Ohio's Highest HS Football Winning Percentages All-Time

algernonsidney said:
In the 1890's, there wasn't really much "national sporting news." Sports were still very regional. The only way for people to travel long distances was by train. It was a big deal for Ohio State to play Minnesota or Wisconsin.

Baseball is still the perfect sport for radio. The sport is slow enough that you can describe everything on the radio. Television made us realize how slow the game is, which is why it's less popular now. Baseball's peak popularity was in the days of radio.

Most early football history took place in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Of course, some of the Ivy League schools are also a part of football history. It's not really an accident that the most-contested college-football rivalry is Lafayette and Lehigh (both in eastern Pennsylvania).
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I can agree with some of what you say above-- but baseball WAS a national sport for virtually ALL of the 20th Century-- Babe Ruth was FAR and away the biggest sports personality in America for ~15+ years-- as were the Yankees the biggest sports team (once Ruth made them into a dynasty)-- people ALL OVER the US loved or HATED the Yankees... Boxers (like Jack Dempsey and Joe Louis) were the clear top challengers to baseball's hegemony-- with (ironically) top racehorses (like Man o' War, War Admiral, and Seabiscuit) being next in the pantheon of national sports figures...

But, the bottom line is that there MOST DEFINITELY were NATIONAL sports figures, and national sports-- and football was NOT among the top three in importance at that time-- some people cared about college football (remember, in those days, less than 10% of Americans went to college)-- but pro football was nowhere close to being an important, widely covered sport. The top football athletes (based on fame) were in college (e.g.- Red Grange)-- and lost any prominence, once they graduated-- often, they did not bother to even play pro football.
 
Steel Valley FB said:
Warren Western Reserve was 182-54 in their 24 football seasons of existence, all of which were played in the AAA or D1 classification. That’s 77.1% and good enough for #2 on this list. Please edit, accordingly. Thanks!


www.wghfootball.com

WWR Raider History | WGHFootball.com

WGHFootball.com is a fan-based website featuring Raider Football News, Schedules, Stats, History and Warren Gridiron Club Information.
www.wghfootball.com www.wghfootball.com
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I will update the list-- I did not realize that Warren Western Reserve had stopped playing football... can you please provide the additional data on any ties-- so that I can calculate WWR's winning percentage both including ties and excluding ties (as both formats are used by sports statisticians)?
 
4GX said:
Since this came up a few years ago, I've continued to track the records of Ohio high schools with the highest all-time football winning percentage; I believe that these records are current through this past weekend's games:

View attachment 36044

Wyoming is now Ohio's all-time highest winning percentage team, if tie games are included in total games played; Wyoming has been Ohio's highest winning percentage team for some time now, if tie games are excluded from the total played-- but now, Wyoming has also surpassed Massillon Washington in highest winning percentage, if tie games are included in the total games played.

Note that some sports statisticians calculate winning percentage with tie games included in the total games played (with ties considered "not a win"), while others (e.g.- the NFL, for purpose of ranking its teams by winning percentage) exclude tie games from the total (i.e.- ties are considered neither a win nor a loss- and thus excluded from denominator of the winning percentage calculation).

In recent years, Canton McKinley has seen its all-time winning percentage falling fairly noticeably, Massillon Washington and Steubenville have been (roughly) maintaining their winning percentage at their historical levels, while Wyoming and (especially) Maria Stein Marion Local have been raising their winning percentages gradually over time; while Wyoming may be first in all-time winning percentage at the moment, if MSML continues to post 16-0 state championship seasons with the frequency that MSML has done over the last ~decade, it won't be long before MSML takes over the top spot from Wyoming.
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The NFL counts ties as a half win, half loss. Proof of this is that the 1-8-1 Texans have a .150 win percentage.
 
