Pennsylvania Polka
The Pennsylvania Polka refers to a series of moves affecting the Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers franchises in the National Football League (NFL) from 1940 to 1941.
Rooney later had second thoughts on the transactions, and made an agreement to swap cities with new Steelers owner Thompson on April 3, 1941. This resulted in the Philadelphia Eagles moving their team to Pittsburgh and becoming the new Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Pittsburgh Steelers moving their team to Philadelphia and becoming the new Philadelphia Eagles. Since NFL franchises at the time were territorial rights distinct from individual corporate entities, the Eagles and Steelers are each officially acknowledged by the NFL as single unbroken entities since 1933, especially since all of these events took place during the offseason. However, the players on the Eagles were basically traded to the Steelers in exchange for their players (with the exception of players who changed teams during the mini-draft, in which case those players "stayed" on the same teams). All players drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 1941 NFL Draft therefore had their rights held by the Pittsburgh Steelers after the final swap, and vice versa.
Background
Both the
Wray coached the Eagles in their first three years from 1933–1935, with no winning seasons, compiling a 9–21–1 record. In that time period, the partners exhausted $85,000 (presently, $1,866,331),[4] and at a public auction in 1936, Bell became sole owner of the Eagles with a bid of $4,500 (presently, $98,806).[5] Austerity measures forced him to supplant Wray as head coach of the Eagles,[6] but Bell also did not produce a winning season, finishing the 1940 season with a 1–10 record and a 10–44–2 overall career coaching record.
By 1940, the Steelers were on their fifth head coach in eight years. Like the Eagles, the Steelers had not posted a winning record in their franchise's history. Walt Kiesling entered his second season as head coach of the Steelers in 1940. Before the 1940 season, Rooney said if the Steelers had another losing season he would be compelled to sell the team.[7] The team started the season at 1–0–2[8] before falling at home by a score of 10–3 to a Brooklyn Dodgers squad coached by local hero Jock Sutherland.[9] He had assumed the head job for the Dodgers that year after spurning a similar offer from Pittsburgh.[10] The loss to the Dodgers began a six-game losing streak, before the team traded wins with the Eagles to cap a 2–7–2 season in which they scored a total of just 60 points.[11] Over eight years, the team had compiled a record of 24–62–5 and had lost around $100,000 ($2.2 million today).[11] Rooney was also concerned about the availability of players in the coming seasons due to the ongoing war in Europe and the specter of a military draft.[12]
Initial sales
After turning down several earlier offers to relocate or sell the team,
Thompson originally sought to buy the Eagles from Bell in November 1940, but Bell connected him with Rooney to make an offer on the Steelers.[16][17] The Steelers hired Bell to negotiate the sale and promised him a 20% cut of the sale price if it sold within 30 days.[18] The purchase price was reported to be $160,000 ($3.5 million today).[19] This price was less than the $225,000 ($4.9 million today) the Detroit Lions had previously sold for, but the Lions had won an NFL championship.[13] Bell earned $32,000 from the sale.[20] The transaction was completed and announced on the same day that the Chicago Bears pummeled the Washington Redskins by a score of 73–0 in the most lopsided NFL championship game of all time.[21]
Rooney immediately took $50,000 from the sale and invested it in a 50% interest in the Philadelphia Eagles franchise, which was owned by his friend Bell, and became vice president of the franchise's board of directors.[20]
Mini-draft
In an unusual twist Rooney, Bell, and Thompson pooled the rosters of the two squads and conducted essentially a mini-draft to distribute the talent. The 51 players which were signed to the Steelers and Eagles at the end of the 1940 season were shuffled between the two teams.
