Columbus (NFL)

The Columbus Panhandles were a professional football team from Columbus, Ohio and later played in the American Professional Football Association, later renamed the National Football League. The origin of the name "Panhandles" was the Pennsylvania Railroad route from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Columbus called the "Panhandle Division," once owned by the Panhandle Railroad (formally the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad) in the late 1800s.

The Panhandles were originally formed in 1901 by the Pennsylvania Railroad Athletic Association in Columbus. Joe F. Carr, who also ran the railroad's baseball team, took over the football team in 1907 until 1922, He utilized a group of exceptionally strong brothers called the Nessers who were a draw throughout the country. The six Nesser brothers were exceptionally large and strong for people living in the early 20th century. (One brother, Frank Nesser, was 6-foot 3-inches tall and weighed 235 pounds.) They all were exceptionally great athletes for their time.

Two decades later, the "Panhandles" played as part of the APFA/NFL from 1920-1922 as a traveling team. After the 1922 season, franchise owner Joe F. Carr discontinued the franchise because of cost and salary demands. In 1923, a new team was organized by local businessmen called the Columbus Tigers and played from 1923-1926, also as a traveling team. The original team often went by the nickname "Handles" and historically are considered charter members of the National Football League because of their membership in the American Professional Football Association in September 1920, playing in the league's very first game against the Dayton Triangles in Dayton, Ohio.

Hall of Famers

*Joseph F. Carr

eason-by-season

* *-Member NFL, but non-league games included in record.

External links

* [http://www.hickoksports.com/history/columbuspt.shtml Hickok Sports: Columbus Panhandles]