| Year: | 1925 |
| Nflchampion: | Chicago Cardinals |
| Regular Season: | September 20 – December 20, 1925 |
The 1925 NFL season was the sixth regular season of the National Football League. Five new teams entered the league: New York Giants, Detroit Panthers, Pottsville Maroons, Providence Steam Roller, and a new Canton Bulldogs team. The Kenosha Maroons folded, with the Racine Legion and Minneapolis Marines mothballing.
Twenty teams competed in the NFL during the 1925 season.
| First season in NFL * | Last active season ^ | Last season before hiatus, rejoined league later § |
| Team jumped to the AFL † | Rejoined the NFL ** |
| Team | Head coach(es) | Stadium | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Akron League Park | |||
| Bison Stadium | |||
| Canton Bulldogs ** | League Field | ||
| Cubs Park | |||
| Comiskey Park | |||
| Cleveland Bulldogs § | Dunn Field | ||
| West Side Athletic Club | |||
| Triangle Park | |||
| Detroit Panthers * | Navin Field | ||
| Duluth Athletic Park | |||
| Frankford Stadium | |||
| City Stadium | |||
| Fritz Pollard (1 game) and Doc Young (4 games) | Traveling team | ||
| Muehlebach Field | |||
| Milwaukee Athletic Park | |||
| New York Giants * | Polo Grounds | ||
| Minersville Park | |||
| Providence Steam Rollers * | Cycledrome | ||
| Rochester Jeffersons ^ | Edgerton Park | ||
| Rock Island Independents † | Douglas Park |
Controversy surrounds who actually won the 1925 NFL Championship. Officially, the Chicago Cardinals are listed as the 1925 NFL champions because they finished with the best record; however, many Pottsville fans at the time claimed that the Maroons were the legitimate champions. The Maroons and the Cardinals were the top contenders for the title, with Pottsville winning a late-season meeting between them, 21–7. But the Maroons scheduled a game against a team of University of Notre Dame All-Stars in Philadelphia (and winning 9–7) on the same day that the Frankford Yellow Jackets were scheduled to play a game in the same city. Frankford protested, saying that it was violating their protected territory rights.
Although NFL president Joe Carr warned the Maroons in writing that they faced suspension if they played in Philadelphia, the Maroons claimed that Carr had previously approved the game during a telephone call, and played anyway. In response, Carr fined the club, suspended it from all league rights and privileges (including the right to play for the NFL championship), and returned its franchise to the league.
In 2003, the NFL decided to again examine the case regarding the 1925 championship. In October of that year, the NFL voted 30–2 not to reopen the case, with only Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, the league's two Pennsylvania-based teams, voting in favor. Thus, the Cardinals are still listed as the 1925 NFL champions.[1]
Had the current (post-1972) system of counting ties as half a win and half a loss been in place in 1925, the Maroons would have won the championship with a win percentage of .833, while the Cardinals would have finished runner-up at .821.
NFL league president Joseph Carr chose an all-star team for 1925, including players from Red Grange's tour.[2]