October 3, 1920 - the first American Professional Football Association game was played

Historical Marker at Triangle Park [9]

The American Professional Football Association was organized in Canton, Ohio on Sept. 17, 1920.[1] Fourteen teams belonged to the APFA in the 1920 season. Carl Storck, the owner of the Dayton Triangles, founded the team in 1916 and was one of the founding fathers of the APFA. He “served as a league executive for 21 years and as its president from 1939 to 1941.”[2]

The Dayton Triangles and Columbus Panhandles played the first APFA game on October 3, 1920. The Panhandles, who were originally formed in 1901, were a charter team of the APFA in 1920. The other team, the Dayton Triangles, named after the industrial triangle of factories where some players worked, won the game with a score of 14-0.[3] The game’s first score was a Dayton touchdown, the Triangles' Louis Partlow scored and George Kinderdine of the Triangles kicked the first extra point of the game.[4] Dayton's own Francis Bacon, a running back, scored the other touchdown. By 1927, the Triangles were the last of the five Ohio teams in the original APFA still playing a full season. None of the Triangles’ players joined the new team, which moved to New York years later, and only five of them continued their football careers. As for the Panhandles, they were disbanded and reconstituted as the Columbus Tigers in 1923, before folding after the 1926 season.[5]

Dayton Triangles Team Emblem [10]

Organized professional sports were new and exciting. The APFA brought action and competition to the public as did Major League Baseball. These new professional sports leagues gave individual towns and communities a chance to show team spirit and support their favorite teams. These teams became a source of pride for citizens while also giving the teams a fan base. Also, the rise of professional sports gave the working class a desire to play recreational sports, inadvertently exercising and improving their health.[6] Progressive reformers, recognizing the benefits of exercise, pushed for shorter work days, partly to allow more time for recreational sports. [7] From 1920-1940, the Great Depression and World War II shaped health and human services. Without health insurance, many people depended on charities for health care. Playing sports and exercising were free ways to stay fit and healthy.[8] Just as Americans want to have better food, better prices and better living conditions, they also want to have the better team. The teams of the APFA brought competition to the communities of those cities and states who had APFA teams. Football brings people together not only because of the teammate bond, but also because fans bond over their team, over their rivalries, and over their love for the sport.

- Frank F. and Kenneth F.



1. Braunwart, Bob, and Bob Carroll. "Pro Football Reasearch." Pro Football Reasearch Oct. 3. www.profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/03-02-059.pdf (accessed September 25, 2013).

2. Goodman, Rebecca. "Ohio moments." Moments in Canton on October 3rd. www.enquirer.com/editions/2003/10/03/loc_ohiodate1003.html‎ (accessed September 25, 2013).

3. "Ohio Moments."

4. "Ohio moments."

5. "Ohio moments."

6. "Public Health History Timeline." Southeast Public Health Training Center. http://www.sphtc.org/timeline/timeline.html (accessed October 1, 2013).

7. Hoffman Phd, Beatrix. "Heslth Care Reform." Health Care Reform in The U.S. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1447696/ (accessed October 1, 2013).

8. "Public Health History Timeline

9. "Site of First NFL Game." Site of First Game in the NFL. http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMB90D_Site_of_First_Game_in_the_NFL (accessed September 25, 2013).

10. "Remarkable Ohio." Remarkable Ohio.” http://www.remarkableohio.org/HistoricalMarker.aspx?historicalMarkerId=1066 (accessed September 26, 2013).