Professional Football Researchers Association
Encyclopedia
The Professional Football Researchers Association (PFRA) is an organization of researchers whose mission is to preserve and, in some cases, reconstruct professional football history. It was founded on June 22, 1979 in Canton, Ohio by writer/historian Bob Carroll
and six other football researchers and is currently run by executive director Ken Crippen. Membership in the organization consists of some of the world's foremost historians and authors.
The PFRA publishes books and a bimonthly magazine, The Coffin Corner, devoted to topics in professional football history. The organization also gives out awards each year for outstanding achievement in the field of football research.
All-America Football Conference
: (chair: Ken Crippen)
All-Pro
: This committee researches AP and UPI awards and All-Pro teams. (chair: John Hogrogian and John Turney)
Football, Culture and Social Movements Committee: Discusses the involvement of football and social movements such as civil rights. (chair: Gretchen Atwood)
"Hall of Very Good Committee": Highlights outstanding players not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame
. (chair: Andy Piascik)
Linescore Committee: Responsible for compiling linescores for all professional games played since 1920. (chair: Gary Selby)
Gamebooks: Aims to collect game books from every NFL game ever played, however many still exist. (chair: Karl Schindl)
Membership Committee: For the PFRA's internal purposes.
Pre-NFL Pro Football Committee: Researches all professional football prior to 1920, such as the Ohio League
and the New York Pro Football League
. (chair: Roy Sye)
Western
, Central
and Northern
New York
Committees: Researches professional football in upstate New York
. This committee includes several subcommittees, including Buffalo football teams of the 1920s
(chair: Jeffrey Miller), Rochester Jeffersons
(John Steffenhagen), Buffalo Indians
(Darin Paine), AAFC Bills
(Crippen), the Empire Football League (EFL commissioner Dave Burch), and Watertown Red & Black
(Crippen). (chair: Jeffrey Miller)
Stadiums: Compiles all stadiums used by professional football teams. (chair: Bill Pepperell)
Broadcasting: Compiles all local and national television and radio announcers for every NFL and AFL game ever broadcast since 1939. (chair: Tim Brulia)
Uniforms: Compiles all information on NFL, AFL and AAFC uniforms from 1933 to the present. (chair: Tim Brulia)
Canadian Football League
: (chair: Tod Maher)
United States Football League
: (chair: Paul Reeths)
World Football League
: (chair: Richie Franklin)
Other leagues: Any professional football leagues not covered by one of the other committees. (chair: Mark Ford)
Oral history: Chronicles PFRA interviews with former NFL players. (chair: Kenneth Crippen)
NFL Officials: Compiles a list of all NFL officials, their positions and their uniform numbers. (chair: Gary Najman-Vainer)
, named after the Canton Bulldogs
owner whose showroom was the site of the NFL's first organizational meeting, is awarded for "lifetime achievement in pro football research and historiography." Past winners include:
Bob Carroll (author)
Robert Nuehardt Carroll, Jr. was an American historian and author.Carroll was best known for his contributions to American football research. He was the founder and executive director of the Professional Football Researchers Association , and edited the group's newsletter, The Coffin Corner until...
and six other football researchers and is currently run by executive director Ken Crippen. Membership in the organization consists of some of the world's foremost historians and authors.
The PFRA publishes books and a bimonthly magazine, The Coffin Corner, devoted to topics in professional football history. The organization also gives out awards each year for outstanding achievement in the field of football research.
The Coffin Corner
The Coffin Corner is a bimonthly magazine devoted to topics in professional football history. Membership in the organization includes six issues of The Coffin Corner, as well as access to the "Members Only" section of their website, which contains detailed research on a multitude of subjects.Committees
The PFRA's research is mostly divided into committees:All-America Football Conference
All-America Football Conference
The All-America Football Conference was a professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many of the nation's best players, and introduced many lasting innovations...
: (chair: Ken Crippen)
All-Pro
All-Pro
All-Pro is a term mostly used in the NFL for the best players of each position during that season. It began as polls of sportswriters in the early 1920s...
: This committee researches AP and UPI awards and All-Pro teams. (chair: John Hogrogian and John Turney)
Football, Culture and Social Movements Committee: Discusses the involvement of football and social movements such as civil rights. (chair: Gretchen Atwood)
"Hall of Very Good Committee": Highlights outstanding players not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...
. (chair: Andy Piascik)
Linescore Committee: Responsible for compiling linescores for all professional games played since 1920. (chair: Gary Selby)
Gamebooks: Aims to collect game books from every NFL game ever played, however many still exist. (chair: Karl Schindl)
Membership Committee: For the PFRA's internal purposes.