4GX said:
Whenever you have consolidation (or splintering) of schools, the story gets a little messy (e.g.- Hamilton had one HS, then two, now is back to one)-- I did see that in the historical record (about there being another HS in the area, before Marion Local was created)-- but it is hard to discern how those records of that school (which was not a Maria Stein-only HS) are captured in OHSAA historical records... What is fairly clear is what MSML's record has been since it was founded in 1957 (and began playing football in ~1960)-- that record is (I believe) what I cited in the statistical data, in the table I inserted in my original post in this thread.
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Good points. Just as a historical perspective St. John's high school in Maria Stein was the only consolidated high school servicing the 5 member parishes and osgood back before the current physical high school. So I would probably argue it should be considered with the current school due to the fact that all of the students at that time of the move didn't gain new classmates or lose classmates when they moved buildings. According to the Marion fall program they started playing as the Flyers in 1955 upon the decision to build a new school, and they played as the St. John's Blue J's from 1947-1955. So if we add the records from 1947-1959 that would make Marion's cumulative win-loss record as:

579-275-15
Winning percentage: 67.8%
% including ties: 66.6%

This would drop them out of the top five. I understand your points and think they are pretty sound reasoning but I figured it would be interesting to see what the record is with the other 12 years "Marion" was playing.
 
dhsdog06 said:
The NFL counts ties as a half win, half loss. Proof of this is that the 1-8-1 Texans have a .150 win percentage.
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There are also historical listings of NFL records from past seasons, where the NFL listed the winning percentage for a team with the ties excluded-- e.g.- a team with an 8-4-2 record being listed with a winning percentage of .667...
 
4GX said:
I will update the list-- I did not realize that Warren Western Reserve had stopped playing football... can you please provide the additional data on any ties-- so that I can calculate WWR's winning percentage both including ties and excluding ties (as both formats are used by sports statisticians)?
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Yes, per that link, WWR had two ties. So, 182.5 - 54.5 if you use the NFL tie method or 77%. Thanks, 4GX.
 
I have updated the original table of Ohio's all-time highest HS football winning percentages, to reflect data supplied by posters from Warren Western Reserve and Cincinnati Moeller (I have not tried to verify that data, but simply included the won-loss records, as supplied by those posters); the rankings have changed somewhat-- with a different leader based on whether ties are included or excluded from overall records:

Wyoming remains the all-time highest winning percentage, when ties are excluded from the overall record.

Warren Western Reserve now has the all-time highest winning percentage, when ties are included in the overall record...

1669054429857.png
 
4GX said:
Not my job-- you can do it, if you like-- you used the word "should" as if you have the job of assigning me tasks. Since Massillon Washington and Canton McKinley fans like to talk about all-time victory records (since that paradigm favors schools that started playing football WELL before many other schools did), I just focused on all-time TOTAL records (with my original post)-- and the FACTS speak for themselves. Someone else here, trying to boost Massillon Washington and Canton McKinley's case for somehow being "the best" all-time, decided to start talking about "imagining" (if Massillon Washington and Canton McKinley did NOT play each other every year-- a hypothetical)-- and I responded to that with a different "imagining"-- it's not facts, it's hypothetical-- the FACTS say that Wyoming has the highest all-time winning percentage in Ohio HS football...

BUT I'd bet dollars to donuts, that if you compared Wyoming's record against Massillon Washington and Canton McKinley's record since 1930, you will find that Wyoming has a superior winning percentage over those two schools-- I HIGHLY doubt that Massillon Washington's and Canton McKinley's winning percentage PRE-1930 is lower than their respective winning percentages POST-1930-- so, subtracting either school's pre-1930 record from their post-1930 record is HIGHLY unlikely to boost their respective post-1930 winning percentages-- but, if somebody from either school wants to do the math on that, have at it.
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Kkkkaaaaaaay
 
4GX said:
Wyoming did not "celebrate 100 years of football in 2018"-- that is a comment made by a Massillon Washington backer-- Wyoming began fielding a team in 1930.
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Who was that? See post #11. I don’t think he is a MW backer.
 
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4GX said:
Since this came up a few years ago, I've continued to track the records of Ohio high schools with the highest all-time football winning percentage; I believe that these records are current through this past weekend's games:

View attachment 36044

Wyoming is now Ohio's all-time highest winning percentage team, if tie games are included in total games played; Wyoming has been Ohio's highest winning percentage team for some time now, if tie games are excluded from the total played-- but now, Wyoming has also surpassed Massillon Washington in highest winning percentage, if tie games are included in the total games played.

Note that some sports statisticians calculate winning percentage with tie games included in the total games played (with ties considered "not a win"), while others (e.g.- the NFL, for purpose of ranking its teams by winning percentage) exclude tie games from the total (i.e.- ties are considered neither a win nor a loss- and thus excluded from denominator of the winning percentage calculation).

