History Of The American Football League (1926)

The first American Football League, sometimes called AFL I, AFLG, or the Grange League, was a professional American football league that operated in 1926. It was the first major competitor to the National Football League. Founded by Charles "C.C." Pyle, (1882–1939), and General Charles X. Zimmerman, (1865–1926), as vice president and starring Hall of Fame halfback Harold Edward "Red" Grange, (1903–1991), the short-lived league with nine teams competed against the more established – then six-year-old NFL, both for players and for fans. While Pyle's and Grange's New York Yankees team and the already established Philadelphia Quakers became reliable draws, the lack of star power and the uncertain financial conditions of the other seven teams led to the league's dissolution after one season.

The controversial ending of the National Football League's 1925 season led to the founding of the first AFL by Red Grange's agent, C. C. Pyle. In an era in which no professional football team had a prearranged schedule (each team was responsible for booking its own games, with virtually no limitations as to the number of games), the Pottsville Maroons were hailed as the NFL champions by several newspapers after Pottsville defeated the Chicago Cardinals on December 6, even though there were still two weeks left in the season.

Cardinals owner Chris O’Brien hastily arranged for two more games: one against the Milwaukee Badgers the following Thursday, another against the Hammond Pros two days later, even though both teams had already disbanded for the season. Two shutouts (59-0 and 13-0) later, the Cardinals claimed the top spot with an 11-2-1 record. Simultaneous with the Cardinals–Pros game was an exhibition game between Pottsville and an all-star team consisting of former Notre Dame players at Shibe Park, near the home of the Frankford Yellow Jackets, who protested the invasion of territorial rights by the Maroons.

Despite an order from NFL commissioner Joe Carr to cancel the exhibition, the Maroons proceeded to defeat the Notre Dame all-stars 9-7, scoring a field goal in the last minute. Carr immediately canceled the Maroons' scheduled game against the Providence Steam Roller and suspended the franchise. In the league meeting in January 1926, O’Brien refused to accept the championship, but the league record book remained unchanged, showing the Cardinals with an 11-2-1 record to the Maroons’ 10-2-0.

While NFL management was contemplating the penalties for the suspended Pottsville franchise (which was eventually reinstated with the payment of a moderate fine) in December, C. C. “Cash and Carry” Pyle surprised the league by requesting a franchise in New York City for himself and star back Red Grange and secured a five-year lease for baseball's Yankee Stadium, in direct competition to Tim Mara's year-old New York Giants. When Carr announced a ruling in favor of Mara's objection to Pyle's application for NFL membership, Pyle announced the formation of the first American Football League, featuring Grange and the New York Yankees. The NFL charter member Rock Island Independents left the then seven-year-old league to join the new AFL, and the upstart league matched the NFL in having a road team representing Los Angeles.

The new league chose former Princeton athlete, former New York City deputy of street cleaning, and former Newark, New Jersey chief of waste disposal Bill Edwards as its league president and prepared to compete against the older league, (established 1920 and reorganized in 1922), for its talent and spectators. The AFL and NFL went to head-to-head competition in New York (Yankees and Giants), across the East River in Brooklyn (Horsemen and Lions), in Chicago (Bulls vs Bears and Cardinals), and in Philadelphia (Quakers and Yellow Jackets). The AFL's Cleveland Panthers, previously independent, were also preparing to go face-to-face with their hometown counterpart Cleveland Bulldogs, the earlier NFL champions of 1924, when Bulldogs owner Sam Deutsch decided to suspend the operations for 1926.

Boston Bulldogs, coached by Herb Treat, Boston's first professional football team had been in financial difficulty from the beginning, having played only six games before folding in November 1926. Its lack of stars and lack of offense (only three points per game) doomed the franchise as the team failed to score a point in either of its two home games in a nearly empty stadium. Boston would wait until 1932 before it received another professional football franchise, the NFL’s Boston Braves, later briefly renamed the Redskins, and the Washington Redskins since 1937.

Brooklyn Horsemen, coached by Eddie McNeeley, the Horsemen featured Notre Dame Four Horsemen Harry Stuhldreher and Elmer Layden. Unlike the other New York AFL team, Brooklyn suffered at the turnstiles. After only four games, the team was forced to merge with its NFL counterpart (the Lions), played three games in the NFL as the Brooklyn Lions (all shutouts), and winked out of existence at the end of the season.

Chicago Bulls, owned and coached by Joey Sternaman (brother of Chicago Bears owner Dutch Sternaman), the Bulls featured the younger Sternaman as quarterback. While the Bulls' owner created havoc within the Chicago Cardinals by securing a lease for Comiskey Park (forcing the Cardinals into a much smaller Normal Field) and attempting to sign their star halfback Paddy Driscoll (who wound up on the Bears as a result of a trade), the Bulls quarterback provided the bulk of the team's offense, scoring 52 of the Bulls’ 88 points in 14 games. The Bulls were one of only four AFL teams still playing at the end of the season.

Cleveland Panthers, the Panthers had existed as an independent team since 1919, mostly playing teams from upstate New York. Coached by Roy Watts, the Panthers featured six players who played for the NFL’s Cleveland Bulldogs in the 1925 season: Al Michaels, Al Nesser, Dick Wolf, Dave Noble, Ralph Vince and Doc Elliott. Despite having a potent offense and a winning record, the Panthers drew poorly at home aside from the league-opening game. The team left the AFL hours after losing to the Los Angeles Wildcats road team on October 31; they would return to independent status until folding in 1933.

Los Angeles Wildcats (some news sources referred to the team as the "L.A. Wilson Wildcats"). Named after former University of Washington star halfback Wildcat Wilson and owned by C. C. Pyle and Red Grange, the Wildcats were strictly a traveling team based in Rock Island, Illinois. With only one exception, the entire roster consisted of players who competed for colleges located west of the Rockies. One of its 14 games was played in Toronto, Ontario, Canada (December 8: New York won, 28-0). Jim Clark was the head coach.

Newark Bears, owned by the New Jersey Athletic Association (William Coughlin, president) and coached by Hal Hansen, the Bears featured a backfield consisting of players who attended college in Georgia at Georgia Tech and Oglethorpe College. The Bears scored a touchdown in its first game, a 7-7 tie with Chicago, and then did not score again in its remaining four games. Newark was the first AFL to fold, calling it quits after playing Rock Island to a scoreless tie in front of 400 fans on October 24, 1926. For its final game, Newark changed its nickname to the Demons.

New York Yankees, coached by Ralph Scott, the Yankees showcased Red Grange, quarterback George Pease, and wingback Eddie Tryon, a backfield who dominated the league in all offensive categories as the team finished in second place with a 10-5 record. While the rest of the league was starving at the turnstiles, the Yankees were a consistent draw. The Yankees were the only AFL team to outlast the league itself: the league dissolved as the Yankees were on a barnstorming tour of the South and West, and the Yankees entered the NFL as a continuation of the just-defunct Brooklyn franchise for the 1927 season. While New York Giants owner Tim Mara was officially the owner of the “new NFL franchise”, he leased it to C. C. Pyle and Red Grange to compete as the Yankees.

Philadelphia Quakers, the Quakers were a revival of an independent team which played one season in 1921 as an independent, and, before that, as the Union Club of Phoenixville from 1907 to 1920. Owned by Leo Conway and coached by Bob Folwell, the Quakers were the AFL’s only league champion, finishing with an 8-2 record and possessing a formidable line anchored by tackles Bull Boehman and Century Milstead. On December 12, 1926, the Quakers played an exhibition game in a snowstorm against the New York Giants in front of 5000 windblown fans, and lost 31-0. Like Chicago and the traveling Wildcats, the Quakers were still alive at the end of the sole AFL season but folded along with the league at the end of the year.

Rock Island Independents, a charter member of the NFL, the Independents left the established league to make the unique accomplishment of being a charter member of a second professional football league, the AFL. Coached by Johnny Armstrong, the Independents played their first three games at Rock Island and then played the rest of their games as a traveling team before entering oblivion on November 21, 1926.

While the new nine-team AFL was competing against a National Football League that had expanded to 22 teams for the 1926 season, optimism yielded to economic reality for both leagues: most professional football franchises were on financially shaky ground.

The war for talent and audience had a disastrous effect on all but the strongest teams: of the 31 teams that were in existence across both leagues in 1926, only 12 survived to play in 1927, as eight folded, while heavy financial losses left the NFL with no option but to eliminate eleven of their 22 teams.

While the Yankees and the Quakers consistently drew large crowds, the rest of the AFL did not, and one by one AFL franchises went out of business, even with the financial assistance of C. C. Pyle.

