The Story And Significance Of Eddie DeBartalo Jr. - Owner Of Five Super Bowl Champion San Francisco 49er Teams

Edward John DeBartolo Jr. is an American businessman best known for his 23-year ownership of the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League. The five Super Bowls the 49ers dynasty won in 14 years are a record total for a single owner. On February 6, 2016, DeBartolo was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a contributor.

DeBartolo was involved in the 1998 corruption case of former Louisiana governor Edwin Edwards. DeBartolo pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to report a felony and received a $1 million fine along with two years of probation in return for his testimony against Edwards. DeBartolo was fined by the NFL and barred from active control of the 49ers for a year. On February 18, 2020, President Donald Trump granted DeBartolo a presidential pardon.

DeBartolo was born and raised in Youngstown, Ohio, the son of Marie Patricia (Montani) and Edward J. DeBartolo Sr., a real estate developer. He went to high school at Cardinal Mooney.

DeBartolo developed shopping malls as part of a corporation founded by his father, Edward J. DeBartolo Sr. The Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation became one of the largest public real estate businesses in the United States, at one point controlling over two billion square feet of retail real estate space nationwide.

DeBartolo was actively involved in franchise ownership and sports management, becoming one of the most successful and generous owners in professional sports. His ownership of the 49ers proved especially notable. During DeBartolo's 23 years owning the team beginning in 1977, the team won an unprecedented five Super Bowls under coaches Bill Walsh and George Seifert: Super Bowl XVI in 1982, XIX in 1985, XXIII in 1989, XXIV 1990, and XXIX in 1995. From the early 1980s through the mid-1990s, DeBartolo presided over a team that had the most wins within a decade in football history.

According to 49ers quarterback Steve Young, DeBartolo's "family approach" to running the team changed the landscape of the NFL. Under it, "the players were what mattered", and that changed the face of the sport as other teams began to follow the 49ers' model. "In most of the league, the players were chattel. What I see in the league today are owners who have made their players partners. That changes the nature of the NFL." DeBartolo affirms this, saying: "I tried to run the 49ers like a family rather than a business. I viewed the players and myself really, basically, as a partnership. Our goal was to win the Super Bowl every year, and we had to do that together."

In 1991, DeBartolo arranged to sell the family-owned Pittsburgh Penguins National Hockey League franchise to assist the DeBartolo Corporation in the aftermath of the real estate collapse of 1987. His sister, Denise DeBartolo York, had served as president. Five years later, many family-owned shopping malls were sold to the Simon Property Group, which operated for a few years as the Simon DeBartolo Group.

In 1992, DeBartolo was accused of sexual assault at his Menlo Park condo by a cocktail waitress he met at a local bar. The married DeBartolo, who denied any wrongdoing, was never charged but reportedly paid $200,000 to settle the case out of court.

DeBartolo was involved in the 1998 corruption case of Edwin Edwards, former governor of Louisiana. DeBartolo pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to report a felony, and received a $1 million fine and two years of probation in return for his testimony against Edwards. Edwards was on trial for extortion and other charges, among which were the $400,000 he demanded from DeBartolo to gain a riverboat casino license. DeBartolo received the license, but withdrew from the casino project after he was subpoenaed during the subsequent bribery investigation. DeBartolo was fined by the NFL, and barred from active control of the 49ers for a year.

DeBartolo could have returned to the team, but instead ceded control of the franchise to his sister, Denise York, in 2000, in return for other parts of the family business empire. In spite of the public perception that the transfer had been forced by the league, DeBartolo confirms it was voluntary.

