The Cleveland Tigers were the first Cleveland, Ohio team franchise in what became the National Football League. The Tigers played in the pre-NFL era as part of the American Professional Football Association during the 1920 and 1921 seasons. The team was owned by a local sports promoter, Jimmy O'Donnell.
History
The organization began in 1919 as an experiment in the Ohio League; in 1920, when owners of professional teams organized a more structured league, O'Donnell obtained the Cleveland franchise. Jimmy O'Donnell, also the owner of a semipro baseball team called the Tigers, was aided in his football venture by Stan Cofall, a football star at Notre Dame from 1914 to 1916, and with the Massillon Tigers. Cofall helped organize the Cleveland team in 1919 and, along with O'Donnell attended the September 1920 meeting in Canton, Ohio that founded the American Professional Football Association, which became the NFL the following year. For the first half of the 1920 season, Cofall was the Tigers' player/coach; he was also elected vice-president of the new league.
In their first season, the Cleveland Tigers scored only 2 touchdowns and lost 3 games by 7–0 scores, compiling a record of 1–4–2. For the 1921 season, the name of the team was changed to the Indians, partly because it was a stock name in Cleveland (a baseball team had also used the name since 1915) but moreso because three Native Americans were signed away from the Canton Bulldogs. In 1921 the Tigers returned with two future Hall of Famers, Joe Guyon and player-coach Jim Thorpe. The team won its first two games. However during the team's second game, Thorpe injured his ribs and was lost for the season. The Tigers then narrowly lost the next four games. When Thorpe returned to action in a postseason game against the New York Brickley Giants in December, the Tigers were again victorious.
Early in 1922, O'Donnell received league permission to suspend operations for a year, but when he was unable to post the $1,000 annual guarantee the NFL required, his franchise was canceled. Guyon and Thorpe went off to LaRue, Ohio to form the Oorang Indians. A franchise was later purchased by Samuel Deutsch who operated the team as the Cleveland Indians in 1923.
Season-by-season
External links
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Cleveland Tigers-Indians |
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| Defunct National Football League club 1919-1922 • Based in Cleveland, Ohio |
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| The Franchise |
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| Pro Football Hall of Famers |
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| Owners |
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| Unrelated Cleveland Indians NFL franchises |
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| Notable players |
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