The first sign of trouble occurred in mid-October, when Rock Island played its last home game (of three consecutive) and started wandering like the Wildcats. The following week, Brooklyn played its third (and last) home game in the AFL, in front of mainly empty stands. On October 24, 1926, the Newark Bears changed its nickname to the Demons, played a scoreless tie with Rock Island, and disbanded hours after the end of the game. The following week saw the Cleveland franchise collapse.

November 1926 was not much brighter for the house of cards that was the American Football League: the Brooklyn Horsemen played the last three games of its existence (all shutout losses) and left the league when it merged with its NFL counterparts, the Lions. By the middle of the month, the Boston Bulldogs folded, as did Rock Island a week later. By Thanksgiving of 1926, there were only four teams operating in the AFL (New York, Chicago, the Wildcats, and Philadelphia), with only the Quakers making a profit for the year, boosted in part by huge attendances stemming from the United States Sesquicentennial celebration, and the very large stadium capable of hosting them, while Pyle was spending his own money to keep the other three teams afloat.

While the Yankees went on a barnstorming tour and the Quakers attempted to arrange for a challenge game between the Champions of the two leagues, the Wildcats officially became inactive (in reality, they were touring with the Yankees as the "designated opponent").

After the top six NFL teams had all declined the Quakers' challenge due to scheduling and other issues, the NFL's seventh-place finisher New York Giants accepted, with both parties opting for a game at the Polo Grounds on December 12, 1926. The Quakers' hopes for both football credibility and a financial windfall evaporated as the game was played in a blustery snowstorm, and only 5000 fans witnessed the Giants' complete domination of the AFL Champions, with the Giants winning in a 31-0 blowout.

The same day, the Chicago Bulls and the New York Yankees met for the last American Football League game in Comiskey Park: the Yankees won, 7-3, and the league ceased to exist.

While the bulk of the AFL disappeared at the demise of the league, three members had an official existence after the Giants–Quakers game. Although the Brooklyn Horsemen disbanded after its last NFL game, the team's franchise was never withdrawn or cancelled by the league. Tim Mara purchased the franchise and proceeded to lease it to C. C. Pyle for his New York Yankees team. The agreement between the two rivals limited the number of home games that the Yankees were permitted to play in its namesake stadium (four in 1927) and forced Pyle's squad to be primarily a road team displaying the talents of Red Grange. This arrangement lasted for two years: the Yankees were no more after the 1928 season. The Cleveland Panthers, on the other hand, reverted to independent status, and played until 1934.

The AFL name would be used two more times as a professional football league name, one ultimately merged with the NFL in 1970.

The Story And Significance Of George Trafton - The First Dominate Center

George Edward Trafton was an American football player and coach, boxer, boxing manager, and gymnasium proprietor. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1964 and was also selected in 1969 as the center on the NFL 1920s All-Decade Team.

A native of Chicago, Trafton played college football for Knute Rockne's undefeated 1919 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team. He played professional football in the National Football League as a center for the Decatur Staleys (1920), Chicago Staleys (1921), and Chicago Bears (1923–1932). He is credited as being the first center to snap the ball with one hand and was selected six times as a first-team All Pro.

Trafton also competed as a boxer for a time. He also worked as an assistant football coach for Northwestern in 1922, the Green Bay Packers in 1944, and the Cleveland / Los Angeles Rams from 1945 to 1949. He was the head coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers from 1951 to 1953. He led the Blue Bombers to the 41st Grey Cup in 1953.

At age 22, Trafton played college football for one year at the University of Notre Dame. He was a member of Knute Rockne's 1919 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team that featured George Gipp, compiled a perfect 9–0 record, outscored opponents 229–47, and was recognized as a co-national champion by the National Championship Foundation and Parke H. Davis. Trafton also played for the Notre Dame basketball team during the 1920-1921 season.

In early July 1920, Trafton signed to play for the Decatur Staleys in the inaugural season of the National Football League (known that year as the American Professional Football Association). Trafton appeared in all 13 games for the 1920 Staleys team that compiled a 10–1–2 record and finished in second place in the new league. At the end of the 1920 season, Trafton was selected as a first-team All Pro. The 1920 Staleys included three players who were later inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame: Trafton, George Halas, and Jimmy Conzelman.

In June 1921, Trafton returned to the Staleys, working in A. E. Staley's starch plant during the summer. The 1921 Staleys compiled a 9–1–1 and won the first NFL championship in the history of the Chicago Bears franchise (the Staleys were renamed the Bears in 1922).

In 1922, Trafton took leave from professional football to serve as an assistant football coach, with responsibility for the linemen, for Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. The 1922 Northwestern Purple football team compiled a 3–3–1, and went 1–3–1 against Big Ten Conference opponents. In February 1923, Trafton was forced to resign his coaching job due to a ruling from the Big Ten Conference prohibiting former professional players to coach in any capacity for a conference team. Northwestern's athletic director, Dana Evans, said at the time that he accepted the resignation with reluctance and called Trafton "one of the best line coaches in the conference and a large factor in developing the 1922 Purple eleven."

In September 1923, Trafton returned to the NFL as a player with the Chicago Bears. He continued playing with the Bears through the 1932 season. During Trafton's tenure with the Bears, the Staleys/Bears won NFL championships in 1921 and 1932, and Trafton was selected six times as a first-team All Pro (1920, 1923–1927). According to his biography at the Pro Football Hall of Fame, he "was one of the first centers to rove on defense and the very first on offense to center the football with only one hand."

Trafton also became known as one of the roughest players in the earliest years of the NFL. Red Grange called Trafton the "meanest, toughest player alive." Grange claimed it was a tackle by Trafton, twisting Grange's knee while his cleats were stuck in the turf, that ended Grange's career. It was said of Trafton that he was strongly disliked in every NFL city except Green Bay and Rock Island where "he was hated." During a game against Rock Island, he reportedly knocked unconscious four Rock Island players over a span of only 12 plays, knocked a Rock Island halfback into a fence, and was chased from the city after the game under a barrage of thrown objects.

In addition to his football career, Trafton also had a long association with the sport of boxing, as a boxer in 1929 and 1930, and thereafter as a boxing manager and gymnasium operator.

Trafton's first boxing match of note was a December 1929 bout against Chicago White Sox first baseman Art Shires. Trafton won by decision after five rounds. Sports writer Charles Dunkley later called it a legendary bout "which was as vicious and spectacular as it was hilarious." He fought three more bouts in January and February 1930, winning two of those matches by knockout and a third by disqualification.

On March 26, 1930, Trafton faced future world champion Primo Carnera in Kansas City. Trafton was knocked out by Carnera in the first round of their fight. In the aftermath of the fight, Trafton was suspended indefinitely by the Missouri Boxing Commission for failing to provide more resistance in the 54-second bout.

After retiring from professional football, Trafton operated a boxing gymnasium at 180 West Randolph Street in Chicago in the 1930s and early 1940s. He also served as a manager for boxers. The boxers he managed included light welterweight Willie Joyce who was the 1936 National AAU bantamweight champion, and the 1937 Chicago & Intercity Golden Gloves Champion.

In June 1944, Trafton was hired as an assistant coach with the Green Bay Packers and put in charge of the team's linemen. Working with head coach Curly Lambeau, Trafton helped lead the 1944 Packers to an 8–2 record and the NFL championship. Despite the team's success, Trafton was released by the Packers in January 1945.

In May 1945, Trafton was hired by the Cleveland Rams as the team's line coach. He remained the Rams' line coach when they moved to Los Angeles in 1946 and through the 1949 season. The Rams won the NFL title in 1945. In 1950, he moved to a position in the Rams' front office as promotions director.

In May 1951, Trafton signed a one-year contract as the head coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Trafton led the 1951 Blue Bombers to an 8-6 record and a third-place finish out of four teams in the Western Interprovincial Football Union. Trafton remained with the Blue Bombers in 1952 and led the club to a 12–3–1, though the team lost to Edmonton in the WIFU Finals. In his third and final season with Winnipeg, he led the 1953 Blue Bombers to an 8–8 record and led the club to the 41st Grey Cup game, which it lost by a 12–6 score against Hamilton. Two weeks after Winnipeg's loss in the Grey Cup game, Trafton was fired in December 1953. He announced his retirement from coaching in January 1954.

The Story And Significance Of Art Rooney - Founder Of The Pittsburgh Steelers

Arthur Joseph Rooney Sr., often referred to as "The Chief", was the founding owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, an American football franchise in the National Football League, from 1933 until his death. Rooney is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, was an Olympic qualifying boxer, and was part or whole owner in several track sport venues and Pittsburgh area pro teams. He was the first president of the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1933 to 1974, and the first chairman of the team from 1933 to 1988.

