1921 Chicago Staleys season

1921 Chicago Staleys season
Head coach	George Halas
Home field	Staley Field, Cubs Park
Results
Record	9–1–1 APFA (10–1–1 Overall)
League place	1st APFA

The 1921 Chicago Staleys season was their second regular season completed in the young American Professional Football Association. All games were played at home. The team improved on their 10–1–2 record from 1920 to a 9–1–1 record under head coach/player George Halas earning them a first-place finish in the team standings and their first league championship — the best finish of the initial Halas era.

Team history

The beginning of the season saw A.E. Staley turn over the team to Halas and Dutch Sternaman, who moved the team to Chicago. The team name was changed from the Decatur Staleys to the Chicago Staleys due to a contract between Staley and Halas. The Staleys were quite dominant, but all of Chicago's games were played at home (including one game in Decatur). Two games were against the Buffalo All-Americans; the first, played on Thanksgiving, was won by Buffalo 7–6, giving the Staleys their only loss of the season.

Ed "Dutch" Sternaman and George Halas starred again, with newcomer Gaylord Stinchcomb also contributing. Sternaman scored 32 points, most by kicking, and threw one touchdown pass. Halas had 3 TD receptions while Stinchcomb led the team with 4 touchdown runs.

De facto championship game

Main article: 1921 NFL Championship controversy

The All-Americans agreed to rematch the Staleys on December 4 on the condition that the game would be considered a "post-season" exhibition game not to be counted in the standings; had it not, Buffalo would have had an undefeated season and won the title. (Buffalo had played, and defeated, the Akron Pros just one day prior.) Chicago defeated Buffalo in the rematch by a score of 10–7. Halas rebutted that the second game was played on December 4 (well before teams typically stopped playing games in those days), and the Staleys played two more games against top opponents, the Canton Bulldogs and Chicago Cardinals after the second Buffalo game (though, at the time of the Buffalo-Chicago matchup, Chicago had played three fewer games than Buffalo).

The league counted the All-Americans game in the standings, against Buffalo's wishes, resulting in Buffalo (9–1–2) and Chicago (9–1–1) being tied atop the standings. The league then implemented the first ever tiebreaker: a rule, now considered archaic and removed from league rulebooks, that states that if two teams play multiple times in a season, the last game between the two teams carries more weight. Thus, the Chicago victory actually counted more in the standings, giving Chicago the championship. Buffalo sports fans have been known to refer to this, justly or unjustly, as the "Staley Swindle."

Future Hall of Fame players

• Guy Chamberlin, end
• George Halas, end
• George Trafton, center

Other leading players

• Ed Sternaman, back
• Gaylord Stinchcomb, back (rookie from Ohio State)

Departed players from 1920

• Jimmy Conzelman, quarterback (went to Rock Island)
• Paddy Driscoll, back (went to Chicago Cardinals)

Schedule

Game	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Attendance	Venue	Recap	Sources
—	October 2	Waukegan American Legion	W 35–0	1–0		Staley Field
1	October 10	Rock Island Independents	W 14–10	2–0	5,000	Staley Field	Recap
2	October 16	Rochester Jeffersons	W 16–13	3–0	8,000	Cubs Park	Recap
3	October 23	Dayton Triangles	W 7–0	4–0	8,000	Cubs Park	Recap
4	November 6	Detroit Tigers	W 20–9	5–0	6,000	Cubs Park	Recap
5	November 13	Rock Island Independents	W 3–0	6–0	4,000	Cubs Park	Recap
6	November 20	Cleveland Indians	W 22–7	7–0	10,000	Cubs Park	Recap
7	November 24	Buffalo All-Americans	L 6–7	7–1		Cubs Park	Recap
8	November 27	Green Bay Packers	W 20–0	8–1	7,000	Cubs Park	Recap
9	December 4	Buffalo All-Americans	W 10–7	9–1	12,000	Cubs Park	Recap
10	December 11	Canton Bulldogs	W 10–0	10–1	3,000	Cubs Park	Recap
11	December 18	Chicago Cardinals	T 0–0	10–1–1	2,000	Cubs Park	Recap
Note: Game in italics was against a non-league opponent.

Standings

APFA standings
	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
Chicago Staleys	9	1	1	.900	128	53	T1
Buffalo All-Americans	9	1	2	.900	211	29	L1
Akron Pros	8	3	1	.727	148	31	W1
Canton Bulldogs	5	2	3	.714	106	55	W1
Rock Island Independents	4	2	1	.667	65	30	L1
Evansville Crimson Giants	3	2	0	.600	89	46	W1
Green Bay Packers	3	2	1	.600	70	55	L1
Dayton Triangles	4	4	1	.500	96	67	L1
Chicago Cardinals	3	3	2	.500	54	53	T1
Rochester Jeffersons	2	3	0	.400	85	76	W2
Cleveland Indians	3	5	0	.375	95	58	L1
Washington Senators	1	2	0	.334	21	43	L1
Cincinnati Celts	1	3	0	.250	14	117	L2
Hammond Pros	1	3	1	.250	17	45	L2
Minneapolis Marines	1	3	0	.250	37	41	L1
Detroit Tigers	1	5	1	.167	19	109	L5
Columbus Panhandles	1	8	0	.111	47	222	W1
Tonawanda Kardex	0	1	0	.000	0	45	L1
Muncie Flyers	0	2	0	.000	0	28	L2
Louisville Brecks	0	2	0	.000	0	27	L2
New York Brickley Giants	0	2	0	.000	0	72	L2

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

Awards

• APFA Champions (1)

References

• 1921 Chicago Staleys season