Thompson hired
Re-swap
Despite the fact he now was half-owner of a team based in Philadelphia, Rooney had no intention of leaving Pittsburgh.[17] It was thought that Thompson preferred to move his new team to be nearer his New York home, perhaps to Boston, which had been without an NFL team since the Redskins relocated to Washington in 1937.[14] If Thompson had moved the team away from Pittsburgh, Rooney and Bell hatched a plan that would have seen their team split its home games between the two Pennsylvania cities and rename their squad the Keystoners.[20] However, the other league owners blocked both moves.[27]
By early 1941, Rooney was beginning to regret his decision to sell the Pittsburgh team. When he saw that Thompson had not yet established a local office for his team, as he had announced he would do by March 1, Rooney made an offer.[28] He and Bell would trade territories with Thompson.[28] This would put Thompson in Philadelphia, which was much closer to his New York base.[28] It would also ensure that Rooney's team would stay in his hometown.[28] On April 3, 1941, Thompson accepted the deal and Rooney and Bell's Eagles went to Pittsburgh, where they became the Pittsburgh Steelers, while Thompson's Iron Men moved to Philadelphia, where they took on the Philadelphia Eagles moniker. This was described at the time as "one of the most unusual swaps in sports history".[29] In fact, though the Pittsburgh team played as the Steelers, they operated under the name the "Philadelphia Eagles Football Club, Inc." until 1945.[30][31] Bell was named the Steelers head coach and Rooney became the general manager, with 10-year contracts worth $7,500 per year.[32]
Aftermath
Because the entire strange turn of events all took place during the offseason and the Eagles and Steelers never actually missed games in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, respectively, the NFL considers each franchise as single unbroken entities since 1933.[30] The transaction, which amounted in the end to Bell selling the Eagles and purchasing half-interest in the Steelers, as well as trading more than half of each team's rosters to each other, has been termed the "Pennsylvania Polka".[33]
Both teams continued to struggle in 1941, with the Eagles going 2–8–1 and the Steelers going 1–9–1. However, the Steelers posted their first winning record in 1942 (7–4), while the Eagles finished 2–9. In
After the
Personnel involved
|
Name | Pos. | 1940 Team | Post-Move Team | Acquired through |
---|---|---|---|---|
Bert Bell | HC | Eagles | Steelers[a] | Team move to Pittsburgh |
Walt Kiesling | HC | Steelers | Steelers[a] | Re-hired by Rooney |
Greasy Neale | HC | Yale[b] | Eagles | Hired by Thompson |
Jay Arnold |
B | Eagles | Steelers | Re-signed |
Dick Bassi | OG | Eagles | Steelers | Team move to Pittsburgh |
Joe Bukant | B | Eagles | Eagles | Mini-draft |
Joe Carter | E | Eagles | Eagles | Mini-draft |
Chuck Cherundolo | C | Eagles | Steelers | Team move to Pittsburgh |
John Cole | FB | Eagles | None | Retired |
Woody Dow |
B | Eagles | None | Retired |
Frank Emmons | FB | Eagles | Steelers | Team move to Pittsburgh |
Ray George |
T | Eagles | None | Retired |
Jerry Ginney | OG | Eagles | None | Retired |
Elmer Hackney | FB | Eagles | Steelers | Team move to Pittsburgh |
Maurice Harper | C | Eagles | Steelers | Team move to Pittsburgh |
Billy Hughes | OG | Eagles | Bears | Free agent |
Elmer Kolberg | HB | Eagles | Steelers | Team move to Pittsburgh |
Don Looney | E | Eagles | Steelers | Team move to Pittsburgh |
Les McDonald | E | Eagles | None | Retired |
Fran Murray |
P |
Eagles | Steelers | Team move to Pittsburgh |
Chuck Newton |
FB | Eagles | Steelers | Team move to Pittsburgh |
Davey O'Brien | QB | Eagles | None | Retired |
Phil Ragazzo | T | Eagles | Eagles | Mini-draft |
Red Ramsey | E | Eagles | Eagles | Mini-draft |
Dick Riffle | FB | Eagles | Steelers | Re-signed |
Theodore Schmitt |
OG | Eagles | Eagles | Mini-draft |
Elbie Schultz |
T | Eagles | Steelers | Team move to Pittsburgh |
George Somers | T / K | Eagles | Steelers | Team move to Pittsburgh |
Russ Thompson | T | Eagles | Steelers | Team move to Pittsburgh |
Milt Trost | T | Eagles | None | Retired |
Foster Watkins | BB | Eagles | Eagles | Mini-draft |
Joe Wendlick | E | Eagles | Steelers | Team move to Pittsburgh |
Clem Woltman | T | Eagles | Eagles | Mini-draft |
Sam Boyd | KR |
Steelers | Eagles | Team move to Philadelphia |
Hank Bruder | BB | Steelers | Eagles | Team move to Philadelphia |
Boyd Brumbaugh | B | Steelers | Steelers | Mini-draft |
Frank Bykowski | OG | Steelers | Chiefs | Free agent |
Don Campbell | T | Steelers | Eagles | Team move to Philadelphia |
Merl Condit | HB | Steelers | Eagles | Team move to Philadelphia |
Ted Doyle | T | Steelers | Steelers | Mini-draft |
Ev Fisher | BB | Steelers | None | Retired |
Clark Goff | T | Steelers | Steelers | Mini-draft |
Ted Grabinski | C | Steelers | Eagles | Team move to Philadelphia |
Swede Johnston | B | Steelers | Eagles | Team move to Philadelphia |
Walt Kichefski | E | Steelers | Steelers | Mini-draft |
George Kiick | FB | Steelers | Steelers | Mini-draft |
John Klumb | E | Steelers | Steelers | Mini-draft |
Joe Maras | C | Steelers | Eagles | Team move to Philadelphia |
Coley McDonough | B | Steelers | Eagles | Team move to Philadelphia[c] |
Carl Nery | OG | Steelers | Steelers | Mini-draft |
Armand Niccolai | T / K | Steelers | Eagles | Team move to Philadelphia[c] |
John Noppenberg | B | Steelers | Steelers | Mini-draft |
Billy Patterson | P |
Steelers | Eagles | Team move to Philadelphia |
Stan Pavkov | OG | Steelers | Eagles | Team move to Philadelphia |
John Perko | OG | Steelers | Eagles | Team move to Philadelphia |
Rocco Pirro | OG | Steelers | Steelers | Mini-draft |
George Platukis | E | Steelers | Steelers | Mini-draft |
Jack Sanders | OG | Steelers | Steelers | Mini-draft |
John Schmidt | C | Steelers | None | Retired |
Bill Sortet | E | Steelers | Eagles | Team move to Philadelphia |
Frank Sullivan | C | Steelers | Eagles | Team move to Philadelphia |
Tommy Thompson | QB | Steelers | Eagles | Team move to Philadelphia |
Lou Tomasetti | HB | Steelers | Eagles | Team move to Philadelphia |
John Woudenberg | T | Steelers | Eagles | Team move to Philadelphia[c] |
John Yurchey | B | Steelers | None | Retired |
Footnotes
- a Bell was the Steelers' head coach for the first two games of the 1941 season before Rooney told him to resign. Aldo Donelli, the football coach at Duquesne University coached the remainder of the season. Because he was still coaching at Duquesne, Kiesling filled in as Steelers coach when there were scheduling conflicts.