Rooney attended St. Peter's Catholic School in Pittsburgh, Duquesne University Prep School, then several semesters at Indiana Normal School before completing a final year at Temple University on an athletic scholarship. After graduation, he dedicated himself to sports, winning the AAU welterweight belt in 1918 and tried out for the 1920 Olympic Team, he played minor league baseball for both the Flint, Michigan "Vehicles" and the Wheeling, West Virginia "Stogies". In 1925 he served as Wheeling's player-manager and led the Middle Atlantic League in games, hits, runs, stolen bases and finished second in batting average (his brother Dan Rooney, Wheeling's catcher that year, finished third). Art also played halfback for the semi-pro Pittsburgh "Hope Harvey" and "Majestic Radio" clubs which he later took over and renamed the J.P. Rooneys before purchasing an NFL franchise for $2,500 in 1933.

Rooney's affiliation with the National Football League began in 1933 when he paid a $2,500 franchise fee to found a club based in the city of Pittsburgh. He had named his new team the "Pirates" which was also the name of the city's long-established Major League Baseball club of which Rooney was a fan since a childhood spent in the shadow of the team's stadium.

Since the league's inception in 1920, the NFL had wanted a team in Pittsburgh due to the city's already-long history with football as well as the popularity of the Pittsburgh Panthers football team, an NCAA national championship contender during this period. The league was finally able to take advantage of Pennsylvania relaxing their blue laws that prior to 1933 prohibited sporting events from taking place on Sundays, when most NFL games take place.

In 1936, Rooney won a parlay at Saratoga Race Course, which netted him about $160,000. He used the winnings to hire a coach, Joe Bach, give contracts to his players and almost win a championship. The winnings funded the team until 1941 when he sold the franchise to NY playboy Alex Thompson. Thompson wanted to move the franchise to Boston so he could be within a five-hour train ride of his club. At the same time, the Philadelphia Eagles ran into financial problems. Rooney used the funds from the sale of franchise to get a 70% interest in the Eagles, the other 30% held by Rooney friend and future NFL commissioner, Bert Bell. Bell and Rooney agreed to trade places with Thompson. Bell took the role of President of the Steelers that he relinquished to Rooney in 1946 when Bell became Commissioner. Rooney got his good friend and his sister's father in law, Barney McGinley, to buy Bell's shares. Barney's son Jack, Art's brother in law, retained the McGinley interest that passed to his heirs when he died in 2006.

The Rooneys are the finest people, the people I most respect in American sports ownership. I've always felt that way. And there's no reason to change. They are people of integrity and character. The way they put the Steelers together, to hire a man like Chuck Noll, to emphasize the team concept. I have a whole transcendental feeling for the Steelers and the Rooneys and Pittsburgh.

Rooney sent shock waves through the NFL by signing Byron "Whizzer" White to a record-breaking $15,000 contract in 1938. This move, however, did not bring the Pirates a winning season, and White left the team for the Detroit Lions the following year. The club did not have a season above .500 until 1942, the year after they were renamed the Pittsburgh Steelers.

During World War II, the Steelers had some financial difficulties and were merged with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1943 and the Chicago Cardinals in 1944.

After the war, Rooney became team president. He longed to bring an NFL title to Pittsburgh but was never able to beat the powerhouse teams, like the Cleveland Browns and Green Bay Packers. The Steelers also struggled with playing in a city and era where baseball was king and were treated as something of a joke compared to the Pirates. The team also made some questionable personnel calls at the time such as cutting a then-unknown Johnny Unitas in training camp (Unitas would go on to a Hall of Fame career with the Baltimore Colts) and trading their first round pick in the 1965 draft to the Chicago Bears (who would draft Dick Butkus with the pick), among others.

Nevertheless, Rooney was popular with owners as a mediator, which would carry over to his son Dan Rooney. He was the only owner to vote against moving the rights of the New York Yanks to Dallas, Texas after the 1951 season due to concerns of racism in the South at the time. (Ultimately, the Dallas Texans failed after one year, and the rights were moved to Baltimore, where the team became the Baltimore Colts. The team now plays in Indianapolis.) In 1963, along with Bears owner George Halas, Rooney was one of two owners to vote for the 1925 NFL Championship to be reinstated to the long-defunct Pottsville Maroons.

In 1964, he was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Duquesne University named their football field in his honor in 1993. In 1999 Rooney ranked 81st on the Sporting News' "100 Most Powerful Sports Figures of the 20th Century" list. A statue of his likeness graces the entrance to the home of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Heinz Field. The street that runs adjacent to Heinz Field on Pittsburgh's North Side is named "Art Rooney Avenue" in his honor. In 2000, he was inducted as a "pioneer" into the American Football Association's Semi-Pro Football Hall of Fame.

During Rooney's life, the Steelers would often use a late-round draft pick on a player from a local college like Pitt, West Virginia or Penn State. Though these players rarely made the team, this practice was intended to appeal to local fans and players. The team has occasionally employed this practice after Rooney's death, however, they now focus more on talent than geography throughout the entire draft. Rooney also supposedly liked players from Notre Dame due to his Irish Catholic background, which some say explains why he allegedly had the team keep Notre Dame alumnus and wounded Vietnam veteran Rocky Bleier Bleier would go on to become one of the key members of the team's success in the 1970s.

The Story And Significance Of Mike Michalske - Seven Time All-Pro Offensive Guard

August Michael Michalske, sometimes known as "Iron Mike", was an American football player and coach. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as part of its second induction class in 1964. He was also named in 1969 to the NFL 1920s All-Decade Team.

Born and raised in Cleveland, Michalske played college football, principally at the guard and fullback positions, for Hugo Bezdek's Penn State Nittany Lions from 1923 to 1925. He played professional football as a guard with the New York Yankees from 1926 to 1927 and with the Green Bay Packers from 1929 to 1935 and 1937. He led the Packers to three consecutive National Football League championships from 1929 to 1931 and was selected seven times as a first-team All-Pro between 1927 and 1935.

Michalske also had a long career as a football coach, including serving as Iowa State's head coach from 1942 to 1946 and as an assistant coach with Lafayette College (1936), the Green Bay Packers (1937), the Chicago Cardinals (1939), St. Norbert College (1940-1941), Baltimore Colts (1949), Baylor (1950-1952), Texas A&M (1953), and Texas (1954).

Michalske was born in Cleveland in 1903. His father, August Michalske, was a German immigrant who worked in 1910 as a teamster and in 1920 as "draying" contractor. His mother, Anna (Becker) Michalske (1872-1952), was also a German immigrant. Michalske had three older brothers (Arthur, Charles, and George) and two older sisters (Elizabeth and Laura). He attended Cleveland's West High School where he starred in three sports. Michalske attended Pennsylvania State University where he played for Penn State Nittany Lions football team from 1923 to 1925. He played as a guard in 1923 and at halfback and guard in 1924. Partway through the 1925 season, Penn State coach Hugo Bezdek moved Michalske from guard to fullback. He scored both Penn State touchdowns in a 13–6 victory over Michigan State, and by the end of the year he was rated as "one of the greatest defensive fullbacks of the season."

Michalske began his professional football career in 1926 as a guard for the New York Yankees of the first American Football League. The following year, the Yankees joined the National Football League (NFL). Michalske appeared in 14 and 13 games, respectively, for the 1927 and 1928 Yankees teams that compiled records of 7-8-1 and 4-8-1. While with the Yankees, Michalske established him as one of the best linemen in the NFL, securing first-team All-Pro honors in both 1927 and 1928.

In September 1929, Michalske signed a contract to play for the Green Bay Packers. By that time, he was already "rated as the best guard in the National Football league." He appeared in all 13 games for the 1929 Packers team that compiled a 12-0-1 record and won the franchise's first NFL championship. After the season, Ernie Nevers rated Michalske the best player in the NFL, calling him a "wonder" and adding, "There's nobody like him on the college or professional field today." Michalske was also selected as a consensus All-Pro for the 1929 season with first-team honors from Collyers Eye magazine, the Chicago Tribune, and the Green Bay Post-Gazette.

In 1930, Michalske returned to the Packers and helped lead the team to its second consecutive NFL championship. He was described as "one of the outstanding players in the country," and he was selected at the end of the season as a first-time All-Pro by the Green Bay Press-Gazette and Collyer's Eye.

In 1931, Michalske led the Packers to an unprecedented third consecutive NFL championship. On November 1, 1931, Michalske returned an interception 80 yards for a touchdown to account for every point in a 6–2 victory over the Chicago Bears. At the end of the season, Michalske was selected as a first-team All-Pro on the official NFL All-Pro team and by the United Press and the Green Bay Press-Gazette.

