1926 Detroit Panthers season

The 1926 Detroit Panthers season was their second and final year in the league. Despite playing 9 of their 12 games at home, the team failed to improve on their previous output of 8–2–2, winning only 4 times and finishing 12th out of 22 teams^[1]

1926 Detroit Panthers (NFL) season
Head coach	Jimmy Conzelman
Home stadium	Navin Field
Results
Record	4–6–2
League place	12th NFL
← 1925 Detroit Panthers (NFL) 1928 →

Schedule

Game	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap	Sources
1	September 19	at Green Bay Packers	L 21–0	0–1	City Stadium	4,500	Recap
2	September 26	at Milwaukee Badgers	L 6–0	0–2	Athletic Park	2,500	Recap
3	October 3	Chicago Bears	L 10–7	0-3	Navin Field	10,000	Recap
4	October 10	Kansas City Cowboys	W 10–0	1–3	Navin Field		Recap
5	October 17	Louisville Colonels	W 47–0	2–3	Navin Field		Recap	[2][3]
6	October 24	Akron Indians	W 25–0	3–3	Navin Field		Recap
7	October 31	Canton Bulldogs	W 6–0	4–3	Navin Field		Recap
8	November 7	Duluth Eskimos	T 0–0	4–3–1	Navin Field	21,000	Recap
9	November 14	Dayton Triangles	T 0–0	4–3–2	Navin Field		Recap
10	November 25	Los Angeles Buccaneers	L 9–6	4–4–2	Navin Field	7,000	Recap
11	November 27	at Frankford Yellow Jackets	L 7–6	4–5–2	Frankford Stadium	6,000	Recap
12	November 28	Green Bay Packers	L 7–0	4–6–2	Navin Field	1,000	Recap	[4]
—	December 6	vs. Detroit Tigers	Postponed due to snow.					[5]
—	December 13	vs. Detroit Tigers	W 9–0	—	Navin Field		—	[6]
Note: Games in italics was against non-NFL team. Thanksgiving Day: November 25.

Standings

Program for the Panthers' September 19th season debut at Green Bay.

NFL standings
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
Frankford Yellow Jackets	14	1	2	.933	236	49	T1
Chicago Bears	12	1	3	.923	216	63	L1
Pottsville Maroons	10	2	2	.833	155	29	T1
Kansas City Cowboys	8	3	0	.727	76	53	W7
Green Bay Packers	7	3	3	.700	151	61	T1
New York Giants	8	4	1	.667	151	61	W3
Los Angeles Buccaneers	6	3	1	.667	67	57	L1
Duluth Eskimos	6	5	3	.545	113	81	L1
Buffalo Rangers	4	4	2	.500	53	62	T1
Chicago Cardinals	5	6	1	.455	74	98	L1
Providence Steam Roller	5	7	1	.417	89	103	L1
Detroit Panthers	4	6	2	.400	107	60	L3
Hartford Blues	3	7	0	.300	57	99	L1
Brooklyn Lions	3	8	0	.273	60	150	L3
Milwaukee Badgers	2	7	0	.222	41	66	L5
Dayton Triangles	1	4	1	.200	15	82	L2
Akron Indians	1	4	3	.200	23	89	T1
Racine Tornadoes	1	4	0	.200	8	92	L4
Columbus Tigers	1	6	0	.143	26	93	L5
Canton Bulldogs	1	9	3	.100	46	161	L1
Hammond Pros	0	4	0	.000	3	56	L4
Louisville Colonels	0	4	0	.000	0	108	L4

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

Roster

• John Barrett, center, 11 games, 170 pounds, 5-6, Univ. of Detroit
• John Cameron, guard, 8 games, 175 pounds, Kalamazoo, Central Michigan
• Jimmy Conzelman, back, 12 games, 175 pounds, 6-0 Washington (MO)
• Al Crook, center, 8 games, 190 pounds, 5-10, Washington & Jefferson
• Dinger Doane, fullback, 12 games, 190 pounds, 5-10 Tufts
• Tom Edwards, tackle, 12 games, 185 pounds, 5-11, Central Michigan, Michigan
• Jack Fleischman, guard, 11 games, 184 pounds, 5-6, Purdue
• Bruce Gregory, tailback, 12 games, 170 pounds, 5-10, Michigan
• Charlie Grube, end, 2 games, 175 pounds, 5-10, Michigan
• Al Hadden, wingback, 12 games, 186 pounds, 5-9, Washington & Jefferson
• Norm Harvey, tackle, 8 games, 196 pounds, 6-0, Univ. of Detroit
• Vivian Hultman, end, 10 games, 178 pounds, 5-8, Michigan St.
• Dutch Lauer, end, 10 games, 185 pounds, 5-10, Univ. of Detroit
• Eddie Lynch, end, 12 games, 191 pounds, 6-0, Catholic
• Dutch Marion, fullback, 12 games, 180 pounds, 5-9, Washington & Jefferson, Michigan
• Tom McNamara, guard, 11 games, 210 pounds, 5-10, Tufts, Univ. of Detroit
• Eddie Scharer, back, 12 games, 165 pounds, 5-6, Univ. of Detroit, Notre Dame
• Gus Sonnenberg, tackle, 12 games, 196 pounds, 5-6, Dartmouth, Univ. or Detroit
• Dick Vick, wingback, 6 games, 167 pounds, 5-9, Washington & Jefferson

Post-Season

The Panthers concluded their 1926 season with a December 13 game against another local professional team, the Detroit Tigers, in an event billed as the city's professional championship. Originally scheduled for December 6, the game had to be delayed one week due to four inches of snow covering Navin Field, rendering it unplayable.^[5] Things were little better on the 13th, with the track slippery and slow, but the Panthers managed a 9–0 win over a hapless opponent that failed to make even one first down during the contest.

Plans were made for a third campaign in 1927, with rumors circulating in April that the team had landed University of Michigan passing sensation Benny Friedman, with Friedman explicitly denying a report that he had agreed to terms with the club at a secret meeting in Cleveland.^[7]

With the NFL attempting to pare down weak franchises in 1927 by raising the amount of each team's assurance money to the league office and forcing a commitment to play at least four home games with a visitors' guarantee of $3,000 per game, the Panthers ultimately were one of ten teams falling to the wayside and terminating operations.

The Cleveland-born Benny Friedman ultimately signed a contract that July to play with a new Cleveland Bulldogs franchise owned by a syndicate headed by Herbert Brandt.^[8]