In recent years, Canton McKinley has seen its all-time winning percentage falling fairly noticeably, Massillon Washington and Steubenville have been (roughly) maintaining their winning percentage at their historical levels, while Wyoming and (especially) Maria Stein Marion Local have been raising their winning percentages gradually over time; while Wyoming may be first in all-time winning percentage at the moment, if MSML continues to post 16-0 state championship seasons with the frequency that MSML has done over the last ~decade, it won't be long before MSML takes over the top spot from Wyoming.
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It goes to show you that Wyoming takes a backseat to no one when it comes to tradition and winning ways. And 1 other thing your post brought to my attention is that The Big Red is gaining very quickly on Canton McKinley. 21 wins behind being the #2 winningest program in Ohio. We are also climbing the ladder of all time wins in the country. Currently we sit at 12th with the top 10 being within reach in the not too distant future. I find it very amusing that when someone posts facts that “out do” the Mighty Massillon Tigers that the “Massillonian Yappites” completely discount it and essentially try to poo poo on it. How DARE you present a fact that shows Massillon is not number 1 in some category. They’ll draw and quarter you in town square if you ever make your way to Massillon. JLP would be right there preparing the noose with his other 7 or 8 Yappites. 😂😂
 
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So, out of curiosity, I decided to crunch the numbers for Steubenville Big Red for a couple of timeframes suggested in some of the previous posts. I think it pretty much shows that Big Red has pretty much been consistent throughout it's entire history.
1669233237262.png
 
4GX, I’ve been told I added wrong. WWR’s losses should be 61 and not 54. I added wrong when adding the loss column because I used the two ties as losses; was rushing through sorry.
 
Steel Valley FB said:
4GX, I’ve been told I added wrong. WWR’s losses should be 61 and not 54. I added wrong when adding the loss column because I used the two ties as losses; was rushing through sorry.
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Ok-- I will update the spreadsheet and re-post it... it's fine--people make mistakes... I'm interested in (ultimately) getting to the most accurate data-- it should be no surprise that there will be some iterations of the data, to get there.
 
Maxie said:
Who was that? See post #11. I don’t think he is a MW backer.
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I don't know who "usfldan" is--nor who he supports-- but I do know that you seized upon his claim that "Wyoming celebrated 100 years of football in 2018" as fact, and then began making assertions that Wyoming had somehow omitted ~12 years of results from its all-time football record. I don't believe there is any accuracy to either of those claims-- and I DO KNOW which team you support-- and what your agenda is in any discussion that indicates that another school has surpassed Massillon Washington in any all-time record-keeping category that has to do with winning HS football games.
 
4GX said:
I don't know who "usfldan" is--nor who he supports-- but I do know that you seized upon his claim that "Wyoming celebrated 100 years of football in 2018" as fact, and then began making assertions that Wyoming had somehow omitted ~12 years of results from its all-time football record. I don't believe there is any accuracy to either of those claims-- and I DO KNOW which team you support-- and what your agenda is in any discussion that indicates that another school has surpassed Massillon Washington in any all-time record-keeping category that has to do with winning HS football games.
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LOL. Maybe you should go back and read post #11? “Usfldan” explains what he meant. I didn’t bring up Wyoming, he did.
I maintain, the only reason you started this thread was to discredit Massillon Washington’s win total. You can now join the rest of the anti-Massillon trolling cabal.
 
Maxie said:
LOL. Maybe you should go back and read post #11? “Usfldan” explains what he meant. I didn’t bring up Wyoming, he did.
I maintain, the only reason you started this thread was to discredit Massillon Washington’s win total. You can now join the rest of the anti-Massillon trolling cabal.
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I DID go back and read post #11-- and NO, "Usfldan" did NOT explain what he meant-- he simply made an assertion, which he did not prove or support with any facts or reference citations-- and then, YOU seized upon his assertion, and embellished it, by saying that Wyoming was somehow hiding ~12-13 years of football results.

So, I went back to actually check the data: All the evidence that I can find on-line indicates that Wyoming's entire football record-- from 1919 (the first season, according to former Wyoming coach Bernie Barre) to 2018, was included in Wyoming's current record to that point when Wyoming "celebrated its 100th season of football" (the start of the 1918 season); Wyoming's all-time record at the start of 2018 was 688-218-48-- and Wyoming's record since that point (through last weekend) is 64-3-0... making Wyoming's all-time record 752-221-48 (essentially the SAME record that I cited in my table above-- but with one additional playoff victory, which I overlooked in my initial calculation)-- which results in the all-time winning percentage of Wyoming HS football going up (NOT down) to 77.287% (with ties excluded) and 73.653% (with ties included).