DeBartalo said on the matter that "Truthfully, the team really wasn't taken away from me. I think it's been a misnomer for many many years. Commissioner Tagliabue did obviously suspend me, but as I was going through negotiations with my family and we went through these negotiations and we went through them with lawyers, obviously and with a judge in Akron, Ohio. It did not come down to that team being taken, it came down to a decision that had to be made whether or not I wanted the 49ers or whether or not I wanted to take the other part of the company. And I figured at that time, and my sister Denise (49ers owner Denise York) was involved totally as was her family. I decided in that meeting in Akron Ohio, that I thought it would be best that I took the other side and my tenure with the 49ers would end then and end there. I don't know if that story has ever been told, it may have been, it may have not been. But, it really was a choice, I figured there was more to do with my life at that time. I had succeeded and done a lot with the 49ers. It meant the world to me, but I figured with my daughters, with them getting older and obviously with all of us getting older and having grandchildren at the time, and them planning on families, that it would be best for me to do what was best to be a good grandfather, be a good husband and dad, and do what I want to do and maybe travel a little bit and spend more time with my family"

Hall of Fame offensive tackle Anthony Muñoz of the Cincinnati Bengals attended a celebrity flag football game at Candlestick Park in 2014 — the last football event before the 49ers' old home was torn down, where he said:

The final touchdown pass, there were probably 30,000 people in that stadium viewing a bunch of old guys playing a flag football game, but to see (Montana) throw to (DeBartolo) for the final touchdown there and to hear the fans go crazy and to see the admiration from these former players like Ronnie Lott and Joe Montana; that to me was impressive ... to me, that's what it's all about.

On February 18, 2020, President Donald Trump granted DeBartolo a presidential pardon.

DeBartolo and his wife, Candy, have three daughters: Lisa, Nicole, and Tiffanie. Tiffanie is an author and the director of the film Dream for an Insomniac (1996). In 2007, DeBartolo co-founded Brooks-DeBartolo Collegiate High School in Tampa, Florida with fellow Pro Football Hall of Fame member Derrick Brooks.

DeBartolo also has a half-brother, Edward M. Kobel, who is the current president and COO of DeBartolo Development.

DeBartolo's mother was Marie Patricia Montani DeBartolo, in whose honor the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center at the University of Notre Dame was posthumously dedicated.

On December 1, 2024, Donald Trump nominated DeBartolo's son-in-law Chad Chronister,Sheriff of Hillsborough County, FL, as head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. However, Chronister withdrew his name from consideration a few days later.

Sources

"DeBartolo Holdings". DeBartolo Holdings. Retrieved May 18, 2010.

 Family approach leads Eddie DeBartolo to steps of Hall of Fame

 Price, Taylor. "Former 49ers Owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr. Selected to Pro Football Hall of Fame". Forty Niners Football Company LLC. Archived from the original on March 12, 2016. Retrieved February 7, 2016.

 Cole, Jason (August 1, 2008). "Is DeBartolo worthy of spot in Hall?". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved January 19, 2020.

 Smith, Michael David (February 18, 2020). "Trump pardons Eddie DeBartolo Jr". profootballtalk.nbcsports.com. Retrieved February 18, 2020.

 Gareffa, Peter M. (March 1989). Newsmakers, 1989 Subscription. ISBN 9780810322080.

 "DeBartolo Holdings History". DeBartolo Holdings. Retrieved May 18, 2010.

 Rick Reilly (September 10, 1990). "To Eddie DeBartolo Jr., the most generous owner in sports, nothing is too good for a San Francisco 49er – SI Vault". Sportsillustrated.cnn.com. Retrieved May 18, 2010.

 "Historical Highlights". 49ers.com. June 6, 1944. Archived from the original on December 23, 2010. Retrieved May 18, 2010.

 Winokur, Scott (August 1, 1999). "The Life & Times Of Eddie Debartolo". sfgate.com. Retrieved November 6, 2015.

 Dietz, David; Arceneaux, Howard (October 7, 1998). "DeBartolo Guilty of Felony / $1 million fine, 2 years of probation". sfgate.com. Retrieved May 18, 2010.

 Holloway, Patrick (January 26, 2016). "Eddie DeBartolo speaks to Bay Area media". Niners Nation. Retrieved January 19, 2020.

 Knapp, Gwen (April 22, 2008). "DeBartolo: 49ers on right track". Sfgate.com. Retrieved May 18, 2010.

 "49ers Honor Former Owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr". ESPN. September 20, 2009. Retrieved January 24, 2011.

 "Homepage News Article » Road to Canton (via South Florida)". Profootballhof.com. October 14, 2009. Archived from the original on January 13, 2010. Retrieved May 18, 2010.

