1921 Buffalo All-Americans season

The 1921 Buffalo All-Americans season was their second completed in the young American Professional Football Association (APFA). The team matched their previous output of 9–1–1, going 9–1–2 against league opponents, and losing the league title to the Chicago Staleys in a disputed tiebreaker.

1921 Buffalo All-Americans season
Head coach	Tommy Hughitt
Home field	Canisius College
Results
Record	10–1–2 Overall 9–1–2 APFA
Division place	2nd APFA
Playoff finish	Lost 10–7 to Chicago Staleys

Philadelphia Quakers moonlighting controversy and absorption of Detroit Heralds

During the 1921 season, several of the Buffalo All-Americans, most notably future Philadelphia Eagles co-founder Lud Wray, also played for the Philadelphia Quakers, an independent club based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Since Philadelphia was subject to blue laws in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Quakers had to play their games on Saturdays, as opposed to the Sundays used by the APFA, including Buffalo. The Buffalo players played for Philadelphia on Saturday, then traveled back to Buffalo for Sunday's game. A few days before Buffalo played Canton, the league found out about violation of league policy, and made the players choose which team they wanted to play for. Five, including Wray, chose to stay with the Quakers, blaming the Buffalo management for "blowing the whistle." Buffalo was able to hire players from the Detroit Heralds, who folded midseason, to complete their roster.

De facto championship game

Main article: Staley Swindle

The Chicago Staleys (to be renamed the Chicago Bears after the end of the season), led by wide receiver George Halas, and the Buffalo All-Americans, led by quarterback Tommy Hughitt and fullback Catchy Oliphant, were the two top teams in the league; each playing all of their games at home, Buffalo and Chicago amassed 6–0 records in league play. On Thanksgiving 1921, Buffalo played one of its only road games of the season, in Chicago, and prevailed 7–6. Chicago demanded a rematch.

The All-Americans agreed to rematch the Staleys on December 4, again in Chicago, 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, who did not have the services of the Heralds players it had borrowed (they were playing against the Detroit Maroons the same day), 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," and have cited it as the first evidence of a sports curse on the city.

Oliphant was the most valuable player for the All-Americans as he led the league in scoring; (47 points), FGs (5) and PATs (26), 1 touchdown; he also led the league in touchdown passes (7).

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result
–	September 25, 1921	McKeesport Olympics	W 28–0
1	October 2, 1921	Hammond Pros	W 17–0
2	October 9, 1921	Columbus Panhandles	W 38–0
3	October 16, 1921	New York Brickley Giants	W 55–0
4	October 23, 1921	Rochester Jeffersons	W 28–0
5	October 30, 1921	at Detroit Tigers	W 21–0
6	November 6, 1921	Cleveland Indians	W 10–6
7	November 13, 1921	Akron Pros	T 0–0
8	November 20, 1921	Canton Bulldogs	T 7–7
9	November 24, 1921	at Chicago Staleys	W 7–6
10	November 27, 1921	Dayton Triangles	W 7–0
11	December 3, 1921	Akron Pros	W 14–0
12	December 4, 1921	at Chicago Staleys	L 10–7

Game in italics was against a non-NFL team, is therefore not counted in league standings.

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.