Massillon Tigers
J.J. Wise (1905–1906) E. J. Stewart (1906) Sherburn Wightman (1907) Stan Cofall (1915–1916) Charles Brickley (1917) Bob Nash (1917–1919) | |
| Owner(s) | Massillon Tigers |
|---|---|
| Ohio League Championship wins | 6 (1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1915) |
| Undefeated seasons | 3 (1904, 1905, 1907) |
| Mascot(s) | Obie |
The Massillon Tigers were an early professional football team from Massillon, Ohio. Playing in the "Ohio League", the team was a rival to the pre-National Football League version of the Canton Bulldogs. The Tigers won Ohio League championships in 1903, 1904, 1905, and 1906, then merged to become "All-Massillons" to win another title in 1907. The team returned as the Tigers in 1915 but, with the reemergence of the Bulldogs, only won one more Ohio League title. Pro football was popularized in Ohio when the amateur Massillon Tigers hired four Pittsburgh pros to play in the season-ending game against Akron. At the same time, pro football declined in the Pittsburgh area, and the emphasis on the pro game moved west from Pennsylvania to Ohio.
The team opted not to join the APFA (later renamed the NFL) in 1920; it remained an independent club through 1923, when the Tigers folded. During their time as an independent, the Tigers never played against any team in the NFL, even though several other independent teams did. The Massillon Tigers team name was transferred to Massillon Washington High School, which still uses it.
History
Origins
The Massillon area had fielded several amateur football teams featuring only local players since the early 1890s. However while some had performed well, the others were more likely to be defeated when they played their
Name origin
1900s
Inaugural season
When the Tigers began play in 1903, several of the expected starters hadn't touched a football in eight or more years. According to locals belief,
After the Canton-Massillon game, the Tigers began to look at winning the mythical "Ohio League" championship. On
1904
In 1904 the Tigers repeated as Ohio League champions. It was during this time that at least seven teams in Ohio began hiring players for games. Most of these "ringers" were from Pittsburgh. Many players were hired on a per game basis and were never signed to any written contract.
The Tigers defeated the Akron East Ends again (now renamed the Akron Athletic Club) 6-5 after Akron's
Bulldogs-Tigers rivalry: 1905-1906
By 1905 the Tigers were considered one of the top three teams in the country, along with the Latrobe Athletic Association and the Canton Bulldogs. Both teams were constantly fighting for the best players in football. In fact the Bulldogs, or Canton Athletic Club as it was called at the time, formed their football team in 1905 with sole objective of beating the Tigers, who had won every Ohio League championship since 1903.[3][4]
1905 championship
Both teams spent lavish amounts of money to bring in ringers from out of town. The teams first played each other twice in 1905, with Massillon winning the first game 14-4. The second game saw a 10-0 Massillon win, however the win drew protests from Canton coach Blondy Wallace, who argued against a 10-ounce ball used by Massillon during the game, instead of the regular 16-ounce ball. The 10-ounce ball was provided to the Tigers by their owner, a Massillon newspaper editor. The protest fell on deaf ears, and Massillon was named the 1905 Ohio League champions.[5]
1906 financial charges
In the off-season prior to the 1906 season, a news story in The Plain Dealer alleged that the Canton Athletic Club was financially broke and could not pay its players for that final game. The club denied the allegation and insisted that every dollar promised had indeed been delivered. Many Canton followers believed the story had originated in Massillon as a trick to discredit their team and make it tougher for Canton to recruit players for 1906. Massillon coach, Ed Stewart, who had newspaper connections was believed by Canton to have planted the story. However, while Canton was in fact losing money in 1905, a group of area businessmen shouldered the losses.
In a counter-charge, Canton insisted that the Tigers were also deeply in debt. However, a statement by the Tigers showed $16,037.90 in receipts and only $16,015.65 in expenditures. The only problem with Massillon's figures was that they only listed salaries, including railroad fare, at $6,740.95, which means the players were getting only about $50 per game. However, it is believed, like with Canton, that Massillon's area boosters picked up whatever losses the Tigers incurred during 1905.[3][5]
Recruitment
For the 1906 season, Canton coach Wallace signed the entire
1906 scandal
In 1906, the Bulldogs and Tigers were involved in a game-rigging scandal that effectively killed both teams. It was the first major scandal in professional football, and the first known case of professional gamblers attempting to fix a professional sport. The Massillon Independent newspaper alleged that the Bulldogs coach, Blondy Wallace, and Tigers end, Walter East, had conspired to fix a two-game series between the two clubs. The conspiracy called for Canton to win the first game and Massillon to win the second, forcing a third game, which would have the largest gate. That game would be played legitimately, with the 1906 Ohio League championship at stake.