Michalske remained with the Packers for an additional five seasons from 1932 to 1935 and again in 1937. He was selected as a first-team All-Pro in 1934 by the Green Bay Press-Gazette and in 1935 by the NFL, Chicago Daily News, and Green Bay Press-Gazette.

In 1935, Michalske became an assistant coach under head coach Curly Lambeau, adding those duties to his responsibilities as a player. He retired as a player and left the Packers after the 1935 season, but in August 1937, he signed a contract to return to the Packers as a player and assistant coach for the 1937 season. His playing career ended on October 31, 1937, when he sustained a back injury after allegedly being kicked by an opposing player in a game against the Detroit Lions; he was hospitalized in Detroit for several days after the game. He confirmed his retirement as a player in August 1938.

Michalske was known by the nickname "Iron Mike" because despite playing 60 minutes a game, he missed only nine of 104 games during his tenure with the Packers, five of them following the back injury in his final season. He wore nine uniform numbers over his Packers career, the most by any player in team history: 19 (1932), 24 (1934), 28 (1931), 30 (1932), 31 (1933), 33 (1935), 36 (1929–30, 37), 40 (1935) and 63 (1934).

Michalske began his coaching career as the line coach at Ashland College in Ohio during the 1928 and 1929 seasons. While serving as an assistant coach at Ashland, he was also an All-Pro player in the NFL for the Yankees in 1928 and Packers in 1929.

In March 1936, Michalske returned to coaching as an assistant football coach under head coach Ernie Nevers at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. Nevers and Michalske led Lafayette to a 1–8 record in 1936.

Michalske was an assistant coach for the Packers under Curly Lambeau during the 1935 and 1936 seasons. In late November 1937, Michalske returned to Lafayette College for his second year as the head coach of the basketball team.

In September 1939, Michalske was reunited with Ernie Nevers who had taken over as head coach of the Chicago Cardinals. Michalske was hired as an assistant football coach and scout for the Cardinals. The 1939 Cardinals compiled a 1–10 record, and neither Nevers nor Michalske returned to the club in 1940.

In the spring of 1940, Michalske was hired as the track coach at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin. He also served as the line coach for the St. Norbert football team in 1940 and 1941. He remained at St. Norbert for two years. During that time, the football team compiled records of 3-3-1 in 1940 and 6–2 in 1941.

In August 1942, Michalske was hired as the line coach at Iowa State College. On October 14, 1942, he replaced Ray Donels as the head coach of the Iowa State football team. After mediocre seasons in 1942 and 1943, Michalske led Iowa State in 1944 to a 6–1–1 record (3–1–1 in conference) and a tie for second place in the Big Six Conference. The 1944 Iowa State team shut out Kansas (25–0) and Kansas State (14–0), ran up 288 rushing yards in a 19–6 victory over Nebraska, and suffered its sole loss to Oklahoma.

Michalske remained head coach at Iowa State through the 1946 season, though his teams stumbled to records of 4–3–1 in 1945 and 2–6–1 in 1946.[39] He resigned his position at Iowa State in February 1947.[40] His overall record as head football coach at Iowa State was 18–18–3 (8–9–2 against conference opponents).

In September 1947, Michalske joined the Packers' scouting staff.

In April 1949, he was hired as an assistant coach with the Baltimore Colts of the All-America Football Conference. The 1949 Colts compiled a record of 1–11.

In February 1950, Michalske was hired as the line coach at Baylor in Waco, Texas. He spent three years at Baylor under head coach George Sauer, with whom Michalske had played in Green Bay. During Michalske's three years at Baylor, the Baylor football team compiled records of 7–3, 8–2–1, and 4–4–2. Michalske resigned from in December 1952, effective at the end of his contract in March 1953.

In May 1953, Michalske was hired as the line coach at Texas A&M in College Station, Texas. During Michalske's one-year tenure at Texas A&M, the 1953 Aggies were led by head coach Raymond George and compiled a 4–5–1 record.

In January 1955, he was hired by Texas as an assistant football coach on a one-year contract. He was the line coach for the 1955 and 1956 Texas teams that compiled 5–5 and 1–9 records under head coach Ed Price.

Michalske received numerous honors and awards for his accomplishments as a football player. In 1964, he was inducted as part of the second class of inductees into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was the first guard to be inducted. In 1969, Michalske was selected by the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a guard on the NFL 1920s All-Decade Team. He was also inducted in 1970 with the first group of inductees into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame, and in 1971 he was inducted into the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame.

The Story And Significance Of Link Lyman - The Pioneer Of Using Shifting Maneuvers To Disrupt Offensive Blocking Assignments

Lyman was born in 1898 in Table Rock, Nebraska. As an infant, his family moved to Rawlins County, Kansas, where his father, Edwin Lyman, was a farmer, raised stock and engaged in the real estate business. Lyman had four younger brothers (Edwin, Richard, Albert, and Louis) and three younger sisters (Anna, Margret, and Mildred).

Lyman attended high school in McDonald, Kansas, but he did not play football as there was no team with only "six or seven boys in the whole school".

Lyman enrolled at the University of Nebraska in 1917 where he was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. After playing freshman football in 1917, he played at the tackle position for the Nebraska Cornhuskers football team in 1918, 1919, and 1921. Lyman was married shortly after the end of the 1919 football season and did not return to the university in the fall of 1920. He returned in February 1921 to establish his eligibility to play in the fall of 1921.

Lyman later recalled: "From the first day, I just loved the game, and we had some pretty good teams, too." The 1921 Nebraska team compiled a 7–1 record, lost a close game against Knute Rockne's Notre Dame team, outscored opponents by a combined total of 283 to 17, and won the Missouri Valley Conference championship. The 1922 Nebraska yearbook noted the following about Lyman: "Lyman was, without doubt, our fastest lineman. Roy is a big man, weighing 200 pounds, and could get down under punts almost as quickly as the ends. Roy proved to be a ground gainer on tackle-around plays before the season was over."

In September 1922, Lyman left Lincoln, Nebraska, to play professional football for the Canton Bulldogs. The Bulldogs were coached by Guy Chamberlin, an All-American out of Nebraska, who invited Lyman to join the team. With Lyman and Pete Henry as its star tackles, the 1922 Canton Bulldogs compiled a 10–0–2 record, shut out nine of twelve opponents, outscored all opponents 184 to 15, and won the NFL championship.

Lyman returned to the Bulldogs the following year. The 1923 team had another undefeated season (11-0-1), shut out eight of twelve opponents, outscored all opponents by a combined total of 246 to 19, and won its second consecutive NFL championship. After the season, Lyman was selected as a first-team All-Pro player by the Canton Daily News and a second-team All-Pro by Collyer's Eye magazine.

In August 1924, Cleveland jeweler Samuel Deutsch bought the Canton Bulldogs and moved the team to Cleveland where they became the Cleveland Bulldogs during the 1924 NFL season. The Bulldogs compiled a 7–1–1 record, outscored opponents by a total of 229 to 60, and won their third consecutive NFL championship. After the 1924 season, Lyman was selected as a first-team All-Pro by Collyer's Eye and a second-team All-Pro by the Green Bay Press-Gazette.

In July 1925, Lyman and four of his teammates (Pete Henry, Rudy Comstock, Ben Jones, and Harry Robb) bought the team for $3,500 and moved it back to Canton. Lyman played seven games for the 1925 Bulldogs and then finished the season playing four games for the Frankford Yellow Jackets. Lyman was reunited with Guy Chamberlain who was then Frankford's head coach. After the 1925 season, Lyman was selected as a first-team All-Pro on the team selected by NFL Commissioner Joseph Carr; he was also selected as a second-team All-Pro by Collyer's Eye.

In December 1925, Lyman joined the Chicago Bears and took part in a winter barnstorming tour that featured football player Red Grange. He joined the Bears again in the fall of 1926. The 1926 Bears team featured five players who were later inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame (Lyman, Paddy Driscoll, George Halas, Ed Healey, and George Trafton), posted a 12–1–3 record, and finished second in the NFL.

Lyman remained with the Bears for the 1927 and 1928 seasons. He retired after the 1928 season but returned to the Bears in the fall of 1930. The 1930 Bears compiled a 9–4–1 and finished third in the NFL. Lyman was selected as a first-team All-Pro by Collyer's Eye magazine and the Green Bay Press-Gazette.

Lyman again retired from playing football after the 1931 season. During his two retirements from the Bears, Lyman played semipro ball in Texas and worked in the ranching business.

Lyman returned to the Bears in 1933. The 1933 Bears featured six future Pro Football Hall of Fame players (Lyman, Bronko Nagurski, Red Grange, George Musso, and George Trafton), posted a 10–2–1 record, and defeated the Giants in the 1933 NFL Championship Game.

