Philadelphia Quakers (AFL)

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Philadelphia Quakers
Sesquicentennial Stadium

The Philadelphia Quakers were a professional American football team that competed in the first American Football League in 1926 and won the league's only championship.

History

Owned by L. S. Conway,

All-American Glenn Killinger merely added to the defensive riches: he intercepted four passes in his league debut (November 4, 1926, in a 24-0 victory over the Rock Island Independents).[3]

Unlike half of their league opponents, the Quakers had no financial connection with league founders

Buffalo All-Americans was halted[4] and a bid to join the NFL in 1922 fell through.[5] In addition to having a championship team, the AFL Quakers drew well in the stadium in the midst of the Sesquicentennial Exposition. When the fair ended (early November), the audience in the soon-to-be renamed Municipal Stadium diminished, but still drew well when the Quakers defeated the New York Yankees 13-7 on a Bob Dinsmore punt return that decided the game - and the league championship (November 27, 1926).[6][7]

At the time of the championship-clinching game, the AFL had only four active teams (the Quakers, the Yankees, the

NFL champions Frankford Yellow Jackets were the first to refuse, claiming that their postseason schedule had been already set. Additional challenges by the Quakers were unanswered until Tim Mara, owner of the seventh place New York Giants, accepted the challenge, scheduling a game for December 12, 1926, at the Polo Grounds
.

As the Yankees and the Bulls were playing the AFL's last official game (a 7-3 Yankees victory in

halftime, Quaker errors led to the Giants winning the game 31–0.[10]
Both the Quakers and the AFL were no more.

At the end of the season, former NFL player

Wilfred Smith of the Chicago Tribune presented a combined NFL-AFL All-Pro team in his column. Three Quakers were named to the second team: George Tully, Bull Behman, and Al Kreuz.[11]

Year W L T Finish Coach
1926 8 2 0 1st Bob Folwell

After the first AFL

Upon the completion of a New York Yankees 7–3 victory over the Chicago Bulls in Comiskey Park on December 12, 1926, the first AFL was officially dead. The simultaneous 31-0 drubbing of the Quakers by the New York Giants in the Polo Grounds left the AFL champions in a similar state.[12]

It was, however, not the end of the professional football career for five Philadelphia Quakers. The following men were on rosters of NFL teams in the 1927 season:[13]

Newark Tornadoes

Bull Behman – 1927–31 Frankford Yellow Jackets (player-coach 1930–31)
Adrian Ford – 1927 Pottsville Maroons, 1927 Frankford Yellow Jackets
Century Milstead – 1927–28 New York Giants
George Tully – 1927 Frankford Yellow Jackets

On the other hand, the pro football careers of several former NFL players ended with the 1926 Quakers:

Charlie Cartin – 1925 Frankford Yellow Jackets
Saville Crowther – 1925 Frankford Yellow Jackets
Doc Elliott – 1922–23 Canton Bulldogs, 1924–25 Cleveland Bulldogs
Glenn Killinger – 1921 Canton Bulldogs, 1926 New York Giants

Buffalo All-Americans

Butch Spagna – 1920 Cleveland Tigers, 1920-21 Buffalo All-Americans, 1924-25 Frankford Yellow Jackets
George Sullivan – 1924-25 Frankford Yellow Jackets
Whitey Thomas – 1924 Frankford Yellow Jackets
Charlie Way
– 1921 Canton Bulldogs, 1924 Frankford Yellow Jackets

NOTE: Doc Elliott came out of retirement in 1931 to play for the

Cleveland Indians
.

References

  1. New York Times
    , July 17, 1926
  2. ISBN 0-312-11435-4
  3. ^ 1926 American Football League from Elias Sports Bureau and Pro Football Research Association Linescore Committee Archived June 5, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Crippen, Ken. Who Really Won in 1921? Archived September 29, 2007, at the Wayback Machine History of Pro Football in Western New York.
  5. ^ Ghosts of the Gridiron: Union Quakers. Professional Football Researchers Association.
  6. ^ 1926 American Football League from Elias Sports Bureau and Pro Football Research Association Linescore Committee Archived June 5, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
  7. ISBN 0-312-11435-4
  8. ISBN 0-312-11435-4
  9. ^ 1926 American Football League from Elias Sports Bureau and Pro Football Research Association Linescore Committee Archived June 5, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ "New York Giants Beat Quakers in Slop, 31-0" – The Philadelphia Record, December 13, 1926
  11. ^ 1926 All Pros[permanent dead link‍] – John Hogrogian, citing Chicago Tribune, December 19, 1926
  12. ^ The Grange War: 1926[permanent dead link‍] – Bob Carroll, Professional Football Researchers Association
  13. ISBN 0-312-11435-4
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