- backs coachat Yale from 1934–1940.
- c McDonough, Niccolai, and Woudenberg were later traded back to the Steelers for the 1941 season.
References
- ^ Ruck, Patterson & Weber 2010, pp. 95–97.
- ^ Ruck, Patterson & Weber 2010, p. 96–97.
- ^ Ruck, Patterson & Weber 2010, p. 175.
- ^ MacCambridge 2005, p. 43; Lyons 2010, p. 63.
- ^ MacCambridge 2005, p. 43; Claassen 1963, p. 335; Lyons 2010, p. 63.
- ^ Lyons 2010, p. 63; Claassen 1963, p. 342.
- ^ Ruck, Patterson & Weber 2010, p. 174.
- ^ Ruck, Patterson & Weber 2010, p. 180.
- ^ "Dodgers 10, Steelers 3". Meriden (CT) Record. September 30, 1940. p. 4. Retrieved May 17, 2011.
- ^ Ruck, Patterson & Weber 2010, p. 173.
- ^ a b Rooney & McHugh 2008, p. 49.
- Pittsburgh Press. December 10, 1940. p. 30. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
- ^ Pittsburgh Press. March 10, 1940. p. 14 (second section). Retrieved May 18, 2011.
- ^ Pittsburgh Press. December 9, 1940. p. 26. Retrieved May 17, 2011.
- ^ Pittsburgh Press. December 11, 1940. p. 16. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
- ^ Ruck, Patterson & Weber 2010, p. 183.
- ^ a b "Rooney Tells How Big Deal Was Arranged". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. December 10, 1940. p. 18. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
- ^ Ruck, Patterson & Weber 2010, pp. 183–184; MacCambridge 2005, p. 45.
- ^ Lyons 2010, p. 82.
- ^ a b c Ruck, Patterson & Weber 2010, p. 184.
- Pittsburgh Press. December 9, 1940. p. 26. Retrieved May 17, 2011.
- ^ "Rooney Sells Steelers; Club Stays Here". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. December 10, 1940. p. 18. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
- ^ a b "How Players Are Divided in Grid Deal". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. December 10, 1940. p. 18. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
- Post-Gazette. September 16, 2007. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
- Pittsburgh Press. December 19, 1940. p. 34. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
- ^ "Iron Men New Name of Steelers". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. January 17, 1941. p. 19. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
- Pittsburgh Press. April 3, 1941. p. 28. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
- ^ a b c d Ruck, Patterson & Weber 2010, p. 186.
- ^ "Rooney's Team Shifts Back Here; Thompson Will Take Pittsburgh Pros to Philly in Big Deal". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. April 3, 1941. p. 18. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
- ^ a b Dvorchak, Robert (August 27, 2007). "Blood Brothers: The 1943 Steagles became an unlikely product of the war years". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
- Vox Media, Inc.Retrieved 2016-11-06.
- ^ Ruck, Patterson & Weber 2010, p. 187; Lyons 2010, p. 88; MacCambridge 2005, p. 45.
- The Coffin Corner. 4 (10). Professional Football Researchers Association: 1–4. Retrieved February 4, 2017.
- ISBN 1-59213-449-1.
- ^ "1940 Philadelphia Eagles Starters, Roster, & Players".
- ^ "1941 Philadelphia Eagles Starters, Roster, & Players".
- ^ "1940 Pittsburgh Steelers Starters, Roster, & Players".
- ^ "1941 Pittsburgh Steelers Starters, Roster, & Players".
Bibliography
- Claassen, Harold (Spike) (1963). The History of Professional Football. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
- Lyons, Robert S. (2010). On Any Given Sunday, A Life of Bert Bell. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. ISBN 978-1-59213-731-2.
- MacCambridge, Michael (2005). America's Game. New York: Anchor Books. ISBN 978-0-307-48143-6.
- Rooney, Art Jr.; McHugh, Roy (2008). Ruanaidh: The Story of Art Rooney and His Clan. Pittsburgh, PA: Art Rooney Jr. ISBN 9780981476025.
- Ruck, Rob; Patterson, Maggie Jones; Weber, Michael P. (2010). Rooney: A Sporting Life. Lincoln, Neb.: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8032-2283-0.