Pre-NFL Pro Football Committee: Researches all professional football prior to 1920, such as the Ohio League
Ohio League
The Ohio League was an informal and loose association of American football clubs active between 1903 and 1919 that competed for the Ohio Independent Championship . As the name implied, its teams were based in Ohio...
and the New York Pro Football League
New York Pro Football League
The New York Pro Football League was a professional American football league active in the 1910s and based in upstate New York, primarily Western New York. Between 1920 and 1921, the league's best teams were absorbed into the National Football League, though none survive in that league today...
. (chair: Roy Sye)
Western
Western New York
Western New York is the westernmost region of the state of New York. It includes the cities of Buffalo, Rochester, Niagara Falls, the surrounding suburbs, as well as the outlying rural areas of the Great Lakes lowlands, the Genesee Valley, and the Southern Tier. Some historians, scholars and others...
, Central
Central New York
Central New York is a term used to broadly describe the central region of New York State, roughly including the following counties and cities:...
and Northern
North Country, New York
The North Country is a region of the U.S. state of New York that encompasses the state's extreme northern frontier, bordering Lake Ontario on the west, the Saint Lawrence River and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec on the north and northwest, and Lake Champlain and Vermont on the east...
New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
Committees: Researches professional football in upstate New York
Upstate New York
Upstate New York is the region of the U.S. state of New York that is located north of the core of the New York metropolitan area.-Definition:There is no clear or official boundary between Upstate New York and Downstate New York...
. This committee includes several subcommittees, including Buffalo football teams of the 1920s
Buffalo (NFL)
Buffalo, New York had a turbulent, early-era National Football League team that operated under three different names and several different owners between the 1910s and 1920s...
(chair: Jeffrey Miller), Rochester Jeffersons
Rochester Jeffersons
The Rochester Jeffersons from Rochester, New York played in the National Football League from 1920 to 1925.Formed as an amateur outfit by a rag-tag group of Rochester-area teenagers after the turn of the century , the team became known as the Jeffersons in reference to the locale of their playing...
(John Steffenhagen), Buffalo Indians
Buffalo Indians
The Buffalo Indians were a professional American football team that competed in the third American Football League in 1940 and in 1941. The team played its home games in Civic Stadium in Buffalo, New York...
(Darin Paine), AAFC Bills
Buffalo Bills (AAFC)
The Buffalo Bills was an American Football team, based in Buffalo, NY, that played in the All-America Football Conference from 1946 to 1949. During its first season in 1946, the team was known as the Buffalo Bisons...
(Crippen), the Empire Football League (EFL commissioner Dave Burch), and Watertown Red & Black
Watertown Red & Black
The Watertown Red & Black is a semi-professional American football team based in Watertown, New York. Founded in 1896, the team is the oldest semi-pro football team in the United States...
(Crippen). (chair: Jeffrey Miller)
Stadiums: Compiles all stadiums used by professional football teams. (chair: Bill Pepperell)
Broadcasting: Compiles all local and national television and radio announcers for every NFL and AFL game ever broadcast since 1939. (chair: Tim Brulia)
Uniforms: Compiles all information on NFL, AFL and AAFC uniforms from 1933 to the present. (chair: Tim Brulia)
Canadian Football League
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
: (chair: Tod Maher)
United States Football League
United States Football League
The United States Football League was an American football league which was in active operation from 1983 to 1987. It played a spring/summer schedule in its first three seasons and a traditional autumn/winter schedule was set to commence before league operations ceased.The USFL was conceived in...
: (chair: Paul Reeths)
World Football League
World Football League
The World Football League was a short-lived gridiron football league that played in 1974 and part of 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a worldwide stage, the farthest the WFL reached was placing a team – the Hawaiians – in Honolulu, Hawaii. The...
: (chair: Richie Franklin)
Other leagues: Any professional football leagues not covered by one of the other committees. (chair: Mark Ford)
Oral history: Chronicles PFRA interviews with former NFL players. (chair: Kenneth Crippen)
NFL Officials: Compiles a list of all NFL officials, their positions and their uniform numbers. (chair: Gary Najman-Vainer)
Ralph Hay Award
The Ralph Hay AwardRalph Hay
Ralph E. Hay was the owner of the Canton Bulldogs from 1918 until 1923. However he is mostly recognized for organizing the first meeting of teams that would later former the American Professional Football Association, later called the National Football League....
