Buffalo team (NFL)
This article needs additional citations for verification. (April 2012) |
Founded | 1915 |
---|---|
Suspended | 1928 |
Folded | 1929 |
Based in | Canisius College (1915–1923) (1924–1929)Bison Stadium |
Buffalo, New York had a turbulent, early-era National Football League team that operated under multiple names and several different owners between the 1910s and 1920s. The early NFL-era franchise was variously called the Buffalo All-Stars from 1915 to 1917,[1] Buffalo Niagaras in 1918,[2] the Buffalo Prospects in 1919,[3] Buffalo All-Americans from 1920 to 1923, Buffalo Bisons from 1924 to 1925 and in 1927 and 1929, and the Buffalo Rangers in 1926. The franchise, which was experiencing financial problems in 1928, did not participate in league play that season.
History
Prior to the NFL
Buffalo operated an early professional football circuit from at least the late 1800s onward. Among notable predecessors to the team discussed here were the Buffalo Oakdales, whose heyday was in the years 1908 and 1909 and who ceased operations c. 1915; the Cazenovias, who were New York's best team in 1910 and 1911; and the Lancaster Malleables, from the neighboring town of Lancaster, New York, who were the best team in the region in 1913 and 1914. These teams played each other and teams from nearby cities (for example, the Rochester Jeffersons).
The All-Stars played from 1915 to 1917 under the leadership of Eugene F. Dooley; in 1917, Dooley, along with his star player
Lepper teamed up with Hughitt and Patterson in early 1920 to create the Buffalo All-Americans, then quickly sold the team to Frank McNeil, a somewhat abrasive and aggressive owner who was able to get the team into the National Football League for its first season. However records indicate he may not have actually entered his team into the American Professional Football Association until 1921, the All-Americans are generally shown as the third-place team in league standings from that year (the confusion stems from a statement in the minutes from the league's April 1921 reorganization meeting admitting an unidentified team from Buffalo; this may have instead been the
The NFL
The All-Americans had success during its first couple of APFA seasons, posting a 9–1–1 regular season record in 1920, becoming the first professional NFL team to win by margins of 20 or more points in each of its first four games, an asterisked record which was not tied until the 2007 New England Patriots' offense duplicated the feat;[5] the asterisk is because, in the early NFL, the All-Americans played five of its 11 games against non-league opponents.[6]
The Buffalo-Phoenixville connection
Unique for a professional football team, the All-Americans had a sharing agreement with the
First trade in the NFL
In 1920, the Akron Pros held the All-Americans to a scoreless tie in front of only 3,000 fans. At the game, Akron owners Frank Nied and Art Ranney agreed to sell Bob Nash to Buffalo for $300 and five per cent of the gate, in the first known player deal between NFL clubs.[7]
1920 Championship issue
Along with the
Both the All-Americans and the Staleys complained about the championship, arguing that Akron had only tied, but not defeated them. However, because league president Jim Thorpe and vice president Stan Cofall were absent from the meeting, Akron's owner Art Ranney was presiding over the meeting. Joseph Carr, owner of the Columbus Panhandles, moved at the league's meeting in April 1921 to give Akron the sole title and the rights to the Brunswick-Balke Collender Cup. Buffalo finished in third place, with Chicago in second place. In a separate motion, Carr would be elected league president.[7]
According to modern NFL tie-breaking rules, the 1920 Buffalo All-Americans would be co-champions.[9] They would be tied with the Akron Pros in win percentage, 9+1⁄2 wins to 1+1⁄2 losses (.864), both teams beating out the Decatur Staleys, who would have a season that counted 11 wins to 2 losses (.846).
"Staley Swindle"
On November 27, 1921, the All-Americans claimed the APFA title with a record of 9–0–2. However, for reason still unknown, owner Frank McNeil agreed to play two more games. He did tell the Buffalo media that the two games were exhibitions and would have no bearing on the team's claim to the APFA title.
The All-Americans defeated the Pros, arriving in Chicago worn out and in no condition to play the Staleys, and lost. McNeil still believed his team was the APFA's 1921 champion, and even invested in tiny gold footballs for his players to commemorate the achievement. However Halas declared that the title was Chicago's, basing his claim on his belief that the second game of the Buffalo-Chicago series mattered more than the first. He also pointed out that the aggregate score of the two games was 16–14 in favor of the Staleys. McNeil insisted the Buffalo All-Americans were the champions, still maintaining that the last two games his team played were merely exhibitions. It didn't matter. The league awarded the championship by a vote of the Association's executive committee in January 1922 to the Staleys.
