Well... he was the first of the founding Avengers to be active, although he wasn't an Avenger until afterwards.

Also, the Avengers name clearly comes from a different source, as Fury introduced it to canon. If I recall correctly, there were hints in Hulk that there was a precious source of superhero science. There's a decent chance they're adopting that from Ultimates canon, where Project Rebirth carried on after Erskine's death, trying to recreate his work.