The 1920 Columbus Panhandles season was the franchise's inaugural season in the American Professional Football Association (APFA)—later named the National Football League. The season concluded with the team going 2–6–2 and finishing 13th place in the APFA standings. The Panhandles entered the season after a 3–6–1 record in 1919. The team opened the 1920 season with a loss to the Dayton Triangles, and the Panhandles lost five straight until a victory over the Zanesville Mark Grays. Not a single player was on the All-Pro list.
Offseason
The Columbus Panhandles finished their 1919 season with a 3–6–1 record in the Ohio League. On August 20, 1920, a meeting was held at Ralph Hay's automobile attended by representatives of four Ohio League teams: the Canton Bulldogs, the Cleveland Tigers, the Dayton Triangles, and the Akron Pros. At the meeting, they tentatively agreed to introduce a salary cap for the teams, not to sign college players nor players under contract with another team, and became united as the American Professional Football Conference. They then contacted other major professional teams and invited them to a meeting for September 17.
At the meeting in September, representatives of the Rock Island Independents, the Muncie Flyers, the Decatur Staleys, the Racine Cardinals, the Massillon Tigers, the Chicago Cardinals, the Rochester Jeffersons, and the Hammond Pros. The following was achieved during the September 17 meeting: the name of American Professional Football Association was chosen; officers of the league were elected with Jim Thorpe as president; a membership fee of $100 was set; a committee to draft a constitution was named; the secretary of the league was to receive a list of all players used during the season by January 1, 1921; and the trophy that would be awarded to the league champions. Even though the Panhandles were not at the meetings, they were still a charter member of the APFA.
Regular season
The Panhandles played their only home game at Neil Park. Joseph Carr made the team play mostly away games because they were able to travel on the railroads for free. This cut down on stadium cost and saved the team money. The regular season schedule was not a fixed schedule but was created dynamically by each team as the season progressed. Over the course of the 1920 season, the Panhandles played a total of 11 games. Of those 11 games, five were against APFA teams, and the others were against non-APFA teams. Every game played against league teams resulted in a loss.
The records kept for the 1920 season included games played against APFA and non-APFA teams. The Panhandles opened the season with a 14–0 loss to the Dayton Triangles in the first football game with two APFA teams. The previous week, considered week one, the Rock Island Independents played against the St. Paul Ideals in the first APFA game. The Panhandles lost their next five games without scoring a point, until a 10–0 win over the Zanesville Mark Grays. The Panhandles ended the season with a 24–0 victory and finished with a 2–6–2 record.
Schedule
Table gathered from The Columbus Panhandles. For the results column, the Panhandles score is posted first followed by the result for the opponent. For the attendance, if a cell is greyed out and has "N/A", then that means there is an unknown figure for that game. The green-colored cells indicates a win; and the red-colored cells indicate a loss. The games against the local teams are listed, but are not counted in the standings.
Game summaries
Week 2: at Dayton Triangles
October 3, 1920, at Triangle Park
The Panhandles' opening game against the Dayton Triangles is considered to be the first football game between two APFA teams. The Panhandles lost 14–0 to the Triangles. Despite the first two quarters resulting in ties, the crowd was excited. In the second quarter, the Triangles made a goal line stand while the Panhandles had the ball on the 3-yard line. Before halftime, the Triangles' Al Mahrt completed a 30-yard pass to Dutch Thiele, which resulted in the Triangles to having the ball on the 5-yard line. The Triangles' did not score on that possession due to the clock running out.
Early in the third quarter, the Triangles started a possession on their own 35-yard line. Four consecutive run plays carried them to midfield. Then, Lou Partlow had a long run to the 10-yard line. The possession ended with a rushing touchdown from Partlow. The other Triangle score came in the middle of the fourth quarter. Frank Bacon returned a punt return for a 60-yard touchdown. After both touchdowns, George Kinderdine was responsible for the extra points.