Sports season
Traveling teams
Pros
Buccaneers
Colonels
The
1926 NFL season
was the seventh
regular season
of the
National Football League
. The league grew to 22 teams, a figure that would not be equaled in professional football until 1961, adding the
Brooklyn Lions
, the
Hartford Blues
, the
Los Angeles Buccaneers
, and the
Louisville Colonels
, with the
Racine Tornadoes
re-entering. The
Cleveland Bulldogs
sat out the season, the
Rock Island Independents
defected to the upstart
American Football League
, and the
Rochester Jeffersons
suspended operations for the final time (eventually folding in early 1928). The
Akron Pros
re-branded as the
Akron Indians
, the
Duluth Kelleys
as the
Duluth Eskimos
and the
Buffalo Bison
as the
Buffalo Rangers
(the team also used the names "Texas Rangers" and "Buffalo Cowboys").
[
citation needed
]
.
The Buccaneers, Eskimos, Colonels and
Buffalo Rangers
were "showcase teams," the first efforts for the league to reach beyond the northeast and midwest. The Buccaneers, a response to the AFL's
Los Angeles Wildcats
, represented the state of
California
; the Eskimos the far northern plains, while the Colonels represented the
Southern United States
and the Rangers represented the state of
Texas
and other areas of the
Southwestern United States
.
[
clarification needed
]
The four teams (except the Rangers) all played primarily as
traveling teams
. Three of the four teams only lasted one season; the Buccaneers and Colonels both folded while the Rangers reverted to their previous status as the Bison, and only the Eskimos returned for 1927.
In mid-November, Brooklyn merged with the AFL's
Brooklyn Horsemen
and stayed in the NFL, playing one more game as the Lions before changing its name to the Brooklyn Horsemen for the last three games (all shutout losses).
The
Frankford Yellow Jackets
were named the NFL champions after finishing the season with the best record. Their 14 victories were the most in an NFL season to that point, a record that would not be bested until the
1968 Baltimore Colts
won 15.
After the season, the
Philadelphia Inquirer
lobbied for a
World Series
-style game between the Yellow Jackets and the
AFL's
champions
Philadelphia Quakers
, with the Quakers' owner challenging the Yellow Jackets, but ultimately the NFL denied permission to this game to be held.
[1]
Teams
[
edit
]
The league grew to 22 teams.
First season in NFL *
|
Rejoined the NFL †
|
Last active season ^
|
Standings
[
edit
]
Note:
Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.
References
[
edit
]
- NFL Record and Fact Book
(
ISBN
1-932994-36-X
)
- NFL History 1921?1930
(Last accessed December 4, 2005)
- David S. Neft, Richard M. Cohen, and Rick Korch,
The Football Encyclopedia: The Complete, Year-by-Year History of Professional Football From 1892 to the Present
(St. Martin's Press 1994)
ISBN
0-312-11435-4
- Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League
(
ISBN
0-06-270174-6
)
See also
[
edit
]
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Early era
(1920?1969)
| |
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Modern era
(1970?present)
| |
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Italics
indicate future seasons
|