This episode is referred to by several sports historians and Buffalo sports fans as the "Staley Swindle." McNeil eventually went to his grave trying to get the league's decision overturned. [10] In their decision, based on a generally accepted (but now obsolete) rule that if two teams play each other more than once in a season, the second game counts more than the first, the executive committee followed established tradition. Had Buffalo not played the last game, they would have had an undefeated season and won the title.[11]
In both the 1920 and 1921 seasons, Buffalo played all of its games at home (the lone exceptions being the two 1921 matches in Chicago and one against the
Buffalo Bisons
Under the leadership of player-coach Tommy Hughitt, the All-Americans, though they never equaled the success of the first two seasons, continued to post winning records in 1922 and 1923. Star running back Ockie Anderson's knees deteriorated during the 1922 season, forcing his early retirement and beginning the team's decline. In 1924, owner Frank McNeil sold the team back to Hughitt and Warren D. Patterson, who immediately changed the team name to Bisons (a stock name for Buffalo sports teams) and signed several players (Pete Calac, Benny Boynton and Jim Ailinger being among them) to make another run at the title. After starting the season 6–2, the team lost their last three to once again end up marginally above .500. Hughitt retired at the end of the season. After Hughitt's retirement at the end of the 1924 season, the team struggled for the rest of its lifespan.
However, on October 1, 1925, the Bisons managed to wrestle
A week later, the Bisons were defeated by the Frankford Yellow Jackets, 12–3. However, the team was scheduled to play the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds, a few days later. The game was also going to be the first game back for Koppisch. However, the Bisons, despite a strong defensive showing, could not generate their offensive potential. This game was Koppisch's last appearance in a Buffalo uniform. The team then lost their final two games of the season to the Providence Steam Rollers (10–0) and the Chicago Cardinals (23–6).
In July 1926 it was announced that Walter Koppisch would not be returning to manage the Buffalo Bisons in the upcoming season. Meanwhile, Jim Kendrick was announced to be taking over as the team's manager, and serving as a player-coach.[12]
Buffalo Rangers
Jim Kendrick announced his "
Kendrick believed that if the players have no outside interests or anything to divert their minds from playing football, they can play better. The season's outcome would determine if his theory was correct.[13]
The Buffalo media alternately referred to the team as the "Bison Rangers," combining the old name with the new so that fans might more easily identify with the team that was on its third name in seven years. The one-year experiment brought a 4–4–2 (.500) season. Buffalo expected Kendrick to return to field the Rangers for the 1927 season, however he signed with the New York Giants, and most of the remaining players went their separate ways, citing their dislike for Buffalo's cold winters as the primary reason for leaving.[12]
Return of the Bisons and closure
With the exception of the three teams that have direct descendants still in the NFL—the Bears, Arizona Cardinals and Dayton Triangles (whose remains reside in the current Indianapolis Colts), Buffalo was the longest-lived of the league's original 13 teams.
At least one further game against an NFL team was played in Buffalo in the wake of the Bisons' failure: the independent Buffalo Bears narrowly lost, 8–6, to the
The team has no official relation to future Buffalo pro football franchises: the
Players of note
As of 2022, no All-Americans, Bisons or Rangers player had been named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It is currently the longest existing team to have never contributed a player to the Hall, after the Jacksonville Jaguars had their first player Tony Boselli inducted in 2022.
Members of the College Football Hall of Fame
Others
- Jim Ailinger, at the time of his death in 2001, the oldest surviving NFL alumnus.
- Ockie Anderson, teammate of Fritz Pollard on Union Club of Phoenixville in 1920 and considered one of the best forward passers of his era, winning a national title at Colgate in 1916.
- Walt Brewster
- Pete Calac, teammate of Jim Thorpe in 1920.
- Tommy Hughitt
- Heinie Miller
- Paul Robeson
- Gus Sonnenberg
- Lud Wray
Season records
Season | Team | League
|
Regular season
|
Post Season Results | References | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Finish | W | L | T | |||||
Buffalo All-Stars | ||||||||
1915 | 1915 | NYPFL | — | 6 | 0 | 1 | [15] | |
1916 | 1916 | NYPFL | — | 7 | 3 | 1 | Defeated Tonawanda Kardex for city title. State title disputed with Rochester Jefferons.
