Cincinnati Celts

1910-1920:

The roots of the Cincinnati Celts go back to 1910, when the team was formed by a group of players from University of Miami in Oxford, Ohio. The team coached by Mel Doherty referred to themselves as “a bunch of wild Irishmen.” The Celts played in the Ohio league, but were not among the teams that made up the charter teams in the American Professional Football Association as they were one of the poorer teams in the Ohio League. After a year playing independently in 1920 the Celts would join the APFA for its second season.

1921:

The Cincinnati Celts would spend their first and only APFA season on the road, starting the season with a 41-0 loss to the Akron Pros. Two weeks later they would earn their only win, beating the hapless Muncie Flyers 14-0. However, the Celts would be overmatched and outscored in their final two league games by a combined score of 76-0 to the Cleveland Indians and Evansville Crimson Giants, posting a 1-3 record in the APFA and 3-3 overall as they earned wins over the Fort Wayne Pros and Middletown Miamis.

1922:

Just before the APFA officially became the National Football League, the Cincinnati Celts would withdraw from the league after just one season. The Celts would play two more years as an independent team before folding all together in 1923. Cincinnati would return to the NFL with a team known as the Reds in 1933, a team that would last two seasons. The next team Cincinnati would get would be the AFL’s Cincinnati Bengals who began play in 1968.