After a moderately successful debut campaign, the American Football Association held its first annual meeting, again at Jack Kristich's restaurant in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Among the agenda items was choosing a new president. with John "Ox" Oxendine, the star player/owner/coach of the Pittsburgh Pros unwilling (some said unable) to perform the duties necessary in that position. Oxendine, in fact, didn't even show up at the league meeting and his status was a bit of a question with rumors abounding that he wouldn't even play in 1921. To replace him, the group of owners selected one of their own - and their host - Jack Kristich. Kristich would prove an inspired choice even though at the time he "didn't seek and didn't even want the job" as he remembered years later. 

Among other things, the face of the league changed with new members joining, as the membership swelled to 21 teams. Among the rules put in place in Kristich's first year at the helm were a codification of the playing rules (they would mirror those of college foothall - for now), a rule that only games against other league members would count towards the title, and the weekly reporting of standings to make the champion more evident (there would be no playoffs). The rule about only league games counting would have repercussions for the independent operators whose teams would now find AFA clubs less willing to play them in what amounted to exhibition games as they would not help win the championship. These AFA vs Indy team matchups wouldn't disappear for years, but the new rule did hasten the demise of the independent pro teams that dotted the eastern and midwestern landscape.

On the field, Carl Boon's Chicago Wildcats proved to be the class of the league. The 'Cats posted a 9-1-1 mark, edging out the Akron Triangles whose 9-2-1 mark was just a bit worse. Buffalo (8-3-1) was third. The former Rochester club, owned by Rollie Barrell, had folded and Barrell moved his operation to Detroit. The new "Detroit Maroons" would prove to have staying power and though they initially posted a 4-2-0 mark (and got into trouble with the league for flouting the no-college-player rule - more on this below), the Maroons would go on to become one of the AFA's storied franchises. The Maroons were replaced in Rochester with a new entry - the Robins - who like their predecessors had trouble drawing fans, and played only five games. 

That in fact, was part of the problem in 1921 - many teams signed on for the AFA and then found themselves unable to compete. Some couldn't draw enough fans, some signed players they couldn't afford - in either case, they ended up dropping out after a handful of games (in one case it was just one game). This problem would plague the AFA for several more years despite the efforts of Kristich to curtail it. The Canton Aces (0-1), New York Grover Stars (0-2), Washington Eagles (0-3) and Cincinnati Dutchmen (0-4) all dropped out and were never heard from again. Ironically, Kristich's own club, the Fort Wayne Titans, was terrible, but stuck it out, posting a dismal 0-8-1 record.

As mentioned above, the Detroit Maroons got into trouble with Kristich over using collegians in several games. These players, playing under assumed names, were outed by the Cleveland Finches. The true story isn't known, but the Maroons' president, Rollie Barrell, claimed he didn't know about it, implying that it was his minority partner, player/coach John "Red" Turnbow had been responsible. Regardless, Kristich suspended the Maroons, whose record for the year shows a 4-2 mark, but relented (purpotedly under pressure from Joe Barrell and Carl Boon of Chicago) after the season and readmitted Detroit. Turnbow and Rollie Barrell had a somewhat frosty relationship in 1922, but things were seemingly back to normal by 1923.

The top performers for the '21 season included Rusty White of Akron, Joe Barrell of Chicago, and Jake Cheeks of Cleveland among rushers. Boon was among the league's best receivers and the top passer was Gus Goldman who started with Washington before the team folded and he joined Youngstown.

1921 AFA Standings W L T PF PA
Chicago Wildcats 9 1 1 140 59
Akron Triangles 9 2 1 202 66
Buffalo Nickels 8 3 1 268 100
Toledo Tigers 6 1 1 149 65
Cleveland Finches 5 3 0 78 48
Dayton Dusters 4 4 1 94 74
Evansville Crimson Giants 4 1 0 127 13
Detroit Maroons 4 2 0 64 57
Pittsburgh Pros 3 4 3 67 103
Youngstown Reapers 3 4 0 65 70
Rochester Robins 2 3 0 96 83
Gary Greys 1 3 1 27 68
Louisville Colts 1 1 0 7 29
Columbus Buckeyes 1 1 0 17 44
Minneapolis Lumberjacks 0 3 1 23 51
Milwaukee Captains 0 6 1 29 115
Fort Wayne Titans 0 8 1 25 162
Canton Aces 0 1 0 7 39
New York Grover Stars 0 2 0 0 98
Washington Eagles 0 3 0 12 40
Cincinnati Dutchmen 0 4 0 19 132