Los Angeles Dons
Founded | 1946 |
---|---|
Folded | 1949 |
Based in | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
League | All-America Football Conference |
Division | Western Division |
Team colors | Red, White, Blue |
Owner(s) | Fernando Gonzalez III |
Home field(s) | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum |
The Los Angeles Dons were an American football team in the newly formed football league the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) from 1946 to 1949, and played their home games in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The Dons were the first professional football team to play a regular season game in Los Angeles, California, two weeks before the first game of the rival Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League, who had moved from Cleveland.[1]
Team history
Launch
In
franchise, which was to compete directly with the newly-relocated Rams of the NFL, was known as the Los Angeles Dons.The leader of the ownership group was Fernando Gonzalez III, a California businessman and longtime football fan.[1] Other owners included Hollywood notables Louis B. Mayer, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and actor Don Ameche.[1]
The Dons' head coach was
The Dons shared the Coliseum with the Rams for home games.[3] Although never filling the mammoth facility, the club made a show of offering vast numbers of tickets for sale at reasonable prices, including 40,000 reserved seats for each home contest priced at $2.50, 15,000 general admission seats costing $1.50, and 8,000 children's tickets priced at just sixty cents.[3]
The team played its first regular season home game in 1946 on against the Brooklyn Dodgers on September 13 in before a Friday night crowd of 18,955 — the first time professional football had ever been played in the Coliseum. [3][4] The Dons took a first quarter lead on a 55-yard pass from quarterback "Chuckin' Charlie" O'Rourke to Bernie Nygren and never looked back, triumphing 20–14 over the visitors from New York.[5] The Dons opened the inaugural season with three wins and a tie before a rough spell; they finished in third place in the AAFC's Western Division with a record of 7–5–2, out of the playoffs.[6]
Development
For most of their existence, the Dons compiled an average record, and never qualified for the AAFC playoffs. This was mainly because they were in the same division as the league's two most powerful teams, the
Legacy
One Dons player,
Pro Football Hall of Famers
Los Angeles Dons Hall of Famers | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Players | ||||
No. | Name | Position | Tenure | Inducted |
50 | Len Ford | DE | 1948–1949 | 1976 |
Season-by-season
Season | W | L | T | Finish | Playoff results |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1946 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 3rd AAFC West | -- |
1947 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 3rd AAFC West | -- |
1948 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 3rd AAFC West | -- |
1949 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 5th AAFC | -- |
Totals | 25 | 27 | 2 |
References
- ^ a b c Jerry Crowe, "The Dons of L.A. Pro Sports," Los Angeles Times, September 13, 2006.
- ^ a b Ray Schmidt, "Welcome to LA," Archived May 11, 2012, at the Wayback Machine The Coffin Corner, vol. 25, no. 3 (2003), pg. 1.
- ^ a b c Ray Schmidt, "Welcome to LA," pg. 6.
- ^ "LA Dons win opener, beat Dodgers 20-14". Oxnard Press-Courier. (California). United Press. September 14, 1946. p. 2.
- ^ "Brooklyn Dodgers 14 at Los Angeles Dons 20: Friday, September 13, 1946," pro-football-reference.com/
- ^ "1946 Los Angeles Dons," pro-football-reference.com/
- ^ James P. Quirk and Rodney D. Fort, Pay Dirt: The Business of Professional Team Sports, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1992; pg. 438.
External links
- Los Angeles Dons Franchise Encyclopedia, pro-football-reference.com/