Wyoming's record (through 2018) averaged out to 9.64 games per season for (then) 99 seasons of football-- which makes sense, from a cross-check perspective-- as from 1919 to 1971 (53 years) NO team was playing more than 9 or 10 games/season (for a long time, 9 games was a full schedule), and then from 1972-2017 (46 years), the playoff games were few in number, during the first couple of decades of the playoffs (e.g.- 1972-1990's)-- at that point, at the start of the 2018 season, Wyoming had 21 playoff appearances, with 41 total playoff games played (or an average of 0.41 playoff games, over those first 99 seasons of play)-- so that total record for 2018 shows all indications of being Wyoming's total record from 1919-2018.

The confusion is being induced by the OHSAA listing Wyoming's total record as being compiled since 1931-- while Wyoming is actually including games going back to 1919 (which, according to former Wyoming coach Bernie Barre, is when Wyoming began playing interscholastic football). It would NOT be the first time that the OHSAA had a mistake in its record-keeping.

You can maintain that I started this thread for whatever reason you want-- I don't really care-- the bottom line is that Wyoming now has a superior, higher winning percentage in all-time HS football results to EVERY other school in Ohio-- which happens to include Massillon Washington (to your relentless chagrin and teeth-gnashing).
 
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serpico said:
www.cincinnati.com

Wyoming celebrates 100 years of football Friday when the Cowboys play CHCA

Wyoming High School will celebrate 100 years of football when the team plays CHCA. Events are scheduled for Friday and Saturday.
www.cincinnati.com www.cincinnati.com
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I saw that story-- and, after cross-checking the data, it appears that the confusion has originated because the OHSAA says that Wyoming's record has been compiled since the 1931 season-- while, the total number of games in Wyoming's record only makes sense if games are included going back to that (claimed) first season of football in 1919. Wyoming had 954 games played over 99 seasons-- which averages out to 9.64 games/season-- which makes sense for a period that (for the majority of the time covered) did NOT have any playoffs-- teams were playing either 9 or 10 games in a season for most of that time period from 1919-2017 (Ohio playoffs did not start until 1972, and for a long period, even into the 1960's, 9 games was considered a full season schedule.)

Then, after the OHSAA began playoffs in 1972, the playoff games were far fewer in number, for the first several decades. Wyoming had played 41 playoff games, by the start of Wyoming's (claimed) 100th season in 2018-- so, Wyoming had averaged 0.41/playoff games per season by that point-- meaning that a total record of 954 games played over 99 seasons (9.64 games/season) makes sense as the COMPLETE Wyoming football record from 1919-2017-- it appears unlikely that Wyoming would have played 954 games in only 87 seasons (1931-2017), as that would have require Wyoming to play an average of 10.97 games/season-- in an era when most teams only played 9 or 10 games in an entire season.

This whole dispute originated because the OHSAA's record book shows that Wyoming only began playing football in 1931; upon further review, it appears impossible for Wyoming to have played 954 games (through the 2017 season) in only 87 seasons (nearly 11 games/season, when no playoffs were played for most of that period)-- the current overall Wyoming record almost certainly includes ALL of the games Wyoming played, dating back to the (claimed) start of play in 1919.
 
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I have updated my original table on Ohio's highest all-time HS football winning percentages, to reflect new data (from a Warren Western Reserve supporter and a Cincinnati Moeller supporter); the new data is as follows:

1669247342855.png


When ties are excluded from the overall record (as some sports statisticians calculate), Wyoming has the highest all-time Ohio HS football winning percentage (77.287%); if ties are included in the overall record, Cincinnati Moeller has the highest all-time Ohio HS football winning percentage (76.246%).
 
4GX said:
I DID go back and read post #11-- and NO, "Usfldan" did NOT explain what he meant-- he simply made an assertion, which he did not prove or support with any facts or reference citations-- and then, YOU seized upon his assertion, and embellished it, by saying that Wyoming was somehow hiding ~12-13 years of football results.