|
[16] |
1917 | 1917 | NYPFL | — | 3 | 4 | 1 | Won city title. Season cut short due to World War I. | [17] |
Buffalo Niagaras | ||||||||
1918 | 1918 | BSPFL † | 1st † | 5 | 0 | 0 | Named BSPFL Champions † | [18] |
Buffalo Prospects | ||||||||
1919 | 1919 | NYPFL † | 1st † | 9 | 1 | 1 | Named NYPFL Champions † | [19] |
Buffalo All-Americans | ||||||||
1920
|
1920 | APFA | 3rd | 9 | 1 | 1 | The APFA did not hold playoffs | [20] |
1921
|
1921 | APFA | 2nd | 9 | 1 | 2 | The APFA did not hold playoffs. There was a de facto championship between Buffalo and the Chicago Staleys | [21] |
1922 | 1922 | NFL | 9th | 5 | 4 | 1 | The NFL did not hold playoffs | [22] |
1923 | 1923 | NFL | 8th | 5 | 4 | 3 | The NFL did not hold playoffs | [23] |
Buffalo Bisons | ||||||||
1924 | 1924 | NFL | 9th | 6 | 5 | 0 | The NFL did not hold playoffs | [24] |
1925 | 1925 | NFL | 15th | 1 | 6 | 2 | The NFL did not hold playoffs | [25] |
Buffalo Rangers | ||||||||
1926 | 1926 | NFL | 9th | 4 | 4 | 2 | The NFL did not hold playoffs | [26] |
Buffalo Bisons | ||||||||
1927 | 1927 | NFL | 12th | 0 | 5 | 0 | The NFL did not hold playoffs | [27] |
1928 | 1928 | NFL | Suspended Operations | |||||
1929 | 1929 | NFL | 10th | 1 | 7 | 1 | The NFL did not hold playoffs | [28] |
External links
- Historical Society of the Buffalo All-Americans, Bisons & Rangers
- Buffalo Bills fanclub, which tracks the Football history of Western New York State.
References
- ^ Sye, Roy. Buffalo All-Stars all time results. Professional Football Researchers Association.
- ^ "History of Pro Football in Buffalo". Billsbackers.com. Archived from the original on 2012-02-14. Retrieved 2012-11-01.
- ^ "History of Pro Football in Buffalo". Billsbackers.com. Archived from the original on 2012-02-14. Retrieved 2012-11-01.
- ^ "Buffalo Prospects". Independentfootball.site90.com. 2011-10-25. Archived from the original on 2011-02-01. Retrieved 2012-11-01.
- ^ "Patriots at Bengals: Game notes". 2007-10-01. Archived from the original on 2011-05-19. Retrieved 2007-10-02.
- ^ ESPN Monday Night Football broadcast, October 1, 2007. 2007-10-01.
commentator discussion when noting the tied record post-game
- ^ a b Carroll, Bob (1982). "Akron Pros: 1920" (PDF). Coffin Corner. 4 (12). Professional Football Researchers Association: 1–6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-11.
- ^ "Buffalo Faces Canton at the Polo Grounds". Retrieved 2009-11-09.
- ^ "NFL Tie-Breaking Procedures". nfl.com. Retrieved 2012-11-01.
- ^ "Who really won the championship in 1921? (p/o "History of Professional Football in Western New York")". Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2007-10-02.
- ^ "1921:The Staley Swindle". Retrieved 2009-11-09.
- ^ a b c Miller, Jeffery (2003). "Jim Kendrick: The Man with the Plan" (PDF). Coffin Corner. 25 (6). Professional Football Researchers Association: 1–6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-11-26.
- ^ *Crippen, Ken (2002). "1926 Buffalo Rangers" (PDF). Coffin Corner. 24 (4). Professional Football Researchers Association: 1–6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-10-10.
- NFL.com.
- ^ "The Pro Football Archives". The Pro Football Archives. 1915-11-14. Archived from the original on 2012-04-01. Retrieved 2012-11-01.
- ^ "1916 All-Buffalo". The Pro Football Archives. Archived from the original on 2012-03-18. Retrieved 2012-11-01.
- ^ "The Pro Football Archives". The Pro Football Archives. Archived from the original on 2008-09-04. Retrieved 2012-11-01.
- ^ "History of Pro Football in Western New York-1918". Billsbackers.com. Archived from the original on 2012-03-15. Retrieved 2012-11-01.
- ^ "Table Of Contents" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-10-22. Retrieved 2012-11-01.
- ^ "1920 Buffalo All-Americans Statistics & Players". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2012-11-01.
- ^ "1921 Buffalo All-Americans Statistics & Players". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2012-11-01.
- ^ "1922 Buffalo All-Americans Statistics & Players". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
- ^ "1923 Buffalo All-Americans Statistics & Players". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
- ^ "1924 Buffalo Bisons Statistics & Players". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
- ^ "1925 Buffalo Bisons Statistics & Players". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
- ^ "1926 Buffalo Rangers Statistics & Players". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
- ^ "1927 Buffalo Bisons Statistics & Players". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
- ^ "1929 Buffalo Bisons Statistics & Players". Pro-Football-Reference.com.