and Eddie Cicotte went the distance for his 21st win of the season.

Cicotte would never pitch another game in "organized baseball." Happy Felsch would never play another game, either. Lefty Williams had last pitched the day before. Jackson, Swede Risberg and Buck Weaver would play only 1 more. That game would be the next day, September 27. Fred McMullin had last played on September 20. Chick Gandil had already retired after the previous season. On September 28, those 8 players were suspended, on the suspicion that they had thrown the 1919 World Series. Although they were acquitted, they were banned from baseball for life.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs, 6-3 at Cubs Park in Chicago. (It was renamed Wrigley Field in 1926. Yes, both Chicago teams were at home on the same day.) Rogers Hornsby went 1-for-5.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the St. Louis Browns, 7-5 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. Tris Speaker went 1-for-4. George Sisler went 3-for-5.

* And the Boston Red Sox and the Philadelphia Athletics were not scheduled.