That amount would not allow for the team to be paid to play the game, or even meet its travel expenses for the trip back to Rochester.

Despite his investments, the Jeffersons were never able to consistently compete with other members of the league, but the team was far better than the semi-pro local squads that occupied the Rochester area.

That meant that the Jeffersons' games were almost certain to be blowouts in one direction or the other, resulting in a boring product that Rochester residents were not willing to pay to see.

The inactive team was left in limbo for the next two seasons before the NFL canceled Lyons's franchise at the 1928 owners' meetings.

Lyons served as an Honorary Historian of the NFL from after the Jeffersons folded until his death, maintaining connections with some of the owners from his era, including George Halas.

While not entirely flawless and often heavily weighted toward his own Jeffersons, his histories were considered better and more accurate than Harry March's earlier work on the topic, and Bob Carroll, founder of the Professional Football Researchers Association, noted that Lyons had "served well" in that capacity.