On this day in 1920, seven men, including legendary all-around athlete and football star Jim Thorpe, meet to organize a professional football league at the Jordan and Hupmobile Auto Showroom in Canton, Ohio. The meeting led to the creation of the American Professional Football Conference (APFC), the forerunner to the hugely successful National Football League.

Professional football developed in the 1890s in Pennsylvania. Local clubs began to play in competition. Former Yale football star William “Pudge” Heffelfinger became the first-ever professional football player when he was hired by the Allegheny Athletic Association to play in a game against their rival the Pittsburgh Athletic Club in November 1892. Within four short years, the entirety of the Allegheny Athletic Association was made up entirely of paid players, making it the sport’s first-ever professional team.

As football continued to soar in popularity, it demonstrated spectator appeal with the establishment of the Ohio League in 1910. Jim Thorpe, the star player for Canton was also a gold medal decathlete in the Stockholm Olympics in 1912 and played professional baseball with the New York Giants. The crowds that gathered helped propel football across the nation.

At the end of summer, in 1920, the owners of four Ohio League teams–the Akron Pros, Canton Bulldogs, Cleveland Indians and Dayton Triangles–met to form a new professional league known as the American Professional Football Association (APFA). Jim Thorpe was nominated as president of the new league, as it was hoped Thorpe’s fame would help the league to be taken seriously. The APFA began play on September 26, with the Rock Island Independents of Illinois defeating a team from outside the league, the St. Paul Ideals, 48-0. A week later, Dayton beat Columbus 14-0 in the first game between two teams from the APFA, the forerunner of the modern NFL.

To help you get ready for Football, whether it be college, NFL, Lingerie, or Fantasy, I give you Deputy Dave’s Drink of the Day: Irish Touchdown

This easy drink can be made in a shaker and given out as a shot when each touchdown is made.

Ingredients:

1 oz. Irish Whiskey

1/2 oz. Irish Cream

1/2 oz. Vodka

Mix ingredients in a shaker with ice to chill. Serve the mix in shot glasses.

Posted on August 20th, by David in Drink of the Day.

No Comments

Dave Deputy drink Drink of the Day football history Irish Jim Thorpe NFL recipe vodka whiskey whisky