Pottsville Still Battling NFL
Maroons Claim Football Championship from 1925
When the film "Leatherheads" is released next week, moviegoers will get a fictional look at what professional football was like in 1925.
The citizens of Pottsville, Pennsylvania, know all about that season.
It was the year that the fabled Pottsville Maroons won the National Football League championship only to have the league’s commissioner take it away from them.
The new movie might be fiction, but the Maroons story is real and is still being talked about. Battles between the townspeople and the league have been ongoing for the past 83 years and still being fought to this day.
The state of the NFL in its infancy
Back in the 1920’s, the NFL was a 20-team league made up of mostly small cities, with Pottsville, a town 80 miles northwest of Philadelpha, being the smallest.
Only four teams from that season — the Chicago (now Arizona) Cardinals, Chicago Bears, New York Giants and Green Bay Packers — still exist.
David Fleming, a writer for ESPN the magazine, recently wrote a book about the Maroons called "Breaker Boys."
Modern day fight continues
In 2003, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell along with Pottsville mayor John Reilly petitioned the NFL owners to reopen the Maroons case to give them a share of the world championship they should have won that season.
Rendell and Reilly made speeches to the owners during one of their off-season meetings in Philadelphia.
It did little good.
The NFL owners voted against Pottsville in a 30-2 decision with only the two Pennsylvania teams, Jeff Laurie of the Philadelphia Eagles and Dan Rooney of Pittsburgh Steelers, opting to give the Maroons the prize they deserve.
Town rejects league vote
The vote only fueled the anger of the Pottsville community, vowing to keep fighting. The PottsvilleRepublican-Herald newspaper promotes Fleming’s book on a regular basis and an on-line petition is available on ESPN’s website.
What really happened that year to cause all the controversy?
The following is an excerpt from NFL.com
"Pottsville and the Chicago Cardinals were the top contenders for the league title, with Pottsville winning a late-season meeting 21-7. Pottsville scheduled a game against a team of former Notre Dame players for Shibe Park in Philadelphia. The Frankford Yellow Jackets lodged a protest not only because the game was in Frankford's protected territory, but because it was being played the same day as a Yellow Jackets home game. Commisioner Carr gave three different notices forbidding Pottsville to play the game, but Pottsville played anyway, December 12. That day, Carr fined the club, suspended it from all rights and privileges (including the right to play for the NFL championship), and returned its franchise to the league. The Cardinals, who ended the season with the best record in the league, were named the 1925 champions."
Who were the Frankford Yellow Jackets
The Frankford Yellow Jackets were Philadelphia’s NFL franchise in 1925 that eventually became the Philadelphia Eagles in 1933.
Pottsville doesn’t dispute the league’s version of events, but counters that the penalty inflicted on the team was too harsh and that the Maroons won the championship on the field.
The Maroons played in the NFL from 1925-1928 before moving to Boston in 1929 and becoming the Bulldogs. The franchise folded after that season, but the legacy from 1925 lives on.
1925 NFL Standings
W L T Pct.
Chicago Cardinals 11 2 1 .846
Pottsville Maroons 10 2 0 .833
Detroit Panthers 8 2 2 .800
New York Giants 8 4 0 .667
Akron Indians 4 2 2 .667
Frankford Yellow Jackets 13 7 0 .650
Chicago Bears 9 5 3 .643
Rock Island Independents 5 3 3 .625
Green Bay Packers 8 5 0 .615
Providence Steam Rollers 6 5 1 .545
Canton Bulldogs 4 4 0 .500
Cleveland Bulldogs 5 8 1 .385
Kansas City Cowboys 2 5 1 .286
Hammond Pros 1 4 0 .200
Buffalo Bisons 1 6 2 .143
Duluth Kelleys 0 3 0 .000
Rochester Jeffersons 0 6 1 .000
Milwaukee Badgers 0 6 0 .000
Dayton Triangles 0 7 1 .000
Columbus Tigers 0 9 0 .000
Source: NFL.com
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