On June 24, 1922, a meeting in Canton, Ohio, marked a turning point for professional football. The league that had operated under the unwieldy moniker of the American Professional Football Association finally adopted the concise name National Football League, signaling a new era of organization and ambition.
A New Identity for Chicago
Alongside the rebranding, the owners voted to institute a $500 membership fee, a modest but symbolic step toward professionalizing the sport. The restructuring also brought about a series of name changes that still echo through the league today: the Chicago Staleys, who had captured the 1921 championship, were rechristened the Chicago Bears, while the Racine Cardinals, one of the oldest clubs, were renamed the Chicago Cardinals.
Perhaps the most dramatic episode involved the Green Bay Packers. After being expelled for signing college players, the franchise was temporarily dissolved and then reinstated under the provisional name “Green Bay Football Club.” The episode underscored the league’s willingness to enforce rules, even at the cost of a storied team’s continuity.
The ripple effects of those early decisions are still visible. The Bears and the Cardinals, now among the league’s oldest surviving franchises, trace their roots to that 1922 overhaul. Moreover, the NFL’s early commitment to evolving the game — introducing safety measures and spectacle‑driven rule tweaks — has helped the sport grow into a cultural juggernaut.