The (Akron) Goodyear Silents was a semi-professional football team based in Akron, Ohio, composed of deaf players. Most, if not all, of the team worked for the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. During World Wars I and II, many industrial companies hired deaf people, including Goodyear and Firestone in Akron. In existence from 1915–1927, the team played against local and regional semi-pro teams, and compiled an all-time record of 68-35-11; in the process, they won several league championships.
The most disappointing moments the successful team experienced was their failure to defeat cross-town archrivals Akron Pros, losing all four games to this team. The Akron Pros was one of the pioneering teams in the fledging NFL! The four losing scores were: 9-0, 20-7, 6-0 and 14-0.
Joe Allen, one of the Goodyear Silents players, was the only one to continue his career in semi pro football after the team went out of business.
Sources
https://www.pro-football-reference.com/
https://www.profootballarchives.com/index.html
https://americanfootballdatabase.fandom.com/wiki/Football_Wiki
https://www.gridiron-uniforms.com/GUD/controller/controller.php?action=main
https://www.profootballhof.com/hall-of-famers/
Susan Burch, Signs Of Resistance: American Deaf Cultural History, 1900 to World War II (NYU Press, (2004), ISBN 978-0814798942, pp. 77-79. Excerpts available at Google Books.
Robert M. Buchanan, Illusions of Equality: Deaf Americans in School and Factory, 1850-1950 (Gallaudet University Press, 1999), ISBN 978-1563680847, p. 79. Excerpts available at Google Books.
Barry Strassler, "Deaf Jews in Sports: Louis Seinensohn; The Goodyear Silents Championship Football Team Had A Jewish Fullback", Los Angeles Jewish Deaf Community Center newsletter, September/October 1998.
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