By Carla Charter

Before there was the National Football League, there was the American Professional Football Association (APFA). Among those who played in the APFA was Alf Cobb, who was born in Athol.

Cobb had played football long before making it to the APFA—at Waltham High School, which he graduated from, and at Syracuse University, where he became an All-American Tackle and recognized with first team honors by the International News Service, News Enterprise Association and Colliers Weekly.

“The APFA came about when several team owners determined there needed to be rules governing what had become a very loose collection of teams that would benefit from more structure. Football was not as popular then as it was now. Professional football trailed baseball and college football well into the 1950s,” according to Rich Desrosiers, chief communications and content officer at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Among the teams Cobb played for in the APFA were the Akron Pros, formed in 1908 as a fully-professional team—well before the existence of the APFA in 1920, Desrosier said. The Pros changed their names to the Akron Indians in 1923 and existed until 1926, he said. Cobb played on the team from 1920 to 1921, during their championship year. The Akron Pros were declared champions based on their 8-0-3 record being the league’s best.

“Prior to 1933, champions were determined by win percentage of games played,” he continued.

Cobb’s coach in Akron in 1920 was Elgie Tobin and in Fritz Pollard in 1921. Pollard was the first African- American to play in the APFA and first African American Coach in the NFL in 1922. Cobb also played for Cap Edwards in 1925 for the Cleveland Bulldogs.

“Cobb presumably played for Pollard for the one game Cobb played with Akron in 1921,” Desrosiers said. “That is the year Pollard became player-coach.

“Players from the winning team were presented with a gold watch fob. One from the 1920 Akron Pros is part of the Hall of Fame Museum Collection. The Brunswick-Balke-Collander Cup was also presented to the winners. This traveling trophy was presented to the league champ for a couple of years then was lost over time,” he continued.

The APFA became the NFL in 1922. ” The organization wanted to bring the word ‘National’ into its name for status and the word ‘League’ was deemed more solid than ‘Association.’ The first “championship” game came in 1932 between the Portsmouth Spartans and Chicago Bears to settle a tie in the standings. It was considered a one-game playoff to determine the league winner. (Chicago won 9-0),” according to Desrosiers.

In 1933, the National Football League set up a two-division team structure, and those division champions played for the title. The first championship game was played in 1933 when the Chicago Bears beat the New York Giants in Wrigley Field in Chicago.

The game of football itself began in the late 1860s. In the early years of the game, rules varied. “The games was similar to rugby. Some teams played with 15 players at a time, the number dropped to 11 over time. Protective gear was almost non-existent, consisting mainly of long sleeve sweaters, cleated shoes and minimal padding (if any) in canvas pants,” according to Desrosiers.

More information on the Pro Football Hal of Fame can be found at www.profootballhof.com

Carla Charter is a freelance writer from Phillipston. Her writing focuses on the history of the North Quabbin area. Contact her at cjfreelancewriter@earthlink.net.

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