By John Turney 
To commemorate the NFL's 50th anniversary, the Pro Football Hall of Fame's board of selectors embarked on an ambitious project in the late 1960s, designating all-star teams for every decade in league history. Its efforts were largely successful, though evaluating players from 40-50 years earlier posed challenges similar to what we face today when assessing events from nearly a century ago.
In short, while many of the selections were sound, a handful seemed ... well, dubious.
So that prompted a re-evaluation of all-decade teams, with the benefit of insights from historians who thoroughly studied the period. Among the experts were Dan Daly, Bob O’Donnell (author of retro all-decade teams in "The Pro Football Chronicle"), as well as Ken Crippen, PFRA founder Bob Carroll and author Richard Whittingham. Crippen’s version was featured on the Talk of Fame site three years ago, while contributions from Chris Willis, John Maxymuk, Jeffrey Miller and other scholars enriched the discussion.
Drawing on their research and contemporary papers from the era, I decided to compile my own 1920s all-decade team. The difference between official team selections and mine stem from the time players spent in the decade, as well as the periods when they were dominant, as determined by All-NFL teams. Additionally, my selections are influenced by valuable statistics uncovered by dedicated researchers.
Some of the official all-decade players participated in a handful of seasons during the 1920s and are better suited for the 1930s' team. However, my list operates under the assumption that there should be a hypothetical 1925-35 all-mid-decade team, designed for players whose careers don’t align with the 1920-29 or 1930-39 time frames. Players who excelled in the late 1920s and early 1930s are better grouped in this mid-decade category.
Got it? Good. Let's first take a look at the Official Pro Football Hall-of-Fame Team of the 1920s:
CENTER: George Trafton.
FULLBACK: Ernie Nevers.
Now, here is my take on who should have been picked:
ENDS: Guy Chamberlin, Lavvie Dilweg and Tillie Voss.
Halas is out. Put him in as a founder, executive and coach if you want. But, as a player, he didn't leave a trail of All-NFL selections. Tillie Voss did. So he gets the nod.
Chamberlain and Dilweg are two that were no-brainers as first-unit players.
TACKLES: Ed Healey, Wilbur “Pete” Henry, Duke Slater and “Link” Lyman.
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| Link Lyman |
Gus Sonnenberg earns an honorable mention but doesn’t crack the top four. Cal Hubbard fits better on a 1925-35 all-decade team, while Steve Owen's elite status as a player is questioned by many historians. I’ve opted for Slater and Lyman instead. Both were standout performers squarely in the 1920s.
I scrapped all three of the guards and replaced them with three I thought more deserving. Youngstrom and McMillen were perennial All-NFL, while Nesser - who wasn't recognized as often as those two- was solid for nearly the entire decade.
Duke Osborn and Rudy Comstock deserve honorable mentions and could claim the third spot. But I chose Nesser for his consistent excellence across most of the decade.
Like Hubbard, Mike Michalske and Walt Kiesling belong in a 1925-35 framework. Michalske, in particular, shines as a 1930s' candidate with seven years and four All-NFL nods in that decade. His three years in the '20s don’t qualify him here.
CENTER: George Trafton and Doc Alexander.
The official team only chose one center, but Alexander had a career deserving of a second-unit. So I added him. Trafton is the only choice as a first-unit center.
QUARTERBACK/TAILBACKS: “Paddy” Driscoll and Jimmy Conzelman.
Driscoll was a no-brainer. He would be on the shortlist for Player of the Decade. Some might ask why Benny Friedman isn't on my team, and here's my answer: His career began in 1927 and included five years in the 1930s. He's a 1925-35 guy.
So, who then? I almost went with little Joey Sternaman who was a star despite his size (he was 5-feet-6 inches tall). He was All-NFL three times and twice consensus. But then I realized I was shorting Jimmy Conzelman.
He was the Hall's official pick, and he should be. According to researchers and historians, Conzelman was a cut above. He had his best years in the early 1920s but played through 1929. And, looking at stats, he was among the league leaders in many categories, with an unofficial total of 26 interceptions. As a player, he was a step up from other legendary player/coaches like Halas and Curly Lambeau.
Grange was a superstar, even if a knee injury dulled his early brilliance. He remained great and could double-dip—fitting both the 1920s and 1925-35 teams, thanks to his standout defensive play in the '30s.
Like Halas, whom I snubbed at end, Lambeau was a leader as well as a player/coach. But Verne Lewellen outdid him as a runner and punter, so he earned the spot. Jim Thorpe, a legendary Hall of Famer, suits a 1915-25 All-Pro/Decade team with pre-NFL years included. But his 1920s' play didn’t match his earlier heights. So he’s out.
The "Human Howitzer" -- Tony Latone -- was listed as both a halfback and fullback on the All-NFL teams he made. But encyclopedias also have him as a tailback and wingback, so it's impossible to know which position he played most. Based on available statistics, he was a top runner and terrific defender, credited with 22 career interceptions -- with 20 in the 1920s. All I know is that he had a better decade than some of the backs on official teams.
The Akron Pros were the first champions of the new pro league, called the APFA (it wasn't the NFL yet), and Pollard probably its best player. He only made All-League that year but played so well in subsequent years that he deserves an honorable mention.
FULLBACK: “Rip” King and “Doc” Elliott.
The official team chose one fullback, but I picked two. Ernie Nevers was the official pick, but he could slide to a 1925-35 "mid-decade" team. Giants' fullback Jack McBride fits the 1920s, too, but he's another overlap guy. He had elite years in the early 1930s, so I am pushing him back, too.
For my picks, I took two overlooked stars: Rip King and Doc Elliott.
King earned All-NFL honors in 1920-22. played fully in '23, and appeared in parts of two more seasons. Though listed as a fullback, he was the Akron Pros’ primary passer ... which illustrates how positions could be misleading. Elliott mirrors him, grabbing three All-NFL nods in the early 1920s with the champion Canton/Cleveland Bulldogs. Both deserve recognition, so I picked them and left Nevers and McBride for the next era.
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