1924 NFL season

The 1924 NFL season was the fifth regular season of the National Football League. The league had 18 teams play during the season, including the new clubs Frankford Yellow Jackets, Kansas City Blues, and Kenosha Maroons. The Louisville Brecks, Oorang Indians, St. Louis All Stars and Toledo Maroons folded.

1924 National Football League season
Regular season
DurationSeptember 27-November 30, 1924
ChampionsCleveland Bulldogs
1924 NFL season is located in USA Midwest and Northeast
Pros
Pros
Bisons
Bisons
Bears
Bears
Cardinals
Cardinals
Bulldogs
Bulldogs
Tigers
Tigers
Triangles
Triangles
Kelleys
Kelleys
Yellow Jackets
Yellow Jackets
Packers
Packers
Badgers
Badgers
Marines
Marines
Legion
Legion
Maroons
Maroons
Jeffersons
Jeffersons
Independents
Independents
Traveling team Pros   Blues
Traveling team
Pros
Blues
NFL teams

Before the season, the owner of the now-defunct Cleveland Indians bought the Canton Bulldogs and "mothballed" it, taking the team's nickname and players to Cleveland for the season. The new team, the Cleveland Bulldogs, won the 1924 NFL title with a 7–1–1 record.

Teams

Eighteen teams competed in the NFL during the 1924 season.

First season in NFL * Team folded this season ^ Last season before hiatus, rejoined league later §
First season in NFL, and then folded after this season *^
Team Head coach(es) Stadium
Akron ProsWayne BrenkertAkron League Park
Buffalo BisonsTommy HughittBison Stadium
Chicago BearsGeorge HalasCubs Park
Chicago CardinalsArnie HorweenComiskey Park
Cleveland BulldogsGuy ChamberlinDunn Field
Columbus TigersRed WeaverWest Side Athletic Club
Dayton TrianglesCarl StorckTriangle Park
Duluth KelleysDewey ScanlonDuluth Athletic Park
Frankford Yellow Jackets *Punk BerrymanFrankford Stadium
Green Bay PackersCurly LambeauBellevue Park
Hammond ProsWally HessTraveling team
Kansas City Blues *LeRoy AndrewsTraveling team
Kenosha Maroons *^Bo Hanley and Earl PotteigerNash Field
Milwaukee BadgersHal EricksonMilwaukee Athletic Park
Minneapolis Marines §Joe BrandyNicollet Park
Racine Legion §Babe RuetzHorlick Field
Rochester JeffersonsLeo Lyons (3 games) and Johnny Murphy (4 games)Edgerton Park
Rock Island IndependentsJohnny ArmstrongDouglas Park

Championship race

The Cleveland Bulldogs, Buffalo Bisons, Frankford Yellow Jackets, Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears were the contenders for the title in November.

However, Buffalo faltered down the stretch, dropping their last three games to drop from 6–2 to 6–5, finishing squarely in the middle of the pack, and Green Bay similarly fell from 6–2 to 7–4. This left Cleveland and Chicago to contend for the title, since Frankford had two losses and the other two teams only one. Teams such as the Duluth Kelleys and the Rock Island Independents would have been contenders for the title, but their more limited schedules (six games for Duluth and nine for Rock Island) effectively ruled them out of title contention.

The official end of the season was designated on November 30, 1924, with Cleveland atop the league standings. After this date, Chicago challenged Cleveland to a post-season rematch and won, setting up a repeat of 1921, when the Bears (at that time still known as the Staleys) were able to win the championship from Buffalo (at the time known as the All-Americans) using the same tactic: this time, however, league officials declared any game after November 30 to be effectively exhibition games, null and void with regard to the season standings, which allowed the Bulldogs to keep their title.

In terms of pure win–loss differential, the Yellow Jackets would have easily won the title, as they had nine more wins than losses, compared to the +6 of the Bulldogs and the +5 of the Bears.

Had the current (post-1972) system of counting ties as half-a-win and half-a-loss been in force in 1924, the Kelleys (5–1) would have tied with the Bulldogs (7–1–1) for the league title at .833, with the tiebreaker not applicable as the Kelleys and Bulldogs did not play each other, while the Yellow Jackets (11–2–1) would have finished third at .821, with the Bears (6–1–4) finishing fourth at .727.

Standings

NFL standings
W L T PCT PF PA STK
Cleveland Bulldogs 711.87522960W2
Chicago Bears 614.85713655W3
Frankford Yellow Jackets 1121.846326109W8
Duluth Kelleys 510.8335616W1
Rock Island Independents 522.7148838L1
Green Bay Packers 740.63610838L1
Racine Legion 433.5716947W1
Chicago Cardinals 541.5569067L1
Buffalo Bisons 650.545120140L3
Columbus Tigers 440.5009168L1
Hammond Pros 221.5001845W2
Milwaukee Badgers 580.385142188L2
Akron Pros 260.25059132W1
Dayton Triangles 260.25045148L6
Kansas City Blues 270.22246124L2
Kenosha Maroons 041.00012117L2
Minneapolis Marines 060.00014108L6
Rochester Jeffersons 070.0007156L7

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

References

  • NFL Record and Fact Book (ISBN 1-932994-36-X)
  • NFL History 1921–1930 (Last accessed December 4, 2005)
  • Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League (ISBN 0-06-270174-6)
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