Lyman played his final year of professional football as a member of the 1934 Bears team that compiled a perfect 13–0 record in the regular season and won the NFL Western Division championship, but lost to the Giants in the 1934 NFL Championship Game. After the 1934 season, Lyman was selected as a first-team All-Pro by the United Press, Green Bay Press-Gazette, and Collyer's Eye. Bears' coach George Halas later observed that Lyman was "stronger and tougher during his last two seasons than when he first joined the team eight years earlier."

Lyman was a pioneer in the use of shifting maneuvers to disrupt the blocking assignments of offensive linemen. According to his biography at the Pro Football Hall of Fame, "the constant shifting by defensive players before each play in modern professional football can be traced back to Lyman, who regularly resorted to similar ploys. His sliding, shifting style of defensive line play confused his opponents and made him one of the most respected players of his time. Lyman explained that the idea of shifting was an instinctive move to fool a blocker. He had a unique ability to diagnose a play and many times he would make his move just as the ball was snapped."

Steve Owen, who played with Lyman in 1925 and later served as coach of the Giants, recalled: "Link was the first lineman I ever saw who moved from the assigned defensive position before the ball was snapped. It was difficult to play against him because he would vary his moves and no matter how you reacted, you could be wrong."

Lyman received many honors for his contributions to the game, including being inducted into the Helms Foundation major league football Hall of Fame (January 1961) and the Nebraska Sports Hall of Fame and receiving the University of Nebraska's Distinguished Alumni Award in June 1961. His greatest honor came in February 1964 when he was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame as part of the second class of inductees.

During his 11 years in the NFL, Lyman won four NFL championships and never had a losing season. (In 1929, following Lyman's first retirement, the Bears posted a 4–9–2 record.) He was selected five times as a first-team All-Pro and appeared in 133 official NFL games. He was known as one of the true "iron men" of iron man era. Counting unofficial games, he appeared in a total of 286 professional games and played 211-1/2 hours in those games. At the time of his retirement and for many years thereafter, he held the NFL records for games and playing time logged.

The Story And Significance Of Clarke Hinkle - The NFL's All-Time Leading Rusher Until 1949

William Clarke Hinkle was an American football player. He played on offense as a fullback, defense as a linebacker, and special teams as a kicker and punter. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame as part of its second class of inductees in 1964.

Known as one of the toughest players in the era of iron man football, Hinkle played for the Green Bay Packers from 1932 to 1941 and held the all-time National Football League records for rushing yardage and carries when his playing career ended. He led the NFL in touchdowns (seven) in 1937, in points scored (58) in 1938, and in field goals made and field goal percentage in both 1940 and 1941. He was selected as a first- or second-team All-Pro in each of his 10 NFL seasons and helped lead the Packers to three NFL championship games and NFL championships in 1936 and 1939. His playing career was cut short in 1942 by military service.

A native of Toronto, Ohio, Hinkle played college football for Bucknell from 1929 to 1931. He scored 50 points in a single game as a sophomore and led Bucknell to an undefeated season in 1931. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1971.

William Clarke Hinkle was born in Toronto, Ohio, located on the Ohio River approximately 40 miles west of Pittsburgh, in 1909. He was the son of Charles Hinkle and Lillian Ault Clark, both Ohio natives. His father was an engineer and later a forger at a steel mill. Hinkle attended Toronto High School.

Hinkle played college football for Bucknell University, where he set several records for the Bucknell Bison football team as a fullback playing offense and defense. He scored eight touchdowns and scored 50 points in a game against Dickinson on Thanksgiving Day 1929. He finished the 1929 season with 21 touchdowns and 128 points scored. He had 37 touchdowns over his career at Bucknell from 1929 to 1931. In 1929, he led the East in scoring with 128 points. In 1931, he led the team to a 6–0–3 win–loss record. Hinkle's coach at Bucknell, Carl Snavely, called him: "Without a doubt, the greatest defensive back I have ever seen or coached."

Hinkle played for the East team in the East-West Shrine Game in San Francisco on New Year's Day 1932. He was the leading ground gainer in the game, and a United Press correspondent wrote: "If there was a single star in the long drawn battle of line plunges and punting it was Clark Hinkle of Bucknell whose stabs through tackle were a revelation in driving power."

While at Bucknell University he became a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.

In January 1932, after watching Hinkle play in the Shrine Game, Curly Lambeau signed Hinkle to play professional football for the Green Bay Packers. At the time, the Packers were the best team in the NFL, having won three consecutive NFL championships from 1929 to 1931. Hinkle played for the Packers for his entire ten-year NFL career, was selected as a first- or second-team All-Pro every year, and helped lead the Packers to NFL championships in 1936 and 1939.

As a rookie in 1932, Hinkle appeared in 13 games and led the Packers with 331 rushing yards on 95 carries. He quickly developed a reputation not only for his two-way play on both offense and defense, but also as the best punter in the NFL. The 1932 Packers finished second in the NFL with a 10–3–1 record, and Hinkle was selected as a first-team All-Pro in 1932 by Collyer's Eye magazine and as the second-team fullback (behind Bronko Nagurski) on the United Press (UP) and NFL All-Pro teams. He was hailed by Curly Lambeau at the end of the 1932 season as a second Jim Thorpe, and by some critics as "the greatest football player in the world today."

After spending the off-season working for a steel construction firm in his home town of Toronto, Ohio, Hinkle returned to Green Bay in September 1933. In his second NFL season, Hinkle again led the team with 413 rushing yards, but the Packers' record fell to 5–7–1, the only losing season suffered by the Packers in their first 25 years in the NFL. Despite the team's poor showing, Hinkle was selected as a second-team All-Pro by the UP, Chicago Daily News, and Green Bay Press-Gazette.

Hinkle presented a rare combination of power, speed, and accurate kicking. In 1937, he led the NFL with seven touchdowns and ranked second with 552 rushing yards. In 1938, he led the NFL in scoring with 58 points scored on seven touchdowns, seven extra points, and three field goals. He led the NFL in field goals and field goal percentage in both 1940 and 1941. He also continued to excel as a punter, ranking second in the NFL in punting yards in 1939 and averaging 44.5 yards per punt in 1941.

Hinkle's playing career was cut short after the 1941 season by wartime military service. He began his NFL career in 1932 at a salary of $5,000 and had his salary cut during the Great Depression, then restored to $5,000 in the late 1930s. He held out for and received $10,000 in his final season. He finished his career with 3,860 rushing yards, 537 receiving yards, 316 passing yards, and 379 points scored on 44 touchdowns, 28 field goals, and 31 extra points.

Hinkle loved the intense physicality of football. According to one account, "Clark Hinkle loved contact. It didn't matter which side of the ball he was coming from, Hinkle loved delivering blows." Ken Strong, another Hall of Fame back of the era, remembered the force of Hinkle's tackles: "When he hit you, you knew you were hit. Bells rang and you felt it all the way to your toes." Another back, Johnny Sisk, said: "No one in the whole league ever bruised me more than Hinkle did. . . . Hinkle had a lot of leg action. I broke my shoulder twice tackling Mr. Hinkle."

Hinkle's competition with Chicago Bears fullback Bronko Nagurski was especially memorable. Hinkle was the only player to knock Nagurski out of a game, and according to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Hinkle's "creed was 'get to the Bronk before he gets to me.'" Hinkle cited a 1934 collision with Nagurski as his greatest day in football. He recalled: "I was carrying the ball and Nagurski charged in to make the tackle. WHAM! We banged into each other. Nagurski had to be removed from the game with a broken nose and two closed eyes. Strangely enough, I suffered no ill effects and was able to continue playing." Nagurski later called Hinkle the "toughest man I ever played against." In the book, "Pain Gang: Pro Football's Fifty Toughest Players", Neil Reynolds included both Hinkle and Nagurski on his list of the toughest players in the history of the game.

Hinkle's toughness remained to the end. On November 2, 1941, in his final game against the Chicago Bears, Hinkle had his leg torn open by an opponent's spike but returned late in the game to kick a game-winning field goal from the 44-yard line.

When Hinkle's playing career ended, he held NFL career records with 3,860 rushing yards and 1,171 carries. He surpassed the old record of 3,511 rushing yards held by Cliff Battles. Hinkle's rushing yardage record stood until 1949 when it was broken by Steve Van Buren.

The Story And Significance Of Ed Healey - The First NFL Player To Be Sold To Another Club

Edward Francis Healey Jr. was an American football player. Regarded as one of the best linemen in the early days of the National Football League, Healey was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as part of its second induction class in 1964. He was also named in 1969 to the NFL 1920s All-Decade Team. In 1974, he was also inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

A native of Springfield, Massachusetts, Healey played college football at College of the Holy Cross in 1914 and at Dartmouth College in 1916, 1917, and 1919.

