Frankford Yellow Jackets
This article needs additional citations for verification. (May 2022) |
General managers | Shep Royle (1924–25, 1930–31) Theodore Holden (1926) James Adams (1927–30) |
---|---|
Owner(s) | Frankford Athletic Association |
NFL Championship wins | 1 (1926) |
Home field(s) | Frankford Stadium
|
The Frankford Yellow Jackets were a professional
Founding
Frankford Athletic Association
The Frankford Athletic Association was organized in May 1899 in the parlor of the Suburban Club. The cost of purchasing a share in the association was $10. However, there were also contributing memberships, ranging from $1 to $2.50, made available to the general public. The Association was a community-based non-profit organization of local residents and businesses. In keeping with its charter, which stated that "all profits shall be donated to charity", all of the team's excess income was donated to local charitable institutions. The beneficiaries of this generosity included Frankford Hospital, the Frankford Day Nursery, the local Boy Scouts, and the local American Legion Post 211. The officers of the Association never received a salary or compensation for their work on behalf of the team.
The playing field, known as Wistar Field, became the first official home of the Yellow Jackets. Several years later, when the construction of the current high school was proposed, the team moved to
The original Frankford Athletic Association disbanded before the 1909 football season. Several of the original players from the 1899 football team kept the team together, and they became known as Loyola Athletic Club. In keeping with Yellow Jackets tradition, they carried the "Frankford" name again in 1912, to become the Frankford Athletic Association.
Yellow Jackets and the NFL
In the early 1920s, the Frankford Athletic Association's Yellow Jackets gained the reputation of being one of the best independent football teams in the nation. In 1922, Frankford absorbed the Philadelphia City Champion team, the Union Quakers of Philadelphia. That year Frankford captured the unofficial championship of Philadelphia. During the 1922 and 1923 seasons the Yellow Jackets compiled a 6–2–1 record against teams from the National Football League. This led to the Association being granted an NFL franchise in 1924.
1924 season
The Yellow Jackets assembled in September 1924 under coach
1925 season
In 1925 the Frankford Athletic Association enlisted the services of
1925 NFL Championship controversy
The Yellow Jackets had a part in the 1925 NFL Championship controversy. A dispute arose over a game that the nearby Pottsville Maroons had played against the
1926 Championship season
The Yellow Jackets began the
During the final weekend of October, the Yellow Jackets had a league-leading 6–0–1 record. However, they had an upcoming two-game set with their toughest opponent yet, the
After a win over the Chicago Bears, the Yellow Jackets played a second two-game series against the Providence Steam Rollers. Frankford won the first game 24–0, but the second was canceled because of heavy snow. Frankford then had to play their final game of the season against the Pottsville Maroons, who were still upset after their NFL championship title had been stripped from them after complaints from Frankford. The game resulted in a scoreless tie. However, a 14–1–2 final record left the Yellow Jackets alone atop the NFL standings. Since a Championship Game would not exist in the NFL until 1933, the team with the best regular-season record was named the NFL Champion. This gave the Yellow Jackets undisputed claim to the league crown. The Jackets' 14 wins during the 1926 championship season set an NFL record for regular-season victories that stood until 1984 when it was broken by the 15–1–0 San Francisco 49ers.
One day after capturing the title, however, Theodore "Thee" Holden and Guy Chamberlin stepped down as president and coach of the Frankford Athletic Association.
1927–1929 seasons
James Adams took over as president of the Frankford Athletic Association in 1927. He hired
Decline
1930 season
The Yellow Jackets began to decline mainly because of financial hardships brought on by the
Final season
Before the start of the 1931 season, Frankford Stadium was severely damaged by a fire, forcing the club to find another location for its home games. However, most facilities suitable for professional football were already booked. The Yellow Jackets had to overcome this scheduling problem by playing at two different locations around the city of Philadelphia: Philadelphia Municipal Stadium and Baker Bowl. Philadelphia Municipal Stadium and Baker Bowl were located outside of the Frankford area, making attendance difficult for local fans. The team had hoped to draw broader support from Philadelphia at large.
