1928 NFL season
| Regular season | |
|---|---|
| Duration | September 23 – December 16, 1928 |
| Champions | Providence Steam Rollers |
The 1928 NFL season was the ninth regular season of the National Football League. The league dropped to 10 teams as the Cleveland Bulldogs and the Duluth Eskimos both folded before the season, while the Rochester Jeffersons, after missing two seasons of play, also folded, and the Buffalo Bisons also had a year out from the league. The Detroit Wolverines were added as an expansion team.
The Providence Steam Rollers were named the NFL champions after finishing the season with the best record.
Background
[edit]February league meeting
[edit]NFL team representatives assembled in Cleveland on February 11, 1928, to award the 1927 pennant to the New York Giants and to bestow individual player honors.[1] Although two days were scheduled for the annual winter gathering, only one day was necessary, with the owners adjourning until July, when they were to gather in Providence, Rhode Island, for the purpose of scheduling.[1]
Teams
[edit]The league dropped to ten teams in 1928.
| Last active season ^ |
Standings
[edit]| NFL standings | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | STK | |||
| Providence Steam Roller | 8 | 1 | 2 | .889 | 128 | 42 | T1 | ||
| Frankford Yellow Jackets | 11 | 3 | 2 | .786 | 175 | 84 | W2 | ||
| Detroit Wolverines | 7 | 2 | 1 | .778 | 189 | 76 | W4 | ||
| Green Bay Packers | 6 | 4 | 3 | .600 | 120 | 92 | W1 | ||
| Chicago Bears | 7 | 5 | 1 | .583 | 182 | 85 | L2 | ||
| New York Giants | 4 | 7 | 2 | .364 | 79 | 136 | L5 | ||
| New York Yankees | 4 | 8 | 1 | .333 | 103 | 179 | W1 | ||
| Pottsville Maroons | 2 | 8 | 0 | .200 | 74 | 134 | L1 | ||
| Chicago Cardinals | 1 | 5 | 0 | .167 | 7 | 107 | L4 | ||
| Dayton Triangles | 0 | 7 | 0 | .000 | 9 | 131 | L7 | ||
- Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.
Championship race
[edit]After four weeks, the Chicago Bears and the Detroit Wolverines were both unbeaten. On October 21, the Packers beat the Bears, 16–6, leaving Detroit, at 2–0–0, at the top of the standings. On November 3, near Philadelphia, the Frankford Yellow Jackets (4–1–0) hosted Detroit (3–0–0), and beat them 25–7. The next day, Detroit (3–1–0) lost 0–7 at Providence (4–1–0), and the Yellow Jackets and the Steamrollers were tied for the lead at the end of Week Seven.
Frankford played a series against Pottsville in Week Eight, winning 19–0 at home, and 24–0 on the road, for a 7–1–1 record that put it in first place ahead of Providence. In Week Nine, on November 18, the Providence Steam Rollers (5–1–1) hosted the Frankford Yellow Jackets (7–1–2) in Rhode Island, in a regular season game that ultimately would determine which team would win the NFL championship. Providence's 6–0 win put the Steam Rollers in first place,[2] and it didn't lose any of its last three games, finishing at 8–1–2, while Frankford finished second at 11–3–2. Had the Yellow Jackets beaten the Steamrollers, their records at season's end would have been 12–2–2 and 7–2–2, respectively. Providence was formally awarded the championship at the post-season meeting of the NFL owners.
Post-season awards
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b Associated Press, "Pro Grid League Very Successful in 1927 Season," Zanesville Times Signal, Feb. 12, 1928, p. 12.
- ^ "Providence Takes Lead," Fresno Bee, Nov 19, 1928, p11
Further reading
[edit]- Tom Bennett, et al. (eds.), The NFL's Official Encyclopedic History of Professional Football. Revised and expanded edition. New York: Macmillan, 1977.
- Bob Carroll, et al. (eds.), Total Football II: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League. New York: HarperCollins, 1999.
- Santo Labombarda and NFL Communications Department (eds.), 2024 NFL Record and Fact Book. New York: National Football League, 2024.
- Tod Maher and Bob Gill (eds.), The Pro Football Encyclopedia: The Complete and Definitive Record of Professional Football. New York: Macmillan USA, 1997.