So was the American Professional Football Association (APFA) announced to the people of Muncie, Indiana, population 36,524, in their evening newspaper on August 21st, 1920.
[1] The theory of a professional football team playing nothing but away games, surviving on appearance guarantees and a percentage of the gate, was about to be tested.
[3] And thus the Muncie Flyers found themselves a member from the inception of the association that would emerge as the National Football League in 1922.
[3] The Flyers' first road game of the season was against the long-established Rock Island Independents, kicking around as a professional football club since 1907.
Muncie attempted to bolster its roster for the game by raiding the Friar Athletic Association of Fort Wayne, with a team representative making a monetary offer to two of the team's best players and asking them to bring along two other players on the Friars' roster.
[6] With the Friar team already teetering at the edge of the abyss, one local journalist was incensed at the Flyers' temerity, charging it with violating the APFA's anti-tampering rule and calling the attempted raid "despicable in the extreme" and an act that "should be taken into account by all followers of the game and true lovers of fair play.
"[6] Karma was not long in arriving, as the Flyers' scheduled game in Cleveland was abruptly cancelled by the home team, who played at Dunn Field against the Columbus Panhandles instead.
[7] Another two weeks would pass with the Flyers unable to find an opponent willing to book the team and pay a guarantee.
While these games are not counted in the APFA standings, the Flyers topped both teams handily, providing a semi-sweet finish to an otherwise bitter year.
[8] The 1920 Flyers were unable the schedule opponents and play for virtually all of October and November — the two prime football months.
[3] For example, quarterback Cooney Checkaye, lineman Babe Hole, and lefthalf Mick Hole signed on with the Wabash Athletic Association for an October 17 game against the Gas City Tigers, played in front of 1,800 fans at Gas City, Indiana, just south of Marion.
[9] Similarly, on November 21, Checkaye, the Hole brothers, fullback Ken Huffine, and three other Flyers latched on with the Muncie Tigers for their game[3] — a 24–0 beatdown at the hands of the Gary Elks.
[10] The table below was compiled using information from The Pro Football Archives and The Coffin Corner, both of which used various contemporary newspapers.
October 3, 1920, at Douglas Park In their only APFA game counted in the standings, the Muncie Flyers played against the Rock Island Independents.
[3] November 28, 1920, at Walnut Park After their first victory of the season, the Flyers were challenged by the Muncie Offers More AC.
However, with wins against the Gas City Tigers and the Muncie Offers More AC, the Flyers claimed to have won the Indiana State Championship.