The NFL was not “invented” by a single person, but the league was formally founded in 1920 by a group of team owners in Canton, Ohio, and grew out of the earlier American Professional Football Association (APFA).

Who “invented” the NFL?

  • The National Football League began on September 17, 1920, when representatives from several pro teams met in Ralph Hay’s Hupmobile car showroom in Canton, Ohio.
  • At that meeting they created the American Professional Football Association (APFA), which was renamed the National Football League (NFL) in 1922.
  • Jim Thorpe, the famous multi-sport star, was chosen as the league’s first president, giving the new league instant credibility.

So there is no single “inventor” of the NFL; it was a collaborative creation by early pro football team owners, with Jim Thorpe as the first high-profile leader and Walter Camp earlier shaping the rules of American football itself.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.