The Chicago Wildcats were a charter member of the AFA. Of those original clubs from 1920, only the Wildcats, the Dayton Dusters and the Cleveland Finches were still around in '28 (though the Detroit Maroons would argue that they were also a charter member - having their roots in Rochester in 1920, but that team folded and was reformed in Detroit as a new entity - according to the AFA - so to this day people still argue the matter). The Wildcats had often been among the AFA's best clubs but 1928 might have been their best year yet. 

Coach-owner-and-end Carl Boon was still playing. His former partner, Joe Barrell, had retired the previous year and gone to California to play Tarzan in the movies. But Joe's brother, Jack Barrell was back in the fold after running the Chicago Chiefs of the FAA for a year, and teaming with Harry Alexander and Tom Carroll in the backfield running behind a line that boasted such stalwarts as Neil Robirds and Rufus Gill, the Wildcats were nearly unstoppable. 

On the field, the Detroit Maroons were the class of the league, going 10-0-0 and allowing a meager 42 points behind the league's best defense. The big cities dominated as the "little brothers" in Dayton, Buffalo and Milwaukee were firmly ensconced in the basement, with Buffalo playing just five games before pulling the plug on their season while Milwaukee posted an 0-9-0 mark and Dayton went just 1-6-1. The Maroons' dominance meant that for once there was no controversy over the AFA championship, though the voices clamoring for some kind of playoff or championship continued to rise. Only ties with Detroit and their new crosstown rivals the Chicago Zephyrs prevented the 'Cats from being perfect. As it was, they led the league in scoring with 219 points against just 83 allowed and racked up an 11-0-2 mark to earn the 1928 AFA Championship.

Three teams had folded before the season: Buffalo (who had packed it in midseason in 1927), Milwaukee and Pittsburgh (again). The AFA awarded a second team to Chicago - the aforementioned Zephyrs - with Carl Boon's blessing. Boon was a big proponent of the AFA being a big city circuit. Unfortunately, the Zephyrs lasted only a year. The team had signed good players, paying them accordingly and posted a 7-2-1 mark. But the hearts of Chicago football fans belonged to the Wildcats and the Zephyrs' attendance was terrible. Awash in red-ink, the Zephs called it a day at the end of the season.

FINAL STANDINGS

WEEKLY RESULTS

1928 AFA ALL-PRO TEAM

QB: Garland Goddard, Chicago Zephyrs
HB: Harry Alexander, Chicago Wildcats
HB: Bulldog Henderson, Boston Minutemen
FB: Ron Carson, Philadelphia Hornets
LE: John Danner, Detroit Maroons
LT: Gary Dougher, Boston Minutemen
LG: Gus Ziegler, New York Gothams
C: Steve Stover, Chicago Zephyrs
RG: Rufus Gill, Chicago Wildcats
RT: Henry Ulrich, Chicago Zephyrs
RE: Jerry Ungar, New York Stars