1927 NFL season

Bisons

Bears

Cardinals

Bulldogs

Triangles

Yellow Jackets

Packers

Giants

Yankees

Maroons

Steam Roller

Traveling team
Eskimos

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NFL teams

The 1927 NFL season was the eighth regular season of the National Football League. Prior to the season, the league decided to eliminate the financially weaker teams. As a result, the league dropped from 22 to 12 teams. The league absorbed many players and one franchise (the New York Yankees) from the defunct American Football League. Wilfrid Smith in the Chicago Tribune wrote that "the reduction formed a more compact circuit and provided better competition."^[1] Smith opined that the "outstanding feature" of the 1927 NFL season was the debut of Benny Friedman who became one of the game's "best drawing cards" and proved that professional football could support itself in Cleveland.^[1]

Although five black players participated in the 1926 season (including future Hall of Famer Fritz Pollard), none played during the 1927 season.

The New York Yankees were added from the American Football League (albeit technically as a continuation of the defunct Brooklyn franchise), the Cleveland Bulldogs returned, and the Buffalo Rangers returned to the Buffalo Bisons name. The Bisons suspended operations five games into the season (all losses). The Rochester Jeffersons remained officially inactive for the second consecutive year.

The axed teams were the Kansas City Cowboys, Los Angeles Buccaneers, Detroit Panthers, Hartford Blues, Brooklyn Lions, Canton Bulldogs, Milwaukee Badgers, Akron Indians, Racine Tornadoes, Columbus Tigers, Hammond Pros, and Louisville Colonels. The excising of the majority of the Ohio teams left the Dayton Triangles as the last surviving connection to the Ohio League, which served as the basis for the NFL's founding. The Triangles themselves are the only remaining Ohio League member that can arguably be considered a team that remains active to the present day, as the franchise, in some form, never missed a season and now operates as the Indianapolis Colts, just 117 miles to the west of their origin.

The New York Giants were named the NFL champions after finishing the season with the best record. The Giants performance was notable, particularly on defense. They allowed only 20 points in 13 games, including 10 shutout victories.