Healey played professional football as a tackle in the NFL for the Rock Island Independents from 1920 to 1922 and for the Chicago Bears from 1922 to 1927. He never played for a team with a losing record during his NFL career and, in 1922, became the first player in NFL history to be sold to another team. He was named as a first-team All Pro player by at least one selector for five consecutive years from 1922 to 1926.

Healey was born in 1894 in Indian Orchard, a neighborhood at the northeast end of Springfield, Massachusetts. His parents, Edward F. Healey, Sr., and Nora Healey were the children of Irish immigrants, both born in Massachusetts. His father worked in the street sprinkler business and later as a contractor in the wood business. Healey had four older sisters and one younger sister.

Healey attended Central High School in Springfield, Massachusetts. He then attended and played college football at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1914 and at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, for three years. In Healey's three years with the Dartmouth football program, the teams compiled records of 5–2–2 (1916), 5–3 (1917), and 6–1–1 (1919). Walter Camp reportedly called Healey "the best tackle I ever saw."

Healey began playing professional football with the Rock Island Independents in 1920, the inaugural season of the National Football League (known as the American Professional Football Association until 1922). He helped lead the 1920 Rock Island team to a 6–2–2 record, good for fourth place out of 14 teams.

Healey remained with Rock Island during its 1922 season when the team compiled a 4–2–1 record and finished in fifth place out of 21 teams.

Healey began the 1922 NFL season with Rock Island. The team opened its season with a 19–14 victory over the Green Bay Packers before losing a close game, 10–6, against the Chicago Bears. George Halas, owner, coach and player for the Bears, was impressed with Healey's tough tackling, including tackling of Halas, and bought Healey's contract for $100. Healey thus became the first NFL player to be sold to another club. Healey later recalled his pleasure at joining a team with superior facilities: "At Rock Island, we had no showers and seldom a trainer. At Wrigley Field, we had a nice warm place to dress and nice warm showers."

Healey spent six seasons with the Bears from 1922 to 1927. During Healey's tenure with the Bears, the club never had a losing season, winning at least nine games in five of the six seasons. Healey was selected as a first-team All-Pro by at least one major selector each year from 1922 to 1926.

In 1924, he ran more than 30 yards to tackle teammate Oscar Knop who ran the wrong way after intercepting a pass. In 1925, he was the only player to be selected as a first-team All Pro by Collyers Eye magazine, the Green Bay Press-Gazette, and Joseph Carr. In 1926, the Green Bay Press-Gazette called him "the best tackle in the Pro loop," and Bears owner George Halas later called Healey "the most versatile tackle of all time".

The Story And Significance Of Jimmy Conzelman - The Last Cardinals Head Coach To Win An NFL Title

James Gleason Dunn Conzelman was an American football player and coach, baseball executive, and advertising executive. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1964 and was selected in 1969 as a quarterback on the National Football League 1920s All-Decade Team.

A native of St. Louis, Conzelman played college football for the 1918 Great Lakes Navy Bluejackets team that won the 1919 Rose Bowl. In 1919, he was an All-Missouri Valley Conference quarterback for the Washington University Pikers football team. He then played ten seasons as a quarterback, halfback, placekicker, and coach in the National Football League for the Decatur Staleys (1920), Rock Island Independents (1921–1922), Milwaukee Badgers (1922–1924), Detroit Panthers (1925–1926), and Providence Steam Roller (1927–1929). He was also a team owner in Detroit and, as player-coach, led the 1928 Providence Steam Roller team to an NFL championship.

From 1932 to 1939, Conzelman was the head football coach for the Washington University Bears football team, leading the program to Missouri Valley Conference championships in 1934, 1935, and 1939. He served as head coach of the NFL's Chicago Cardinals from 1940 to 1942 and again from 1946 to 1948. He led the Cardinals to an NFL championship in 1947 and Western Division championships in 1947 and 1948. He was also an executive with the St. Louis Browns in Major League Baseball from 1943 to 1945.

Conzelman enrolled at Washington University in St. Louis in 1916. He played freshman football that year but enlisted in the United States Navy when the United States entered World War I in 1917. He was stationed at the Great Lakes Naval Station north of Chicago. During two years of service, he played for the Naval Station's football, baseball, and basketball teams. He also took up boxing while in the Navy and won a championship in the middleweight division. He was the quarterback of the 1918 Great Lakes Navy Bluejackets football team that defeated previously undefeated Navy and then defeated the Mare Island Marines by a 17–0 score in the 1919 Rose Bowl. Conzelman's teammates on the 1918 Great Lakes team included George Halas and Paddy Driscoll, all three of whom were later inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

After the war, Conzelman turned down offers to become a professional boxer and returned to Washington University in February 1919. He played for the 1919 Washington Pikers football team that compiled a 5–2 record and outscored opponents 127 to 30. Conzelman was selected as the All-Missouri Valley Conference quarterback for 1919. He also was the catcher for the 1920 Washington University baseball team and organized an orchestra, played banjo, and wrote songs while attending Washington University.

During the spring semester of 1920, Conzelman lost his eligibility to play football due to academic deficiencies. His father had also died in May 1919, and he withdrew from school to help support his mother and younger siblings. In June 1920, Conzelman announced that he would not return to Washington University in the fall. He spent the summer leading an orchestra in Arkansas.

In mid-October 1920, Conzelman joined the Decatur Staleys (later renamed the Chicago Bears) of the newly formed American Professional Football Association (later renamed the NFL). He planned to relocate permanently to Decatur and also play for the Staleys baseball and basketball teams. Conzelman was reunited at Decatur with player-coach George Halas, with whom Conzelman had played on the 1918 Great Lakes team. In Conzelman's first game with the Staleys, he scored the game's only touchdown on a 43-yard run. Playing at the halfback position, Conzelman handled punting, placekicking and passing for the Staleys in the important games and was selected as a second-team player on the 1920 All-Pro team. The 1920 Staleys compiled a 10–1–2 record and finished in second place in the league.

In October 1921, Conzelman joined the Rock Island Independents as the team's captain and coach. At age 23, he was one of the youngest coaches in NFL history. He led Rock Island to a 4–1 record during the 1921 season.

After starting the season with Rock Island, Conzelman signed with the Milwaukee Badgers in the middle of their 1922 season. He was the Badgers' coach and a player for the final three games of the 1922 season during which the team went 0–3.

During the 1923 season, Conzelman, as player and coach, led the Badgers to a 7–2–3 record and a third-place finish out of 20 teams in the NFL. Conzelman was also the team's second-highest scorer with four touchdowns and two extra points. During the 1924 season, Conzelman remained with the Badgers as a player only. The team's record fell to 5–8 and 12th place in the NFL.

In 1925, Conzelman organized and became the owner of a new NFL franchise in Detroit, which he named the Detroit Panthers. He reportedly paid a franchise fee of only $50 to the NFL to acquire the Detroit franchise. In addition to being the owner, Conzelman was also the team's coach and a player during the 1925 and 1926 NFL seasons. During the 1925 season, Conzelman's Detroit club compiled an 8–2–2 record, played at Navin Field, and outscored opponents by a combined total of 129 to 39.

During the 1926 season, the Panthers dropped to 4–6–2 and compiled a record of 0–3–2 in the month of November. The team's attendance in Detroit was approximately 3,000 persons per game, not enough for Conzelman to make a profit. Accordingly, in August 1927, Conzelman sold the Detroit franchise back to the NFL for $1,200. Conzelman later recalled: "We simply were ahead of our time in Detroit. The town wasn't quite ready for pro football."

In August 1927, following his decision to sell the Detroit franchise back to the league, Conzelman signed as a player, manager and coach for the Providence Steam Roller. Conzelman brought players Gus Sonnenberg and Eddie Lynch with him from Detroit. Conzelman and Wildcat Wilson were the leading scorers on the 1927 Providence team, each with four touchdowns. The Steam Roller finished the 1927 season an 8–5–1 record and a fifth-place finish in the NFL.

Conzelman led the 1928 Providence team to an 8–1–2 record and the club's first NFL championship. The team's passing combination of Wildcat Wilson to Conzelman was the most effective in the league and accounted for most of the club's yardage until Conzelman twisted knee ligaments on a reception against the Yankees. Despite being unable to play in the second half of the season due to the injury, Conzelman was unanimously voted by his teammates as the team's most valuable player.

In his final season as an NFL player-coach, Conzelman led the 1929 Providence team to a 4–6–2 record.