History Of The American Football League (1937) - Also Known As The Midwest Football League Or The American Professional Football League

This American Football League was formed in 1935 and started its first season in 1937 as the Midwest Football League which was a minor professional American football league that folded in 1940. Originally comprising teams from Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois, the league eventually expanded its reach to include teams from Missouri, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and California to become a national league with major league aspirations by 1939. In 1938, the league became the American Football League after the collapse of the second major league of the same name, but changed its name once again the following year to American Professional Football Association (APFA). Some sources refer to it as the American Professional Football League.

Originally without major league aspirations, the APFA changed its ambition along with its name in 1939 when it admitted the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Bulldogs, two teams that survived the 1937 AFL collapse and spent the 1938 season as independent teams. Another independent Ohio team, the Columbus Bullies, also joined the loop for 1939.

After the end of the 1939 season, the league was preparing to become a new major league (with Milwaukee replacing Los Angeles in the lineup) when eastern businessmen lured Cincinnati, Columbus, and Milwaukee to join teams based in Boston, Buffalo, and New York to form a new American Football League. The resulting split doomed the APFA as two members folded and two others were turned away from membership in the new league).

The Midwest Football League was formed in 1935 with George Heitzler as president and James C. Hogan as secretary-treasurer. Like the National Football League in its first year, it was a loose assemblage of teams from the American Midwest, with teams representing Cincinnati, Dayton, Indianapolis, Louisville, Columbus, Ohio, and Springfield, Illinois. The league did not maintain standings for its first year and declared the Cincinnati Models, Indianapolis Indians and Louisville Tanks tri-champions.

In its second year the MFL was transformed from an informal collection of teams to an official minor league of professional American football. A second team from Cincinnati, the Treslers (named after sponsor Tresler Oil), and 1935 tri-champion Indians were replaced by another team from Indianapolis, the Leons. After a regular season in which the Cincinnati Models finished with an undefeated, untied record, the Louisville Tanks defeated them in the league championship game, 2-0 Two weeks later, the Models defeated the Tanks in a rematch, 19-7, but the MWL considered the contest to be an exhibition game with no effect on the status of the league championship.

Beaten by the Models both on and off the field, the Cincinnati Treslers – with quarterback Pete Rose, Sr. (father of baseball's Pete Rose) – left the MFL. That was not the only change involving a Cincinnati professional football team: Models head coach Hal Pennington was enticed by Queen City Athletics, Inc., to form a new team, this time to compete in a major pro football league: the Cincinnati Bengals of the second American Football League.

The Treslers were not the only MFL team to leave the league in 1937. The Springfield Bicos and Columbus Bobos also left, while the Ashland Armcos (named after a local steel manufacturing business) joined. With new player-coach John Wiethe, the Cincinnati Models returned to its winning ways, including a 95-7 demolition of the Indianapolis Indians, which failed to win a game for the second consecutive year. Only a loss to Ashland kept the Models from another unbeaten regular season.

The 1937 league championship game was a rematch of the two team who battled for the title in 1936, with the same result: the Louisville Tanks shut out the Models to win its third title in the Tanks' third season of competition.

After the conclusion of the 1937 season, change was inevitable for the MFL as the second AFL imploded. Indianapolis left after two years without a win, Ashland departed after one winning season. The MFL quickly adopted the name of the recently-deceased league and expanded its reach by adding teams in East Chicago, Indiana and Nashville, Tennessee. The Cincinnati Bengals (formerly of the second AFL) were asked to join the newly minted American Football League… and opted to remain an independent team instead.

On the other hand, Bengals head coach Hal Pennington did return to the Cincinnati Models, just in time to see the team’s name change to the Cincinnati Blades.

The Louisville Tanks won championships in the three years of the existnence of the Midwest Football League. Prior to joining the AFL, the St. Louis Gunners were an independent team that actually played three games in the NFL in 1934 as a replacement for the ill-fated Cincinnati Reds. After the demise of the AFL, the Gunners returned to an independent status. The Cincinnati Blades disbanded October 13, 1938 (after playing three games, all Blades victories); the scheduled games were not cancelled, and as a result, they were officially recorded as forfeit losses for the Blades. League requests for the Cincinnati Bengals (a team that was founded by Blades head coach Hal Pennington) to replace the Blades for the remaining games were rebuffed.

