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TheCleveland Tigers were the firstCleveland team franchise in what became theNational Football League (NFL). The Tigers played in the "Ohio League" before joining the American Professional Football Association (later renamed the National Football League in 1922) during the 1920 and 1921 seasons.

TheCleveland Indians football team was originally established in 1916 and played in the Ohio League. The team was formed after theMassillon Tigers raided theAkron Indians roster in 1915 and took away many of their star players. That yearPeggy Parratt, the Akron Indiansplayer-coach formed the Cleveland Indians with several former ex-Akron Indians players and a few new ex-college players. Despite a winning record, the 1916 Indians season was disappointing, losing twice to theCanton Bulldogs, who were led byJim Thorpe, and splitting a pair of games with theColumbus Panhandles.

In 1920, when owners of professional teams organized a more structured league,Jimmy O'Donnell, a local sports promoter, obtained the Cleveland franchise. O'Donnell, also the owner of asemi-probaseball team called the Tigers, was aided in his football venture byStan Cofall, a football star atNotre Dame from 1914 to 1916, and with the Massillon Tigers. Cofall helped re-organize the Cleveland team in 1919 and, along with O'Donnell attended the September 1920 meeting inCanton, Ohio that founded the American Professional Football Association, which became the NFL the following year. For the first half of the 1920 season, Cofall was the Tigers' player-coach; he was also elected vice-president of the new league.

In their first season, the Cleveland Tigers scored only 2 touchdowns and lost 3 games by 7–0 scores, compiling a record of 1–4–2. For the 1921 season, the name of the team was changed to the Indians, partly because it was a stock name in Cleveland (abaseball team had also used the name since 1915) but more because threeNative Americans were signed away from theCanton Bulldogs. In 1921 the Tigers returned with two futureHall of Famers,Joe Guyon and player-coach Jim Thorpe. The team won its first two games. However, during the team's second game, Thorpe injured his ribs and was lost for the season. The Tigers then narrowly lost the next four games. When Thorpe returned to action in a postseason game against theNew York Brickley Giants in December, the Tigers were again victorious.

Early in 1922, O'Donnell received league permission to suspend operations for a year, but when he could not post the $1,000 annual guarantee the NFL required, his franchise was canceled. Guyon and Thorpe went off toLaRue, Ohio to form theOorang Indians. Anew Indians franchise was later purchased bySamuel Deutsch who operated the team in 1923. He then relocated the Canton Bulldogs to Cleveland in 1924 and merged them with his Indians team. Athird, unrelated Indians team also played in the NFL in 1931.

• Encyclopedia of Cleveland History
• Roberts, Milt (1979)."Peggy Parratt MVP"(PDF).Coffin Corner.1 (6). Professional Football Researchers Association:1–5. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on October 22, 2012.
• Cusack, Jack (1987)."Pioneer in Pro Football"(PDF).Coffin Corner (8). Professional Football Researchers Association:1–18. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on March 11, 2012.

• Cleveland Tigers (NFL)
• American football teams established in 1916
• American football teams disestablished in 1921
• Defunct NFL teams
• Ohio League teams
• Cleveland Indians (NFL)
• Early professional American football teams in Ohio
• American football teams in Cleveland
• Defunct American football teams in Ohio
• 1916 establishments in Ohio
• 1921 disestablishments in Ohio

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