Professional Football Researchers Association
The Professional Football Researchers Association is an organization of researchers whose mission is to preserve and, in some cases, reconstruct professional football history. It was founded on June 22, 1979 in Canton, Ohio by writer/historian Bob Carroll and six other football researchers and is currently headed by an executive committee led by its president, Ken Crippen, and executive director Mark L. Ford. Membership in the organization includes some of professional football's foremost historians and authors. The organization is based in Grand Island, New York.
The PFRA publishes books and a bimonthly magazine, The Coffin Corner, devoted to topics in professional football history. The organization also gives out awards each year for outstanding achievement in the field of football research.
''The Coffin Corner''
The Coffin Corner is a semimonthly magazine devoted to topics in professional football history. PFRA members publish their research findings in the articles, regardless of prior writing experience. In the case of newer authors and first-time contributors, the magazine's editors assist, anonymously, in helping develop the narratives for publication. The $35.00 annual membership in the organization includes a subscription to six issues of The Coffin Corner, as well as access to the "Members Only" section of their website, which contains detailed research on a variety of pro football subjects.PFRA Books
In cooperation with McFarland & Company, the PFRA is now working on the third installment in its "Great Teams in Pro Football History" series, edited by George Bozeka. Individual members of the association volunteer to author the different chapters, profiling in detail the players, the coaching staff, the preseason, regular season and postseason, and other elements of a team's season. The 1966 Green Bay Packers: Profiles of Vince Lombardi's Super Bowl I Champions was released in 2016, and The 1958 Baltimore Colts: Profiles of the NFL's First Sudden Death Champions followed in 2018. Writing is underway for the chapters of a book about the 1951 Los Angeles Rams season, which will be released in 2021. The fifth book, about the 1964 Buffalo Bills season, will follow in 2024.Committees and Research Projects
The PFRA maintains ongoing database projects, with committees of members who update the record as information develops, or as it's discovered in the course of research.;All-America Football Conference:
; Committee: Highlights outstanding players not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
;Linescore Committee: Responsible for compiling linescores for all professional games played since 1920.
;Gamebooks:
;Membership Committee: For the PFRA's internal purposes.
;Pre-NFL Pro Football Committee: Researches all professional football prior to 1920, such as the Ohio League and the New York Pro Football League.
;Western, Central and Northern New York Committees: Researches professional football in upstate New York. This committee includes several subcommittees, including Buffalo football teams of the 1920s, Rochester Jeffersons, Buffalo Indians, AAFC Bills, the Empire Football League, and Watertown Red & Black.
;Uniforms: Compiles all information on NFL, AFL and AAFC uniforms from 1933 to the present.
;Oral History: Chronicles PFRA interviews with former NFL players.
;NFL Officials: Compiles a list of all NFL officials, their positions and their uniform numbers.
Ralph Hay Award
The Ralph Hay Award, named after the Canton Bulldogs owner whose Hupmobile Automobile showroom was the site of the NFL's first organizational meeting, is awarded for "lifetime achievement in pro football research and historiography."Past winners have been:
- 2019 - Rupert Patrick
- 2018 - John Turney
- 2017 – John Maxymuk
- 2016 – Mark L. Ford
- 2015 – Jack Clary
- 2014 – Pete Fierle
- 2013 – Cliff Christl
- 2012 – Chris Willis
- 2011 – Ken Crippen
- 2010 – Pete Palmer
- 2009 – Bob Carroll
- 2008 – Ralph Hickok
- 2007 – Vince Popo
- 2006 – Emil Klosinski
- 2005 – John Gunn
- 2004 – Jeffrey J. Miller
- 2003 – John Hogrogian
- 2002 – Ken Pullis
- 2001 – Tod Maher
- 2000 – Mel "Buck" Bashore
- 1999 – Stan Grosshandler
- 1998 – Seymour Siwoff
- 1997 – Total Sports Publishing
- 1996 – Don Smith
- 1995 – John Hogrogian
- 1994 – Jim Campbell
- 1993 – Robert Van Atta
- 1992 – Richard Cohen
- 1991 – Joe Horrigan
- 1990 – Bob Gill
- 1989 – Joe Plack
- 1988 – David Neft
Nelson Ross Award
Past winners are:
- 2019 - Chris Serb, for his book "War Football: World War I and the Birth of the NFL"
- 2018 - Doug Farrar, for his book The Genius of Desperation: The Schematic Innovations that Made the Modern NFL
- 2017 – Ralph Hickok, for his book, Vagabond Halfback: The Saga of Johnny Blood McNally
- 2016 – James C. Sulecki, for his book, The Cleveland Rams: The NFL Champs Who Left Too Soon, 1936-1945
- 2015 – Ted Kluck, for his book Three-Week Professionals: Inside the 1987 NFL Players’ Strike
- 2014 – William J. Ryczek, for his book, Connecticut Gridiron: Football Minor Leaguers of the 1960s and 1970s
- 2013 – Ivan Urena, for his book, Pro Football Schedules: A Complete Historical Guide 1933 to the Present
- 2012 – Dan Daly, for his book, The National Forgotten League
- 2011 – Mark Speck, for his book, ...and a Dollar Short: The Empty Promises, Broken Dreams and Somewhat-Less-Than-Comic Misadventures of the 1974 Florida Blazers
- 2010 – Kate Buford, for her book, Native American Son: The Life and Sporting Legend of Jim Thorpe
- 2009 – Robert Lyons, for his book, On Any Given Sunday: A Life of Bert Bell
- 2008 – Sean Lahman, for his book, The Pro Football Historical Abstract
- 2007 – Andy Piascik, for his book, The Best Show in Football: The 1946-1955 Cleveland Browns
- 2006 – Matthew Algeo, for his book, Last Team Standing: How the Steelers and the Eagles -- "The Steagles" -- Saved Pro Football During World War II
- 2005 – Chris Willis, for his book, Old Leather: An Oral History of Early Pro Football in Ohio, 1920-1935
- 2004 – Michael MacCambridge, for his book, America's Game: The Epic Story of How Pro Football Captured A Nation
- 2003 – Mark L. Ford, for his book, NFLX: NFL Exhibition Games 1950 to 2002
- 2002 – Bob Gill, Steve Brainerd, and Tod Maher, for their book, Minor League Football, 1960-1985
- 2001 – William J. Ryczek, for his book Crash of the Titans: The Early Years of the New York Jets and the AFL
- 2000 – Paul Reeths, for his book, "The USFL Chronicle"
- 1999 – Joe Ziemba, for his book, When Football Was Football: The Chicago Cardinals and the Birth of the NFL
- 1998 – Keith McClellan, for his book, The Sunday Game: At the Dawn of Professional Football
- 1997 – Tod Maher & Bob Gill, for their book, The Pro Football Encyclopedia
- 1996 – John Hogrogian, for his book, All-Pros: The First 40 years
- 1995 – Phil Dietrich, for his book, Down Payments : Professional Football 1896-1930
- 1994 – Rick Korch
- 1993 – Myron J. "Jack" Smith, Jr., for his book, Professional Football: The Official Pro Football Hall of Fame Bibliography
- 1992 – John M. Carroll, for his book, Fritz Pollard: Pioneer in Racial Advancement
- 1991 – Tod Maher, for his book, Wiffle: The World Football League Chronicle
- 1990 – Pearce Johnson, for his book, Professional Football in Rhode Island and Its National Connections
- 1989 – Bob Gill
- 1988 – Bob Braunwart