Syracuse Pros - NFL Debate

NFL Debate

Though most of today's records state that the Pros did indeed exist and were a member of the APFA, this is not entirely certain. For instance, research centered around the Tonawanda Kardex suggests that the team was still known as All-Syracuse, an independent team, and it is sometimes said that the Rochester Jeffersons only won two games against NFL opponents in their existence, against Tonawanda and the Columbus Panhandles—even though Rochester beat Syracuse in 1921. The game is counted in Syracuse's records but not Rochester's. A third game, against the Washington Senators, was also played against a league opponent.

No record of the league admitting "The Pros" to the league or removing them from the league exists; only a statement from the team itself says it was (and even that uses the erroneous name "National Professional Football Association"). Only the Chicago Tigers, who played seven games against NFL teams during the 1920 NFL season, have been generally recognized as league members without having formally been admitted to or removed from the league. (A few teams, such as the New York Brickley Giants, have either admission or removal records missing, but not both.) At least one team, that year's runner-up Buffalo All-Americans, refused to recognize their membership and canceled two games against them, and possibly pressured the Akron Pros into canceling a game against Syracuse as well.

The Professional Football Researchers Association at one time considered the fact that Syracuse said they were in the league as sufficient evidence to say they were, claiming that since professional football was not that popular at the time, the team had nothing to gain from lying about their status (even though the team's announcement trumpeted the ability to play "the top teams in the country;" this hypothesis also does not take into account the possibility of the team being turned down for league membership); the PFRA has since backed off from that stance.

Despite this debate, there is no record of the Syracuse Pros being a member of the APFA. To this day, there is nothing on the official NFL website that says that the Syracuse Pros were a member of the APFA.