First NFL Team and League Origins
The first football team in the NFL was the Decatur Staleys, which later became the Chicago Bears. The NFL itself was founded on August 20, 1920, in Canton, Ohio, as the American Professional Football Association, and the Staleys were a charter member of that meeting. The league rebranded to the National Football League in 1922, and the Bears are recognized as the oldest continuous franchise from that original grouping. For more background on early pro football and the NFL's formation, see the Pro Football Hall of Fame at https://www.profootballhof.com/.
The Staleys were organized as a company team for the A.E. Staley Starch Company in Decatur, Illinois, and they played their first season in 1919 before joining the new league in 1920. George Halas, who later became a Hall of Fame coach and executive, was a central figure in turning the Staleys into a stable professional franchise. The team moved to Chicago in 1921 and was renamed the Chicago Bears in 1922, cementing its place as the direct descendant of the original NFL entry. The NFL's own historical records confirm this lineage at https://www.nfl.com/.
Early NFL Structure and Membership
The 1920 meeting included representatives from four Ohio teams, the Decatur Staleys, the Muncie Flyers, and a few other regional squads, creating a loose alliance of professional clubs. That first season had no formal playoff or championship game, and the champion was determined by standings, with the Akron Pros finishing undefeated in 1920. The league quickly added franchises in cities like Green Bay, New York, and Brooklyn, expanding beyond the industrial midwest. A concise timeline of early NFL membership is available on the NFL History page at https://www.nfl.com/history.
By the mid-1920s, the NFL had settled on a more structured schedule and began to formalize rules around player contracts and league membership. The Decatur Staleys' transition to the Chicago Bears illustrates how early teams often relocated, renamed, or reorganized as local business support changed. This early flexibility helped the league survive while many other professional football experiments folded. The league's official record book provides details on early franchise movements at https://www.nfl.com/.
Legacy of the First NFL Team
Today, the Chicago Bears are recognized as the oldest continuous NFL franchise from the league's founding era, with a history that directly traces back to the original Decatur Staleys. The Bears have won nine NFL championships, including the first Super Bowl in the 1985 season, and they remain one of the league's most iconic brands. The franchise's long continuity is a key part of NFL marketing and historical storytelling, reinforcing the league's roots in early professional football. The Bears' official franchise history is documented at https://www.chicagobears.com/.
The story of the first NFL team is also a case study in how early sports leagues used company sponsors, local business backing, and aggressive scheduling to stabilize fragile franchises. Modern NFL front offices still reference the Staleys-to-Bears lineage when discussing franchise value, continuity, and brand longevity. The league's current business structure, media deals, and franchise valuations all build on the foundation laid by those early teams. Forbes regularly covers NFL franchise valuations and business trends at https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/.