The1920 Rochester Jeffersons season was thefranchise's inaugural season in theAmerican Professional Football Association (APFA) and thirteenth as anAmerican football team. The Jeffersons entered 1920 coming off a six-win, two-loss, two-tie (6–2–2) record in theNew York Pro Football League (NYPFL) where it lost the championship game to theBuffalo Prospects. Several representatives from another professional football league, theOhio League, wanted to form a new national league, and thus the APFA was created.

Ownership, roster, and coaching nearly stayed the same for the 1920 season. The team opened the season with a 10–0 victory over the non-APFA All-Buffalo. The only time the Jeffersons played a game against an APFA team was week six, when they lost to the Buffalo All-Americans. The team ended with a 6–3–2 record, which was good enough for them to finish sixth place in the final standings. The sportswriter Bruce Copeland compiled the 1920All-Pro list, but no players from the Jeffersonss were on it. As of 2012, no player from the 1920 Rochester Jeffersons has been enshrined in thePro Football Hall of Fame.

The Jeffersons' 66–0 defeat of Fort Porter remains the largest regular seasonshutout victory in league history, albeit being against a non-league team.^[2]

The Rochester Jeffersons finished 6–2–1 in their1919 season.^[3] It lost the NYPFL championship to theBuffalo All-Americans.^[4] After the 1919 season, representatives of fourOhio League teams—theCanton Bulldogs, theCleveland Tigers, theDayton Triangles, and theAkron Pros—called a meeting on August 20, 1920, to discuss the formation of a new league. At the meeting, they tentatively agreed on asalary cap and pledged not to sign college players or players already under contract with other teams. They also agreed on a name for the circuit: the American Professional Football Conference.^[5][6] They then invited other professional teams to a second meeting on September 17.

At that meeting, held at Bulldogs ownerRalph Hay'sHupmobile showroom in Canton, representatives of theRock Island Independents, theMuncie Flyers, theDecatur Staleys, theRacine Cardinals, theMassillon Tigers, theChicago Cardinals, and theHammond Pros agreed to join the league. Representatives of the All-Americans andRochester Jeffersons could not attend the meeting, but sent letters to Hay asking to be included in the league.^[7] Team representatives changed the league's name slightly to the American Professional Football Association and elected officers, installing Jim Thorpe as president.^[7][8][9] Under the new league structure, teams created their schedules dynamically as the season progressed, so there were no minimum or maximum number of games needed to be played.^[10][11] Also, representatives of each team voted to determine the winner of the APFA trophy.^[12]

Scheduling for the Jeffersons was extremely ad hoc. Little over two weeks before the start of the 1920 season, team managerLeo V. Lyons was still putting out feelers for a "good heavyweight opponent" for the home opener.^[13] Gene Dooley and his "All-Buffalo" squad met the call but were not heavy enough to go toe-to-toe, falling 10–0 to the Jeffs on a rainy Sunday afternoon in Rochester's Baseball Park.^[14]

The Rochester Jeffersons were essentially a regional team, playing local opponents, with 10 of their 11 games in Rochester. The Red Eleven's solitary road game was played inBuffalo — a little over 70 miles away. The Jeffs played opponents solely from upstate New York, including grid squads from Rochester, Buffalo, Syracuse,Tonawanda, andUtica — the last-mentioned being the furthest distance away from Rochester, about 135 miles.

Following the Jeffs' second game of the season, a frolicking 66–0 smash up of a lesser opponent, four Rochester fans approached head coachJack Forsyth and asked permission to organize a Jeffs rooters' club.^[15] Forsyth approved the plan, leaving the details to be worked out by the interested fans themselves, while agreeing to serve as treasurer.^[15]

^[27]

 †  Awarded theBrunswick-Balke Collender Cup and named APFA Champions
by vote of league owners. Staleys claimed a co-title.

• Crippen, Ken (2001)."1919 Buffalo Prospects"(PDF).The Coffin Corner.23 (5). Professional Football Researchers Association. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on October 22, 2012.
• Davis, Jeff (2005).Papa Bear, The Life and Legacy of George Halas. McGraw-Hill.ISBN 0-07-146054-3.
• Hogrogian, John (1984)."1920 All-Pros"(PDF).The Coffin Corner.6 (1). Professional Football Researchers Association. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on August 8, 2014.
• Peterson, Robert (1997).Pigskin: The Early Years of Pro Football.Oxford University Press.ISBN 0-19-507607-9.
• PFRA Research (1980)."Happy Birthday NFL?"(PDF).The Coffin Corner.2 (8). Professional Football Researchers Association. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on August 17, 2011.
• Quirk, James; Fort, Rodney (1997).Pay Dirt: The Business of Professional Team Sports.Princeton University Press.ISBN 9780691015743.
• Siwoff, Seymour; Zimmber, Jon; Marini, Matt (2010).The Official NFL Record and Fact Book 2010.National Football League.ISBN 978-1-60320-833-8.
• Western New York Committee (January 8, 2007)."1920 Rochester Jeffersons"(PDF). Professional Football Researchers Association. RetrievedNovember 23, 2012.^{[permanent dead link]}

• Crippen, Ken (July 27, 2009). "The Rochester Jeffersons Take to the National Stage (Part 1)". Two Bills Drive. Retrieved March 14, 1920.

• Rochester Jeffersons seasons
• 1920 APFA season by team
• 1920 in sports in New York (state)

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