Canton denied the charges, maintaining that Massillon only wanted to damage the club's reputation. Although Massillon could not prove that Canton had indeed thrown the second game, the scandal tarnished the Bulldog and Tiger names and helped ruin professional football in Ohio until the mid 1910s. To this day the details of the scandal consist only of charges and counter-charges.[7]
"All-Massillons"
A reorganized "All-Massillons" played in 1907, after which professional football in Massillon effectively stopped. The team was made up of many of the former Tigers players and was managed by Sherburn Wightman. The team defeated the Columbus Panhandles, with the Nesser Brothers in the line-up, 13-4, and celebrated its fifth consecutive state championship. Because of the game's importance, Massillon brought in two ringers, Peggy Parratt and Bob Shiring.[8]
In 1911 a Canton-Massillon game was hyped beforehand as a return to 1905-06. However, after seeing the 57-0 Canton victory, it became apparent that this Massillon team bore little resemblance to the Tiger teams of the past, although the lineup did include Tiger greats Baldy Wittmann and Frank Bast.[9]
Resurrection
Dispute with Cusack
During the summer of 1914, members of the Massillon Chamber of Commerce asked
New Tigers
1915
The Tigers returned to the Ohio League in 1915. They were backed by local businessmen, Jack Donahue and Jack Whalen. Massillon did end up raiding the Indians team of their top players. In turn Cusack took in the Akron players, and raided the Youngstown Patricians, hoping to improve his team. Massillon hired new ringers for a new bidding war with Canton, however Cusack signed the legendary Jim Thorpe to his squad. The Tigers ended their 1915 season with a share of the 1915 championship with Canton. Both teams finished the season 5-2-0. One anonymous Massillon official revealed it had taken between $1,500 and $2,000 to bring in the Tigers lineup that opposed Canton in the final game, which included three players from Muhlenberg College, who had their college eligibility stripped when they were discovered.[10] This would be Massillon's last "Ohio League" title, and a disputed one at that—the very Patricians squad that the Tigers had raided earlier in the season had racked up an even more impressive 9-0-1 record against lesser talent, including a win against the Washington Vigilants, one of the East Coast's top professional teams, leading many observers to give Youngstown the title instead.[11]
1916
The Tigers rebirth, saw the team incorporate many of the top players of the era. For example, Knute Rockne, Charles Brickley, Gus Dorais, Bob Nash, Stan Cofall, and, future Hall of Famer, Greasy Neale. The 1916 season saw the Tigers end up in second place of the "Ohio League" standings behind the Canton Bulldogs. However, despite record crowds for two Bulldog-Tigers match-ups, Massillon lost money on the season, while Canton barely made a profit. Most of the Midwestern major teams were running into debt. Since every player knew Jim Thorpe was being paid $250 a game, many players of considerably less talent were holding out for $100 or $125 a game. Team managers had to produce stars to draw crowds, but the crowds could never be big enough to pay for the stars. Teams desperately needed something like the old "Ohio League" sub-rosa agreement where the managers agreed to not raid other team rosters. Only that sort of agreement could hold salaries at a responsible level.[12]
1917
In 1917, Bob Nash promised an "Ohio League" championship to the fans in Massillon. In doing so he put together an offensive line that included
The team suspended operations in 1918 due to a
1919
Many of the top teams of the "Ohio League" returned to action in 1919. At a meeting on July 14, 1919, the managers held a "get-together" at Canton's Courtland Hotel. The managers decided on a pay scale for officials and agreed to refrain from stealing each other's players for the upcoming season. However, the big surprise came when Massillon backer Jack Donahue refused to go along with a proposal to limit salaries. Massillon had trouble with the increasing cost of players and would profit more by a salary cap than anyone else. Donahue insisted, "If a manager wants to pay $10,000 for a player, that's his business."
The Tigers were set to begin their 1919 season in New York City against the
Formation of the NFL
Attempts to restart the Tigers
On August 20, 1920, during the first meeting aimed at establishing the American Professional Football Association (renamed the National Football League in 1922), there was hope that
Vernon Maginnis issue
On September 17, 1920, at Ralph Hay's
Maginnis' representative was not admitted to the meeting, however the Massillon Tigers were counted as present at the charter meeting of the NFL. Hay, who'd tried to get a real Massillon team restarted, considered himself as their spokesman. Once the meeting started, he stood up and announced that Massillon was withdrawing from professional football for the season of 1920. And to ensure that Maginnis wouldn't try to reestablish a Massillon "franchise", Hay told the American Professional Football Association managers: "Do not schedule any `other' Massillon team".[14]
Charter NFL member?
The 10 teams represented at the September 17 meeting are considered charter members of the AFPA, and, by extension, of the National Football league. Massillon is usually counted on a technicality: the team, under Hay, were there, they just never played in the new league.[14]
References
- ^ a b c Carroll, Bob. "Ohio Tiger Trap" (PDF). Coffin Corner. Professional Football Researchers Association: 1–4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-26.
- ^ a b PFRA Research. "Ohio Pounce Again" (PDF). Coffin Corner. Professional Football Researchers Association: 1–5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-11-26.
- ^ ISBN 0-19-511913-4.
- ^ Lahmen, Sean (October 10, 2008). "Canton vs. Masillon, 1906". In Lahmen's Terms. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
- ^ a b c "Blondy Wallace and the Biggest Football Scandal Ever" (PDF). PFRA Annual. 5. Professional Football Researchers Association: 1–16. 1984. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-12-18.
- ISBN 0-8147-7496-2.
- ^ "Blondy Wallace and the Biggest Football Scandal Ever" (PDF). PFRA Annual. 5. Professional Football Researchers Association: 1–16. 1984. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-12-18.
- ^ PFRA Research. "Glamourless Gridirons: 1907-09" (PDF). Coffin Corner. Professional Football Researchers Association: 1–5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-26.
- ^ PFRA Research. "Parratt Wins Again" (PDF). Coffin Corner. Professional Football Researchers Association: 1–5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-26.
- ^ "College Gridders Are Declared Ineligible". The Mansfield Shield. November 18, 1915.
- ^ PFRA Research. "Thrope Arrives" (PDF). Coffin Corner. Professional Football Researchers Association: 1–5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-11.
- ^ PFRA Research. "The Super Bulldogs 1916" (PDF). Coffin Corner. Professional Football Researchers Association: 1–5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-06.
- ^ PFRA Research. "Canton Wins Again 1917" (PDF). Coffin Corner. Professional Football Researchers Association: 1–5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-06-17.
- ^ a b c d e PFRA Research. "Associating in Obscurity 1920" (PDF). Coffin Corner. Professional Football Researchers Association: 1–6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-12-18.
- ^ PFRA Research. "Forward into Invisibility 1920" (PDF). Coffin Corner. Professional Football Researchers Association: 1–6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-12-18.