u/pfref

First and foremost, the best way to learn all about this data update is from our blog update from Mike Lynch: https://www.sports-reference.com/blog/2026/09/pro-football-reference-adds-nfl-statistics-from-the-1920-31-pre-stats-era/

Some snippets from that post:

Thanks to a donation from sports research titan David Neft, Pro Football Reference has added never-before-seen unofficial NFL player statistics for the 1920 through 1931 (and in some cases, 1932) seasons, covering the era before the NFL began officially tracking individual yardage and attempts.

This is one of the murkiest and most fascinating periods in professional football history. The league was founded in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, became the NFL in 1922, and spent much of its first decade looking very little like the league we know today.

While these numbers are not official NFL statistics, they also are not merely estimates. They come from the actual contemporary record: newspaper accounts and printed play-by-plays, gathered from the places where the early NFL was covered most closely.

The new data also gives more visibility to the players who built the league before it became a major national institution. Many were part-time professionals who held day jobs and joined their teams on weekends. Stars might earn $150 to $300 per game. Benny Friedman’s $10,000 annual deal in 1929 was a major breakthrough. Careers were short, even for great players. This also illuminates the performance of legends like Jim Thorpe and Red Grange. Curly Lambeau, Johnny Blood, Ernie Nevers. The list goes on.

This information has been incorporated into our leaderboards. The statistics in this era were generally modest enough that you will not notice much impact, but there are some exceptions.

For a look at some pre-official leaders from 1920 to 1931, check out the blog post. For example, on 12/18/26, Jesse Brown had 792 punting yards!

And if you have any questions, or if you have information that would allow for us to flesh out any of these totals, please let us know.

First and foremost, the best way to learn all about this data update is from our blog update from Mike Lynch: https://www.sports-reference.com/blog/2026/09/pro-football-reference-adds-nfl-statistics-from-the-1920-31-pre-stats-era/

Some snippets from that post:

Thanks to a donation from sports research titan David Neft, Pro Football Reference has added never-before-seen unofficial NFL player statistics for the 1920 through 1931 (and in some cases, 1932) seasons, covering the era before the NFL began officially tracking individual yardage and attempts.

This is one of the murkiest and most fascinating periods in professional football history. The league was founded in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, became the NFL in 1922, and spent much of its first decade looking very little like the league we know today.

While these numbers are not official NFL statistics, they also are not merely estimates. They come from the actual contemporary record: newspaper accounts and printed play-by-plays, gathered from the places where the early NFL was covered most closely.

The new data also gives more visibility to the players who built the league before it became a major national institution. Many were part-time professionals who held day jobs and joined their teams on weekends. Stars might earn $150 to $300 per game. Benny Friedman’s $10,000 annual deal in 1929 was a major breakthrough. Careers were short, even for great players. This also illuminates the performance of legends like Jim Thorpe and Red Grange. Curly Lambeau, Johnny Blood, Ernie Nevers. The list goes on.

This information has been incorporated into our leaderboards. The statistics in this era were generally modest enough that you will not notice much impact, but there are some exceptions.

For a look at some pre-official leaders from 1920 to 1931, check out the blog post. For example, on 12/18/26, Jesse Brown had 792 punting yards!

And if you have any questions, or if you have information that would allow for us to flesh out any of these totals, please let us know.

Last August, Pro Football Reference extended its NFL play-by-play coverage all the way back to 1978. It made our coverage easily the most comprehensive digitized PBP collection you could find anywhere in the public (and perhaps even private) domain. This year, thanks to our partnership with Aaron Schatz of FTN Fantasy and Jeremy Snyder of Quirky Research, we are thrilled to add 1977 to the site.

This means that once the 2026 NFL season kicks off we will have 50 seasons worth of NFL PBP!

The play-by-plays themselves can be found on our box score pages, underneath the game statistics and starting lineups. In addition to the play-by-plays themselves, we are now able to calculate the following statistics for 1977 and they are searchable in our various Stathead Football tools.

For more information, check out our blog post by Mike Lynch: https://www.sports-reference.com/blog/2026/08/1977-play-by-play-and-associated-stats-added-to-pro-football-reference/

Last August, Pro Football Reference extended its NFL play-by-play coverage all the way back to 1978. It made our coverage easily the most comprehensive digitized PBP collection you could find anywhere in the public (and perhaps even private) domain. This year, thanks to our partnership with Aaron Schatz of FTN Fantasy and Jeremy Snyder of Quirky Research, we are thrilled to add 1977 to the site.

This means that once the 2026 NFL season kicks off we will have 50 seasons worth of NFL PBP!

The play-by-plays themselves can be found on our box score pages, underneath the game statistics and starting lineups. In addition to the play-by-plays themselves, we are now able to calculate the following statistics for 1977 and they are searchable in our various Stathead Football tools.

For more information, check out our blog post by Mike Lynch: https://www.sports-reference.com/blog/2026/08/1977-play-by-play-and-associated-stats-added-to-pro-football-reference/