A hundred years ago professional football was still in its infancy, with the National Football League (known as the American Professional Football Association until 1922) entering just its fourth season of operation.
But 1923 was also the final year of the Canton Bulldogs “dynasty” – one that crumbled when the two-time champions were bought out and redistributed to Cleveland before the future Hall of Fame City had a chance at a three-peat.
The Bulldogs were already well-established, having won championships in the Ohio Football League before professional football consolidated into one major league.
Their first season in the APFA – 1920 – ended with a 4-4 record, and they improved to 5-2-3 in 2021, good enough for fourth place.
In 1922 the NFL started with 18 teams. Along with the Bulldogs, there were the Akron Indians, Buffalo Bisons, Chicago Bears, Chicago Cardinals, Columbus Tigers, Dayton Triangles, Evansville Crimson Giants, Green Bay Packers, Hammond Pros, Kenosha Maroons, Louisville Colonels, Milwaukee Badgers, Minneapolis Red Jackets, Oorang Indians, Racine Tornadoes, Rochester Jeffersons and Rock Island Independents.
Guy Chamberlin took over as head coach, player and part-owner of the Bulldogs in 1922. The former Nebraska All-American had played for the unbeaten Ohio League Bulldogs (coached by Jim Thorpe) in 1919, and returned in multiple roles after starring for the Decatur/Chicago Staleys for two seasons.
Chamberlin made quite an impact in his first season at the Canton helm, leading the team to a 10-0-2 record that included nine shutouts.
Chamberlin – an end and wingback – led the team with seven touchdowns and the Bulldogs outscored their opposition, 184-15.
There was no playoff system then, but Canton was declared champion by virtue of having the best record in the league.
A year later, with Chamberlin still running the show, the Bulldogs did it again – even better than before.
Going 11-0-1, they were an offensive juggernaut, tallying 246 points. Chamberlin was still a solid contributor on the field with three touchdowns, but tailback Lou Smith set the pace with seven scores while fullbacks Doc Elliott and Ben Jones each had six TDs.
The defense gave up just 19 points in registering eight shutouts.
Once again there were no playoffs, but Canton took a pair of victory laps after retaining the crown.
First it traveled to Philadelphia on December 15 and defeated the Frankford Yellow Jackets, 3-0, on the strength of Pud Henry’s 11-yard field goal. The exhibition game came against a team that would join the NFL a year later.
The Bulldogs then blanked Melrose Athletic Club, 27-0, in another exhibition contest played a day later in Atlantic City.
The report in The Morning Call newspaper on December 17 called Canton “the greatest collection of football stars ever assembled on any gridiron here.”
The Bulldogs’ 25-game unbeaten streak from 1921-23 is still an NFL best, and they are the only team to go undefeated in consecutive seasons.
A chance to continue their dynasty appeared on track as the calendar turned to 1924.
In April Chamberlin was reappointed Canton head coach, and signed most of the stars from the previous two seasons. And in July, the Bulldogs had already mapped out their schedule for the upcoming season.
But everything changed on August 3, 1924.
“The greatest deal in the history of professional football was consummated here Saturday when Sam Deutsch, backer and manger of the Cleveland professional eleven, purchased the Canton Bulldogs, professional champion of America for two years, buying franchise, players and even uniforms,” the Dayton Herald reported in its August 4 edition. “Deutsch has also retained Guy Chamberlin, who successfully coached the Canton eleven, to coach the team, which will now be known as the Cleveland Bulldogs.”
Adding insult to injury for Canton fans, the article also noted that, “Deutsch expects to sell the Canton franchise to another Canton syndicate, which will try to keep Canton on the football map with a cheaper team, some of which possibly will be the players Deutsch and Chamberlin will not need on the Bulldogs.”
Cleveland’s Bulldogs did, in fact, win the 1924 league championship with a 7-1-1 record (although they were trounced by the Bears, 23-0, in a postseason exhibition game on December 7).
The Canton franchise sat out the year and reformed for 1925.
In a sense, the first year the franchise spent in Cleveland was, in fact, a three-peat; they were basically the same Bulldogs, just housed in a kennel 60 miles away. The NFL, however, officially considers it a completely different team.
But for Canton – which lost its NFL club for good following the 1926 season – 1923 was the last year the city was home to a championship team in football’s biggest league.
Wow- I have not heard this history before! Now I understand why Canton is the home of American football! However, your story is the true tale of what has ruined the NFL for this viewer : money. The money involved (selling of players, stadium hold-outs, teams jumping cities) is greater than loyalty.