In the fall of 1931, Conzelman served as the head coach of the St. Louis Gunners, an independent professional football team sponsored by a local field artillery unit of the National Guard. The Gunners posted a 5–2–1 record in 1931. After a game against the NFL's Chicago Cardinals, Chicago captain Ernie Nevers called the Gunners the "best independent club we have ever faced."

In January 1932, Conzelman returned to Washington University in St. Louis as the school's head football coach. He became the school's first alumnus to lead the football team. Over the next eight years, Conzelman led Washington University Bears football team to Missouri Valley Conference championships in 1934, 1935, and 1939, and compiled an overall record of 40–35–2.

In January 1940, Conzelman tendered his resignation as head coach of the Washington University football team, but the resignation was not accepted by the athletic board. The university chancellor directed Conzelman to attend an alumni rally in his support. Conzelman appeared and announced that he would not withdraw his resignation, though he would continue to support the program from the outside. Newspaper accounts indicate that he may have been fired under pressure from a powerful "anti-Conzelman" group of alumni in downtown St. Louis.

In April 1940, Conzelman was hired as the head coach of the NFL's Chicago Cardinals. He replaced Ernie Nevers in the position. In his first stint as head coach of the Cardinals, Conzelmean served three years with the Cardinals from 1940 to 1942, leading the club to a combined three-year record of 8–22.

tenure as head coach of the Cardinals was interrupted by a two-years stint as an administrator in Major League Baseball for the St. Louis Browns. In June 1943, he resigned his job as head coach of the Cardinals and was hired as director of public relations and assistant to Donald Lee Barnes, president and owner of the Browns. He remained with the Browns for two years and was said to be the "secret weapon" of the 1944 St. Louis Browns team that won the American League pennant. Conzelman resigned his post with the club in August 1945.

In late November 1945, Conzelman was hired for a second time to serve as head coach of the Chicago Cardinals starting with the 1946 NFL season. During the 1947 season, the Cardinals with their "Million Dollar Backfield" compiled a 9–3 record and defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in the 1947 NFL Championship Game. Conzelman's 1948 Cardinals team compiled an 11–1 record during the regular season, led the NFL in offense with an average of 32.9 points per game, and lost to the Eagles in the 1948 NFL Championship Game. In their second stint under Conzelman, the Cardinals compiled a 26–9 record from 1946 to 1948.

On January 7, 1949, three weeks after the loss in the 1948 Championship Game, Conzelman resigned as the Cardinals' head coach. He had been working for D'Arcy Advertising Co. for the prior two years during the off-season and stated that he was resigning his coaching position to devote his full efforts to the advertising firm. The Cardinals' management said at the time that Conzelman's resignation was unexpected and "came like a bolt from the blue."

History Of The CFL

The Canadian Football League is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a city in Canada. They are divided into two divisions: four teams in the East Division and five teams in the West Division.

As of 2019, it features a 21-week regular season in which each team plays 18 games with three bye weeks. This season traditionally runs from mid-June to early November. Following the regular season, six teams compete in the league's three-week playoffs, which culminate in the Grey Cup championship game in late November. The Grey Cup is one of Canada's largest annual sports and television events.

The CFL was officially named on January 19, 1958, upon the merger between the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union or "Big Four" (founded in 1907) and the Western Interprovincial Football Union (founded in 1936). Before the introduction of interlocking play in 1961, Eastern teams competed against Western teams only in pre-season and the Grey Cup Championship (similar to Major League Baseball prior to the 1997 season).

Rugby football began to be played in Canada in the 1860s, and many of the first Canadian football teams played under the auspices of the Canadian Rugby Football Union (CRFU), founded in 1884. The CRFU was reorganized as the Canadian Rugby Union (CRU) in 1891, and served as an umbrella organization for several provincial and regional unions. The Grey Cup was donated by Governor General the Earl Grey in 1909 to the team winning the Senior Amateur Football Championship of Canada. By that time, the sport as played in Canada had diverged markedly from its rugby origins with the introduction of the Burnside rules, and started to become more similar to the American game.

For much of the early part of the 20th century, the game was contested by interprovincial leagues, or unions. In 1907, several of the stronger senior clubs in Ontario and Quebec formed the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union (IRFU or Big Four). It took almost 30 years for an elite interprovincial western union to emerge, when in 1936 the stronger senior clubs in Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan formed the Western Interprovincial Football Union (WIFU). From the 1930s to the 1950s, the Big Four and WIFU gradually evolved from amateur to professional leagues, and amateur teams were no longer competitive for the Grey Cup. Apart from the World War II years, an amateur team last won the Grey Cup in 1936.

By the end of World War II, the WIFU's play was at the same level as that of the Big Four. Within a few years after the return of peace, both interprovincial unions had turned openly professional. However, while the Big Four champion got an automatic berth to the Grey Cup final, until 1954 the WIFU's champion had to play in a semi-final against the champion of the Ontario Rugby Football Union (ORFU)–by then, the only amateur union still competing for the Grey Cup. The ORFU withdrew from Grey Cup competition after the 1953 season, and the WIFU champion was given an automatic berth in the Grey Cup final. For this reason, 1954 is reckoned as the start of the modern era of Canadian football, in which the Grey Cup has been exclusively contested by professional teams. Since 1965, Canada's top university football teams, competing in what is now U Sports, have competed for the Vanier Cup.

In 1956, the IRFU and WIFU formed a new umbrella organization, the Canadian Football Council (CFC). In 1958, the CFC left the CRU and reorganized as the Canadian Football League. As part of an agreement between the CRU and CFL, the CFL took possession of the Grey Cup, and the amateurs were officially locked out of Grey Cup play. However, the Grey Cup had been the de facto professional championship since 1954. The CRU remained the governing body for amateur play in Canada, eventually adopting the name Football Canada. Initially, the two unions remained autonomous, and there was no intersectional play between eastern (IRFU) and western (WIFU) teams except at the Grey Cup final. This situation was roughly analogous to how Major League Baseball operated for almost all of the 20th century, and how the AFL and NFL operated during the 1960s prior to those leagues' 1970 merger.

The IRFU was renamed the Eastern Football Conference in 1960, while the WIFU was renamed the Western Football Conference in 1961. Also in 1961, limited intersectional play was introduced. Because the West played 16 games by this time while the East still only played 14, this arrangement oddly allowed both the four-team Eastern Conference and the five-team Western Conference to play three games per intraconference opponent and one game per interconference opponent. It was not until 1974 that the East expanded its schedule to 16 games, just like the West. In 1981, the two conferences agreed to a full merger, becoming the East and West Divisions of the CFL. With the merger came a fully balanced and interlocking schedule of 16 games per season (with all nine teams playing each other twice, once at home and once on the road). Since 1986 (with exception of 2021), the CFL's regular season schedule has been 18 games.

The separate histories of the IRFU and the WIFU accounted for the fact that two teams had basically the same name: the IRFU's Ottawa Rough Riders were often called the "Eastern Riders", while the WIFU's Saskatchewan Roughriders were called the "Western Riders" or "Green Riders". Other team names had traditional origins. With rowing a national craze in the late 19th century, the Argonaut Rowing Club of Toronto formed a rugby team for its members' off-season participation. The football team name Toronto Argonauts still remains even though it and the rowing club have long since gone their separate ways. After World War II, the two teams in Hamilton—the Tigers and the Flying Wildcats merged both their organizations into the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

The league remained stable with nine franchises, the BC Lions, Calgary Stampeders, Edmonton Eskimos, Saskatchewan Roughriders, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Toronto Argonauts, Ottawa Rough Riders and Montreal Alouettes from its 1958 inception until 1981. After the 1981 season, the Alouettes folded and were replaced the next year by a new franchise named the Concordes.

In 1986 the Concordes were renamed the Alouettes to attract more fan support, but the team folded the next year. The loss of the Montreal franchise forced the league to move its easternmost Western team, Winnipeg, into the East Division from 1987 to 1994.

In 1993, the league admitted its first United States-based franchise, the Sacramento Gold Miners. After modest success, the league then expanded further in the U.S. in 1994 with the Las Vegas Posse, Baltimore Stallions, and Shreveport Pirates. For the 1995 campaign, the American teams were split off into their own South Division, and two more teams, the Birmingham Barracudas and Memphis Mad Dogs, were added; at the same time, the Posse folded and the Gold Miners relocated to become the San Antonio Texans. In 1995, the Stallions became the only non-Canadian team to win the Grey Cup.

Despite all American teams having the advantage of not being bound to the CFL's minimum Canadian player quotas, only the Stallions proved to be an on-field and off-field success. The establishment of the NFL's Baltimore Ravens, worsening financial problems among the league's core Canadian teams, and the inconsistent performance of the other American teams prompted the CFL to abandon its American experiment and retrench its Canadian operations. The Stallions organization was used as the basis for a revival of the Montreal Alouettes.

