November 16, 2015

Highlighted Year: Guy Chamberlin, 1922

End, Canton Bulldogs


Age: 28
4th season in pro football, 3rd in APFA/NFL & 2nd with Bulldogs
College: Nebraska
Height: 6’2”   Weight: 192

Prelude:
Chamberlin transferred from Nebraska Wesleyan to the Univ. of Nebraska and was a consensus first-team All-American end in 1915. Following military service from 1917 to ’19, he joined Canton in 1919, when it was still part of the informal Ohio League, and moved on to the Decatur Staleys of the new NFL (then called American Professional Football Association) in ’20. Tall and fast, and outstanding on both offense and defense, Chamberlin received first-team All-League honors from The Rock Island Argus. The club shifted to Chicago in 1921 (and was rechristened the Bears the next year) and won the NFL Championship. Chamberlin returned to Canton as player/coach in 1922.

1922 Season Summary
Appeared in 12 games
[Bracketed numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]

Scoring
Rushing TDs – 3 [10, tied with ten others]
Receiving TDs – 1 [5, tied with twenty-two others]
Interception TDs – 2 [1]
Misc. TDs – 1 [1, tied with Norb Sacksteder, Curly Lambeau & Al Nesser]
Total TDs – 7 [1, tied with Jimmy Conzelman]
Points – 42 [3]

Awards & Honors:
1st team All-NFL: George Halas

Bulldogs went 10-0-2 to finish first in the NFL while leading the league in touchdowns (26) and scoring (184 points).

Aftermath:
The Bulldogs went undefeated in 1923 to again top the NFL with an 11-0-1 record under Chamberlin’s guidance, and as a player he received first-team All-NFL honors from Collyers Eye and second-team recognition from the Green Bay Press-Gazette. The franchise was effectively shifted to Cleveland in 1924 and won another title. Chamberlin received first-team All-NFL honors from Collyers Eye. He moved on to become player/coach of the Frankford Yellow Jackets in 1925 and, after a sixth-place finish that year, they topped the NFL with a 14-1-2 record in ’26. Chamberlin ended up as both a player and coach with the Chicago Cardinals in 1927, who placed ninth with the only losing record of any team that he played for or coached. Overall, as a player Chamberlin played in 92 games and scored 17 touchdowns, and received at least some first-team All-League recognition four times. As a coach, his teams went 58-16-7, including 21-0-3 in two seasons with Canton, and won a total of four NFL Championships. Chamberlin was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Class of 1965.

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Highlighted Years features players who were first-team All-League* selections or league* or conference** leaders in the following statistical categories:

Rushing: Yards, TDs (min. 10)
Passing: Yards, Completion Pct., Yards per Attempt, TDs, Rating
Receiving: Catches, Yards, TDs (min. 10)
Scoring: TDs, Points, Field Goals (min. 5)
All-Purpose: Total Yards
Defense: Interceptions, Sacks
Kickoff Returns: Average
Punt Returns: Average
Punting: Average

*Leagues include NFL (1920 to date), AFL (1926), AFL (1936-37), AAFC (1946-49), AFL (1960-69), WFL (1974-75), USFL (1983-85)

**NFC/AFC since 1970