72: Leo Lyons-NFL

On September 17, 1920 at a car dealership in Canton, Ohio, a meeting took place between a group of men who loved football. All of these men, a group that included Jim Thorpe and George Halas – amongst others, had a passion for the game and there they created the American Professional Football Association (two years later it would change names to the National Football League). Another of the 12 men in attendance was Leo Lyons. Amazingly, Leo’s name, as one of the founding members of the NFL, is not documented anywhere in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. That will be corrected in June 2020 when the HOF dedicates a new exhibit about the found of the league. Leo, from Rochester, N.Y. started to dream of professional football when he was just 16-years-old. He told family and friends about his dream and goal of creating professional football, but they all laughed at him. Nonetheless, Leo never gave up on his dream, bought his own team, the Rochester (N.Y.) Jeffersons and years later, after striking up a friendship with Thorpe, was invited to that meeting and helped found the league which is now celebrating its 100th Anniversary. The hurdles and hardships, the passion and determination, and the bitter conclusion to Leo’s dream is all being documented in a new book, “A Journey From The Sandlots To The National Football League,” written by Leo’s great-grandson, John Steffenhagen. Steffenhagen, who was fortunate to know his great-grandfather, really didn’t understand who Leo was until after Leo’s death in 1976, has spent years collecting information, researching, writing and interviewing people about his great-grandfather, and he joins SFH for an in-depth discussion about one of the co-founders of the NFL, a man whom time has forgotten, but whom professional football owes so much – Leo Lyons.

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