The CFL returned to an all-Canadian format in 1996 with nine teams; the league conducted a dispersal draft to distribute players from the disbanded American-based teams; however, the Ottawa Rough Riders, in existence since 1876, folded after the 1996 season (another dispersal draft was conducted the next year to distribute the former Rough Rider players among the remaining eight teams). Toronto and recently revived Montreal also were struggling; Montreal's woes were solved by moving to Percival Molson Memorial Stadium, a much smaller venue than the cavernous Olympic Stadium. The Winnipeg team again moved to the East Division from 1997 to 2001 to make up for the loss of Ottawa.

In 1997, the NFL provided a US$3-million interest-free loan to the financially struggling CFL. In return, the NFL was granted access to CFL players entering a defined two-month window in the option year of their contract. This was later written into the CFL's collective bargaining agreement with its players. The CFL's finances have since stabilized and they eventually repaid the loan. The CFL–NFL agreement expired in 2006. Both leagues have been attempting to reach a new agreement, but the CFL broke off negotiations in November 2007 after Canadian telecommunications firm Rogers Communications paid $78 million to host seven Bills games in Toronto over five seasons (the last Bills Toronto Series game was played during the 2013 NFL season).

In 2002, the league expanded back to nine teams with the creation of the Ottawa Renegades. After four seasons of financial losses, the Renegades were suspended indefinitely before the 2006 season; their players were absorbed by the remaining teams in a dispersal draft. Winnipeg was moved to the East Division again in 2006, a situation that continued until 2013.

In 2005, the league set an all-time attendance record with a total attendance of more than 2.3 million.

With Mark Cohon as commissioner of the league the CFL entered a period of stability and growth. New television deals, two new collective bargaining agreements, the 100th Grey Cup celebration, and widespread stadium renovation and rebuilding highlighted this era. The 100th anniversary of the Grey Cup had the highest ever television ratings for a championship game in English Canada.

During the 2000s the CFL had the third highest per-game attendance of any North American sports league and the seventh highest per-game attendance of any sports league worldwide. A 2006 survey conducted at the University of Lethbridge confirmed that the CFL was the second most popular sports league in Canada, with the following of 19% of the total adult Canadian population compared to 30% for the NHL. The NFL had 11% following, with a total of 26% following at least one of the pro football leagues. In other words, approximately 80% of Canadian football fans follow the CFL, and about 55% follow the NFL. With the absence of Ottawa from 2006 to 2013, league attendance hovered around the 2 million mark. It stood at 2,029,875 in 2012 for a single game average of 28,193. The 2007 season was a recent high point with average game attendance of 29,167, the best since 1983.

During Mark Cohon's time in office many of the teams either undertook major renovations to their existing stadiums, or constructed brand new stadiums. The Montreal Alouettes were the first to undertake this project, adding 5,000 seats to Percival Molson Memorial Stadium in time for the 2010 CFL season. The Edmonton Eskimos and Calgary Stampeders also renovated their respective stadiums and facilities for the 2010 season. In 2011, the BC Lions played under a new, retractable roof in BC Place after spending one and a half seasons at Empire Field. In 2013, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers moved to Investors Group Field, now known as IG Field, an entirely new stadium at the University of Manitoba. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats began using their new stadium, Tim Hortons Field, after spending 2013 at University of Guelph's stadium and the first half of the 2014 season at McMaster University's football field following the demolition of the iconic Ivor Wynne Stadium.

In 2014 the Ottawa Redblacks kicked off their inaugural season (having been awarded a franchise in 2008), becoming the third Ottawa franchise in CFL history. The new Ottawa franchise returned the league to a nine-team structure, with five teams in the West Division and four in the East; the Winnipeg Blue Bombers moved back to the West Division. The expansion Ottawa Redblacks played at the massively renovated Frank Clair Stadium, now branded as TD Place Stadium.

In Mark Cohon's last year as commissioner he negotiated a new five-year collective bargaining agreement (from 2014 through the 2018 season) between the CFL and the Canadian Football League Players' Association (CFLPA).

The Toronto Argonauts entered a period of transition off the field, with new ownership and a new stadium. The Argonauts were sold by politician/businessman David Braley to Bell Media and MLSE chairman Larry Tanenbaum. At the start of the 2016 season the Argos moved to BMO Field after more than twenty seasons at the Rogers Centre (formerly called the SkyDome from 1989 to 2005). Construction on the New Mosaic Stadium for the Saskatchewan Roughriders was completed in October 2016 and the first game was played in the 2017 season.

On May 22, 2015, Michael Sam signed a two-year contract with Montreal Alouettes of the CFL. The signing made him the first openly gay player in the league's history. Sam left the team the day before the first preseason game, citing personal reasons. As reported by Fox Sports, Sam returned to Montreal to continue his professional football career. He left again on August 14, this time permanently, again citing personal reasons.

Immediately following the 2015 season Jeffrey Orridge announced a re-branding for the CFL, including a new logo, motto, uniforms for all nine teams and website. After not having a drug enforcement policy in effect for the 2015 season the league and the CFLPA agreed to a new drug policy. On April 12, 2017 the Board of Governors and Jeffrey Orridge agreed to part ways, effective June 30, 2017; Orridge cited "differing views on the future of the league" between him and the Board of Governors for the departure, with both sides stating the decision was mutual and amicable. His last day as commissioner was June 15, 2017. Jim Lawson, the CFL's Chair of the Board of Governors, took over the duties of interim Commissioner until a suitable replacement was found.

On June 29, 2017, the CFL announced Randy Ambrosie would succeed Orridge as CFL commissioner. The move was made official on July 5, with Ambrosie named as the 14th commissioner of the league that day. Having spent nine seasons as a player with the Calgary Stampeders, Toronto Argonauts and Edmonton Eskimos from 1985 to 1993, Ambrosie is the first commissioner to have played in the league since Larry Smith left the position in 1997.

On September 12, 2018, it was announced that Buffalo, New York-based New Era Cap Company would become the official apparel supplier of the CFL beginning in 2019, replacing Adidas.

In October 2018, the CFL began focusing marketing internationally again after the unsuccessful expansion into the United States during the 1990s, with Ambrosie's plan being called CFL 2.0. Ambrosie partnered with the Professional American Football League of Mexico (LFA) for player development, as part of the league's plan to expand globally. Ambrosie also later announced a special edition of the CFL Combine to be held in 2019 in Mexico for Mexican players, which was held on January 13, 2019. Ambroise said he wished the combine in Mexico to become annual, and that a combine could be held in Europe. On January 14, 2019, the league held a draft of LFA and Mexican university players where wide receiver Diego Viamontes was the first pick, selected by the Edmonton Eskimos. The CFL announced in February 2019 that German and French football players from the German Football League and the Fédération française de football américain would participate in the CFL national combine. Throughout early 2019, Ambrosie actively travelled Europe forming partnerships between the CFL and top-level European American football leagues and associations, specifically Germany (GFL), Austria (AFL), France (FFFA), the Nordic countries (NL, VL, SS, and NAFL), and Italy (IFL). By January 2020 football leagues from 13 countries had signed partnerships with the CFL, these partnerships included mutual exchanging of players and coaches with leagues like the Mexican LFA holding reserved roster spots for Canadians with up to 25 playing in the league's 2020 season. In February 2020, the CFL expanded its global alliance system, welcoming the Japanese X-League, generally regarded the third-best professional gridiron league in the world. This coincided with the CFL announcing that its global combine in 2020 with new rules, including two designated active-roster international players and three practice-squad international players with as many as 45 global players in the league.

The league took over operations of the Montreal Alouettes prior to the 2019 season after Robert C. Wetenhall, the league's last non-Canadian owner, surrendered the franchise to the league in May. The Alouettes found new ownership in January 2020 in Crawford Steel executives Sid Spiegel and Gary Stern, whose holding company S and S Sportsco will oversee the team.

On August 17, 2020, the CFL cancelled its 2020 season after coronavirus-related social distancing mandates and travel restrictions imposed in most of Canada prevented the league from selling tickets and the league was unable to secure a bailout from the federal government to cover any losses. It was the first cancelled season in the league's history, and the first year without a Grey Cup championship since the canceled 1916–1919 seasons. The league returned in 2021, playing a shortened 14-game schedule which began that August, with the season concluding with the Grey Cup game in December for the first time since 1972. On March 10, 2021, the XFL announced that it was in talks with the CFL over the possibility of a future collaboration; these discussions were called off four months later with nothing coming of them.