So, I went back to actually check the data: All the evidence that I can find on-line indicates that Wyoming's entire football record-- from 1919 (the first season, according to former Wyoming coach Bernie Barre) to 2018, was included in Wyoming's current record to that point when Wyoming "celebrated its 100th season of football" (the start of the 1918 season); Wyoming's all-time record at the start of 2018 was 688-218-48-- and Wyoming's record since that point (through last weekend) is 64-3-0... making Wyoming's all-time record 752-221-48 (essentially the SAME record that I cited in my table above-- but with one additional playoff victory, which I overlooked in my initial calculation)-- which results in the all-time winning percentage of Wyoming HS football going up (NOT down) to 77.287% (with ties excluded) and 73.653% (with ties included).

Wyoming's record (through 2018) averaged out to 9.64 games per season for (then) 99 seasons of football-- which makes sense, from a cross-check perspective-- as from 1919 to 1971 (53 years) NO team was playing more than 9 or 10 games/season (for a long time, 9 games was a full schedule), and then from 1972-2017 (46 years), the playoff games were few in number, during the first couple of decades of the playoffs (e.g.- 1972-1990's)-- at that point, at the start of the 2018 season, Wyoming had 21 playoff appearances, with less than ~30 total playoff games played (or an average of less than 1 extra playoff game, every 3 years, over those first 99 seasons of play)-- so that total record for 2018 shows all indications of being Wyoming's total record from 1919-2018.

The confusion is being induced by the OHSAA listing Wyoming's total record as being compiled since 1931-- while Wyoming is actually including games going back to 1919 (which, according to former Wyoming coach Bernie Barre, is when Wyoming began playing interscholastic football). It would NOT be the first time that the OHSAA had a mistake in its record-keeping.

You can maintain that I started this thread for whatever reason you want-- I don't really care-- the bottom line is that Wyoming now has a superior, higher winning percentage in all-time HS football results to EVERY other school in Ohio-- which happens to include Massillon Washington (to your relentless chagrin and teeth-gnashing).
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LOL. Yet, you have maintained that Wyoming started football in 1930. Then, Serpico posted an article from the Cincinnati Enquirer from 2018 which proves your post was untruthful. Now, you are changing your story, again. Where are the actual W-L-T records for Wyoming from the missing years (13-14 years)?
It is very suspicious, where are those years?🤔
 
Maxie said:
LOL. Yet, you have maintained that Wyoming started football in 1930. Then, Serpico posted an article from the Cincinnati Enquirer from 2018 which proves your post was untruthful. Now, you are changing your story, again. Where are the actual W-L-T records for Wyoming from the missing years (13-14 years)?
It is very suspicious, where are those years?🤔
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I did the research on that story BEFORE Serpico posted his reference. I argued for 1930 (originally) because that was the year referenced (actually 1931) by the OHSAA, in its record books (I didn't check it-- I assumed that the OHSAA had it correct); after that reference by "Usfldan", I went back and found the stories citing Wyoming's 100th year of football being 2018, so I did the work to see if the Wyoming record at the start of 2018 corresponded with either 87 or 99 seasons of play-- and the answer is: more likely 99 seasons-- Wyoming would have had to play an average of ~11 games/season to have played 954 games in only 87 seasons of play (1931-2017)-- that is HIGHLY unlikely to have been the case.

YOU are the only one claiming that Wyoming's records from 1919-1930 are somehow excluded from the overall all-time football record that both Wyoming and the OHSAA are claiming for Wyoming. There is no on-line site (that I can find) that provides year-by-year football win-loss-tie records for all schools (including Wyoming) going back to 1919. If you think that Wyoming's claimed record to date is wrong, then show me where there is an error in the Wyoming records. Until you can do that, I will continue to publicize that Wyoming's all-time football record remains (currently) 752-221-48 (per both Wyoming HS and the OHSAA)--for a winning percentage of 77.287% (excluding ties)-- the highest in Ohio HS football history.
 
4GX said:
I don't know who "usfldan" is--nor who he supports-- but I do know that you seized upon his claim that "Wyoming celebrated 100 years of football in 2018" as fact, and then began making assertions that Wyoming had somehow omitted ~12 years of results from its all-time football record. I don't believe there is any accuracy to either of those claims-- and I DO KNOW which team you support-- and what your agenda is in any discussion that indicates that another school has surpassed Massillon Washington in any all-time record-keeping category that has to do with winning HS football games.
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Do you actually believe this, Wyoming is going to “surpass MW in any all-time record-keeping category that has to do with winning HS football games.” It doesn’t matter how you want to twist the info, the winningest high school football program still is Massillon Washington with 920 wins. Wyoming is 752, if your numbers are accurate.
 