, named after the Canton Bulldogs
Canton Bulldogs
The Canton Bulldogs were a professional American football team, based in Canton, Ohio. They played in the Ohio League from 1903 to 1906 and 1911 to 1919, and its successor, the National Football League, from 1920 to 1923 and again from 1925 to 1926. The Bulldogs would go on to win the 1917, 1918...
owner whose showroom was the site of the NFL's first organizational meeting, is awarded for "lifetime achievement in pro football research and historiography." Past winners include:
- 2009 - Bob CarrollBob Carroll (author)Robert Nuehardt Carroll, Jr. was an American historian and author.Carroll was best known for his contributions to American football research. He was the founder and executive director of the Professional Football Researchers Association , and edited the group's newsletter, The Coffin Corner until...
- 2008 - Ralph Hickok
- 2007 - Vince Popo
- 2006 - Emil Klosinski
- 2005 - John Gunn
- 2004 - Jeffrey Miller
- 2003 - John Hogrogian
- 2002 - Ken Pullis
- 2001 - Tod Maher
- 2000 - Mel "Buck" Bashore
- 1999 - Stan Grosshandler
- 1998 - Seymour SiwoffElias Sports BureauThe Elias Sports Bureau is an American company that provides historical research and statistical services in the field of professional sports.In 1913, Al Munro Elias and his brother Walter established the Al Munro Elias Bureau in New York City...
- 1997 - Total Sports PublishingTotal Sports PublishingTotal Sports Publishing refers to a book publishing company based in Kingston, New York, that operated from 1998 to 2002. Prominent author John Thorn served as the division's publisher throughout its existence.-Total Sports:...
- 1996 - Don Smith
- 1995 - John Hogrogian
- 1994 - Jim Campbell
- 1993 - Robert Van Atta
- 1992 - Richard Cohen
- 1991 - Joe Horrigan
- 1990 - Bob Gill
- 1989 - Joe Plack
- 1988 - David NeftDavid NeftDavid S. Neft is a writer and historian best known for his groundbreaking work in creating various sports encyclopedias.-Early career:...
Nelson Ross Award
The Nelson Ross Award is presented annually by the PFRA for "outstanding achievement in pro football research and historiography." Past winners include:- 2009 - Robert Lyons, for his book On Any Given Sunday: A Life of Bert Bell
- 2008 - Sean LahmanSean LahmanSean Lahman is an award-winning author and journalist.-Sports Research:He is most noted for the Lahman Baseball Database, a collection of baseball statistics for every team and player in Major League history...
, for his book The Pro Football Historical Abstract - 2007 - Andy Piascik, for his book The Best Show in Football: The 1946-1955 Cleveland Browns
- 2006 - Matthew Algeo, for his book Last Team Standing: How the Steelers and the Eagles -- "The Steagles" -- Saved Pro Football During World War II
- 2005 - Chris Willis, for his book Old Leather: An Oral History of Early Pro Football in Ohio, 1920-1935
- 2004 - Michael MacCambridge, for his book America's Game: The Epic Story of How Pro Football Captured A Nation
- 2003 - Mark L. Ford, for his book NFLX: NFL Exhibition Games 1950 to 2002
- 2002 - Bob Gill, Steve Brainerd, and Tod Maher, for their book Minor League Football, 1960-1985
- 2001 - William J. Ryczek, for his book Crash of the Titans: The Early Years of the New York Jets and the AFL
- 2000 - Paul Reeths, for his book "The USFL Chronicle"
- 1999 - Joe Ziemba, for his book When Football Was Football: The Chicago Cardinals and the Birth of the NFL
- 1998 - Keith McClellan, for his book The Sunday Game: At the Dawn of Professional Football
- 1997 - Tod Maher & Bob Gill, for their book The Pro Football Encyclopedia
- 1996 - John Hogrogian, for his book All-Pros: The First 40 years
- 1995 - Phil Dietrich, for his book Down Payments : Professional Football 1896-1930
- 1994 - Rick Korch
- 1993 - Myron J. "Jack" Smith, Jr., for his book Professional Football: The Official Pro Football Hall of Fame Bibliography
- 1992 - John M. Carroll, for his book Fritz Pollard: Pioneer in Racial Advancement
- 1991 - Tod Maher, for his book Wiffle: The World Football League Chronicle
- 1990 - Pearce Johnson, for his book Professional Football in Rhode Island and Its National Connections
- 1989 - Bob Gill
- 1988 - Bob Braunwart