Herb Joesting took over as head coach in 1931. However, the team was in terrible shape. Some members of the press began referring to the team as the Philadelphia Yellow Jackets, in an attempt to increase fan support, which failed to materialize. By October, NFL President Joe Carr, after witnessing the poor attendance at Frankford's home loss to the Portsmouth Spartans, approved a plan for the Yellow Jackets to finish the season as a traveling team. Carr hoped that this move would allow the team to curb spending and rebound financially.
On October 26, 1931, the Yellow Jackets defeated the Chicago Bears, 13–12, at Wrigley Field. This game marked the last time a Philadelphia-based NFL team would win an away game over the Bears until October 17, 1999, when the Eagles defeated the Bears 20–16 at Soldier Field. The 1928 Yellow Jackets win over the Packers marked the last time in 51 years a Philadelphia NFL team won a road victory over the Packers; the Eagles' 1979 win at Green Bay finally ended that streak.
Legacy
The Frankford Athletic Association not only fielded the Yellow Jackets football team, but also the Yellow Jackets' Band and the Frankford Legion Post 211 Drum & Bugle Corps. The Association also sponsored bus and train trips for fans to travel along to games in such places as Pottsville and New York City, where even the host teams' sportswriters took notice of their enthusiasm. The club occasionally sponsored half-time exhibitions by the Frankford Midgets, as well as a women's football team. The latter is the first evidence of women playing organized football (in 1926).[2][3]
During their time in the NFL, Frankford's
Today the Philadelphia Fire Department's Engine 14, stationed in Frankford, have adopted the Yellow Jackets moniker on their fire trucks.
Philadelphia Eagles
After two more games following the victory in Chicago, both shutout losses – indeed, the 1931 Yellow Jackets were shut out in every game besides the aforementioned victory – the Yellow Jackets suspended operations. Unable to find a buyer, the Frankford Athletic Association returned the franchise to the league.
The NFL spent over a year searching for a new team to operate in Philadelphia. On July 9, 1933, the NFL granted an expansion franchise to
This has led to assumptions that the Yellow Jackets went into recess for the 1932 season before returning to the league as the Eagles. However, that is not the case. Bell and Wray did not buy the Yellow Jackets team, but rather the NFL rights to the Philadelphia area that had formerly belonged to the Frankford Athletic Association.
Due to the period of dormancy, the Eagles do not claim the Yellow Jackets' history as their own, while the NFL considers the Eagles as a 1933 expansion team for record-keeping purposes. Additionally, Bell and Wray assembled an almost entirely new team, with only one player (Art Koeninger) from the 1931 Yellow Jackets on the roster of the 1933 Eagles.
Despite this, in the first few years of the Eagles' existence, they wore
Hall of Famers
Frankford Yellow Jackets Hall of Famers | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Players | ||||
No. | Name | Position | Tenure | Inducted |
— | Guy Chamberlin | End/HB Coach |
1925–1926 | 1965 |
— | William "Link" Lyman |
T |
1925 | 1964 |
Other notable players
- Nate Barragar
- Bull Behman
- Jug Earp
- Two-Bits Homan
- Herb Joesting
- Mort Kaer
- Bill Kelly
- Joseph Lightner
- Hap Moran
- Ray Richards
- Herb Stein
- Hust Stockton
- George Sullivan
- Charley "Pie" Way
- Ed Weir
Season-by-season record
(Record of NFL play only)
Year | W | L | T | Finish | Coach |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1924 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 3rd | Punk Berryman |
1925 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 6th | Guy Chamberlin |
1926 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 1st | Guy Chamberlin |
1927 | 6 | 9 | 3 | 7th | Russ Daugherty/Ed Weir (4–4–2)
|
1928 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 2nd | Ed Weir |
1929 | 10 | 4 | 5 | 3rd | Bull Behman |
1930 | 4 | 13 | 1 | 9th | Bull Behman (2–10–1); George Gibson (2–3) |
1931 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 10th | Bull Behman |
References
- ^ ""Frankford Yellow Jackets, History", HickokSports.Com". hickoksports.com. Archived from the original on 2003-11-05.
- ^ Melinda Sparks. "Central Florida Anarchy Women's Football Team Home". Cfanarchy.com. Retrieved 2017-02-28.
- ^ "A History of Women in Tackle Football". Angelfire.com. Retrieved 2017-02-28.
- ^ "The Pennsylvania Center for the Book - Frankford Yellow Jackets". pabook2.libraries.psu.edu.