Following the three Midwest Football League champions from 1935 to 1938, the Tanks became the first professional football team to win four consecutive league championships. Only the Cleveland Browns (AAFC 1945-1949, NFL 1950) have managed to match this feat so far.

The league changed its name once again in 1939 as it bares itself of any pretense of being a regional league. After one year of being the American Football League, the league became the American Professional Football Association, ironically the original name of the professional football league that became the National Football League. The name of the league was not the only change for the season: the Dayton Rosies became the Dayton Bombers; the Nashville Rebels left the league after only one year of competition; and Wisconsin's Kenosha Cardinals and three familiar teams joined the loop for the upcoming season.

The Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Bulldogs were members of the second AFL in 1937, with Los Angeles winning the championship with an undefeated, untied record. The Bengals and the Columbus Bullies became charter members of the successor to this league, the "third AFL" in 1940, with the Bullies winning the championship in both years of its existence. The Bulldogs became a charter franchise of the Pacific Coast League in 1940.

The Cincinnati Bengals were wooed by the league on at least three occasions before they finally agreed to join for the 1939 season. The Bengals were offered an opportunity to join the former Midwest Football League in 1938 (as a natural rival for the Cincinnati Models/Blades, and when the Blades stopped playing, the AFL asked the Bengals if they could take over the Blades' remaining games in the 1938 Blades' AFL schedule. Citing scheduling conflicts, the Bengals refused the invitation.

There was no championship game in 1930. In a meeting of the owners of the APFA on January 7, 1940, the Columbus Bullies were announced as league champions with a 9-2 record, despite the standings shown above. It was the only time that the Louisville Tanks failed to win the league title.

As the 1939 season wound down, the league anticipated change as Los Angeles left the loop to help form the football version of the Pacific Coast League. With the subsequent awarding of a new franchise to Milwaukee, the league announced plans to compete with the National Football League as the Green Bay Packers protested the intrusion into their territory.

In July 1940, the league's ambitious plans for the upcoming season were derailed. A group of businessmen based on the American East Coast started to form their own American Football League, adding franchises in Boston, New York, and Buffalo to APFA members Cincinnati, Columbus, and Milwaukee. The action split the two-year old league and mortally wounded it. After Louisville and Dayton both decided not to field teams for the 1940 season, only three teams (Chicago, Kenosha, and St. Louis) remained. The APFA subsequently called it a day.

Kenosha and St. Louis applied to the new AFL for membership and were eventually rejected. They (and the Chicago Indians) rejoined the ranks of independent professional football teams in 1940, ironically often playing the teams that left the APFA in the first place.

Sources

George Gipe, The Great American Sports Book (Doubleday 1978) ISBN 0-385-13091-0

 Kenosha Cardinals: Life on the Fringe (1983)

 All Those A.F.L.'s: N.F.L. Competitors 1935-41 – Bob Braunwort, Professional Football Researchers Association (1989)

 Back Before Bengalmania: Cincinnati’s First Brush With the Big Time – Bob Gill, Professional Football Researchers Association (1989)

 some sources, such as Back Before Bengalmania: Cincinnati's First Brush With the Big Time report that the league had a Shaughnessy playoff in which the first place Models played the fourth place Springfield Bicos while the second place Tanks played the third place Dayton Rosies, with the Models and Tanks advancing to the championship.

 Back Before Bengalmania: Cincinnati's First Brush With the Big Time – Bob Gill, Professional Football Researchers Association (1989)

 All Those A.F.L.’s: N.F.L. Competitors 1935-41 – Bob Braunwort, Professional Football Researchers Association (1989)

 David L. Porter, ed., Biographical Dictionary of American Sports: Football (Greenwood Press 1987) ISBN 0-313-25771-X, p. 141

 The Bulldogs: L.A. Hits the Big Time - Bob Gill, Pro Football Research Association (1982)