The Columbus Panhandles were a professional American football team based in Columbus, Ohio. The club was founded in 1901 by workers at the Panhandle shops of the Pennsylvania Railroad. They were a part of the Ohio League from 1904 before folding after one season. Three years later, the team tried again, playing in the Ohio League from 1907 to 1919, not winning a championship, before becoming charter members of the American Professional Football Association (APFA) which became the National Football League (NFL).
The Columbus Panhandles in 1907
The Columbus Panhandles playing a game during the 1910s at Indianola Park.
The 1915 Columbus Panhandles team.
1921 Columbus Panhandles of the National Football League-
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada and the highest professional level of American football in the world. Each NFL season begins annually with a three-week preseason in August, followed by the 18-week regular season which runs from early September to early January, with each team playing 17 games and having one bye week. Following the conclusion of the regular season, seven teams from each conference advance to the playoffs, a single-elimination tournament that culminates in the Super Bowl, which is contested in February and is played between the winners of the AFC and NFC championship games.
The Akron Pros won the first APFA (NFL) Championship in 1920.
Roger Goodell, National Football League Commissioner since 2006 (pictured in 2012)
Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams, the first overall pick of the 2024 NFL draft