Damian Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 Here's some trivia to use at your local watering hole to astound your friends with your football knowledge. I was reading some NFL history (what else can a Bills fan do during Superbowl week) and found that WNY had a couple of other NFL teams back in the day. Tonawanda had the Tonawanda Kardex which holds the record for the shortest-lived NFL franchise. They played, check this, ONE game as a NFL team. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonawanda_Kardex Rochester had the Rochester Jeffersons. The Jeffs were a founding member of the NFL and played/existed from 1920-25, during which they won a whopping TWO games (one win was the only NFL game the Kardex played). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rochester_Jeffersons Buffalo had their own NFL team also during that time period, but they couldn't seem to decide on the name. From 1915-29, the team changed owners and names repeatedly. The names: All-Stars (1915-17), Niagaras (1918), Prospects (1919), All-Americans (1920-23), Bisons (1924-25, 1927, 1929), Rangers (1926). They were out of money in 1928 and did not play that year. I hope you enjoyed the trivia, now I'm off to scour the web for a replica Kardex jersey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRAWNDO Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 Interesting read, thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerball Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 Someone name Kenneth Crippen is sited liberally in the Rochester Jeffersons wiki page. http://www.twobillsd...l_stage_part_1/ If you send KRC a PM he will happily fill your head with enough WNY NFL trivia to make it spin. KRC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike In Illinois Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 The Decatur Staleys were from a town 40 minutes east of where I am. Created by Papa Bear Halas, they later moved to Chicago, played as the Staleys for one year then changed their name to the Bears. Some of the history of the Staleys can still be found in Decatur. When I worked at the TV station in Decatur we produced a special (60 minutes) on the Staleys that aired leading up to the Super Bowl in 2006-2007, the year the Bears lost to the Colts in Miami. I have a DVD copy of the special and we contacted the Pro Football HOF to see if they were interested in the show for their Archives (we actually spent a day in Canton to videotape some of the still photos they have of Halas and the Staleys and to get video of the historical landmark in downtown Canton that recognizes the location of the founding of the NFL. I highly recommend scheduling time to visit the HOF archives on your next trip to Canton). We never got around to sending the disc to the Hall yet but I may have to make a road trip over there and hand-deliver it soon! Would there be any interest for me to upload the special to YouTube under a private link and share it here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hondo in seattle Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 Good research! But I'll nitpick. The NFL didn't form until 1920. So any football club before that was not an NFL team. If you look at the standings, the Buffalo clubs were good back then. http://www.nfl.com/history/standings/1921 I can't recall what year, but I remember once reading that the Buffalo franchise was cheated out of the NFL Championship because some other club counted non-league games in their record. Back then there were football clubs outside the NFL that weren't that bad. The NFL didn't have a monopoly on the best players or teams. The league champion was the club with the best record - though most believed only league games counted and everything was exhibition. Buffalo had the best record against other NFL teams but the championship was awarded to another club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damian Posted January 31, 2013 Author Share Posted January 31, 2013 It seems Buffalo has a long history of getting robbed of championships. The "Staley Swindle" is the one you are referring to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1921_NFL_Championship_controversy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homey D. Clown Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 It seems Buffalo has a long history of getting robbed of championships. The "Staley Swindle" is the one you are referring to: http://en.wikipedia....hip_controversy Awesome read, I had no idea of the Staley Swindle... Maybe there's something to this "McKinley's Curse" thing afterall... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T master Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 Didn't know that , it's a good day i learned something new !! Thanks for that !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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