1920 Akron Pros season

1920 Akron Pros season
1920 Akron Pros season
	The 1920 team, NFL champions.
Owner	Art Ranney, Frank Nied
Head coach	Elgie Tobin
Home field	League Park
Results
Record	8–0–3 overall; 6–0–3 against APFA teams
Division place	1st APFA (named champions)
Playoff finish	No playoffs until 1932
	← 1919; Akron Pros; 1921 →;

The 1920 Akron Pros season was the franchise's inaugural season with the American Professional Football Association (APFA) and twelfth total season as a team. The Pros entered the season coming off a 5–5 record in 1919 as the Akron Indians in the Ohio League. The Indians were sold to Art Ranney and Frank Nied, two businessmen, to help achieve a better record and crowd. Several representatives from the Ohio League wanted to form a new professional league; thus, the APFA was created.

Returning to the team for the 1920 season would be most of last year's team, including quarterback Fritz Pollard. The Pros also added end Bob Nash, who previously played for the Tigers, Al Garrett, and end Al Nesser of the famous Nesser brothers. They opened their regular season with a win over the Wheeling Stogies, en route to an 8–0–3 record. In week 11, the Pros traded Bob Nash, in the first trade in APFA history. A meeting was held by the APFA to determine a winner, and the Pros' season concluded with the team winning the Brunswick-Balke Collender Cup for finishing first place in the APFA. The Decatur Staleys and the Buffalo All-Americans laid claim to the title because of the number of wins each team had.

Rip King and Fritz Pollard were named first-team all APFA and Alf Cobb was named second-team all APFA by the Rock Island Argus. The Pros only allowed seven points all season, which was the lowest among all APFA teams. The 1920 Akron Pros were the first team in the history of the APFA to have an undefeated record, in that they were never defeated in a game.

Tied games were not counted in the standings until 1972: the Pros' 8-0-3 record would have been counted as an .864 percentage under current rules. In 2005, Pollard became the only player from the 1920 Akron Pros to be elected into the Professional Football Hall of Fame.