4GX said:
I did the research on that story BEFORE Serpico posted his reference. I argued for 1930 (originally) because that was the year referenced (actually 1931) by the OHSAA, in its record books (I didn't check it-- I assumed that the OHSAA had it correct); after that reference by "Usfldan", I went back and found the stories citing Wyoming's 100th year of football being 2018, so I did the work to see if the Wyoming record at the start of 2018 corresponded with either 87 or 99 seasons of play-- and the answer is: more likely 99 seasons-- Wyoming would have had to play an average of ~11 games/season to have played 954 games in only 87 seasons of play (1931-2017)-- that is HIGHLY unlikely to have been the case.

YOU are the only one claiming that Wyoming's records from 1919-1930 are somehow excluded from the overall all-time football record that both Wyoming and the OHSAA are claiming for Wyoming. There is no on-line site (that I can find) that provides year-by-year football win-loss-tie records for all schools (including Wyoming) going back to 1919. If you think that Wyoming's claimed record to date is wrong, then show me where there is an error in the Wyoming records. Until you can do that, I will continue to publicize that Wyoming's all-time football record remains (currently) 752-221-48 (per both Wyoming HS and the OHSAA)--for a winning percentage of 77.287% (excluding ties)-- the highest in Ohio HS football history.
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Your “research” and postings are bogus. I am done with your games. Everyone knows what your ulterior motives are in creating this thread.
 
4GX said:
I saw that story-- and, after cross-checking the data, it appears that the confusion has originated because the OHSAA says that Wyoming's record has been compiled since the 1931 season-- while, the total number of games in Wyoming's record only makes sense if games are included going back to that (claimed) first season of football in 1919. Wyoming had 954 games played over 99 seasons-- which averages out to 9.64 games/season-- which makes sense for a period that (for the majority of the time covered) did NOT have any playoffs-- teams were playing either 9 or 10 games in a season for most of that time period from 1919-2017 (Ohio playoffs did not start until 1972, and for a long period, even into the 1960's, 9 games was considered a full season schedule.)

Then, after the OHSAA began playoffs in 1972, the playoff games were far fewer in number, for the first several decades. Wyoming had played less than 30 playoff games, by the start of Wyoming's (claimed) 100th season in 2018-- so, Wyoming had averaged less than 0.3/playoff games per season by that point-- meaning that a total record of 954 games played over 99 seasons (9.64 games/season) makes sense as the COMPLETE Wyoming football record from 1919-2017-- it appears unlikely that Wyoming would have played 954 games in only 87 seasons (1931-2017), as that would have require Wyoming to play an average of 10.97 games/season-- in an era when most teams only played 9 or 10 games in an entire season.

This whole dispute originated because the OHSAA's record book shows that Wyoming only began playing football in 1931; upon further review, it appears impossible for Wyoming to have played 954 games (through the 2017 season) in only 87 seasons (nearly 11 games/season, when no playoffs were played for most of that period)-- the current overall Wyoming record almost certainly includes ALL of the games Wyoming played, dating back to the (claimed) start of play in 1919.
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Going into the 2018 season, Wyoming's playoff record in 23 seasons of qualifying was 19-22.
 
4GX said:
I can agree with some of what you say above-- but baseball WAS a national sport for virtually ALL of the 20th Century-- Babe Ruth was FAR and away the biggest sports personality in America for ~15+ years-- as were the Yankees the biggest sports team (once Ruth made them into a dynasty)-- people ALL OVER the US loved or HATED the Yankees... Boxers (like Jack Dempsey and Joe Louis) were the clear top challengers to baseball's hegemony-- with (ironically) top racehorses (like Man o' War, War Admiral, and Seabiscuit) being next in the pantheon of national sports figures...

But, the bottom line is that there MOST DEFINITELY were NATIONAL sports figures, and national sports-- and football was NOT among the top three in importance at that time-- some people cared about college football (remember, in those days, less than 10% of Americans went to college)-- but pro football was nowhere close to being an important, widely covered sport. The top football athletes (based on fame) were in college (e.g.- Red Grange)-- and lost any prominence, once they graduated-- often, they did not bother to even play pro football.
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Major League Baseball didn't go south of Washington, DC, and Cincinnati. It didn't go west of Saint Louis. That didn't change until the 1950's.
 
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