Scandals & Feuds ·
The Game That Took Pottsville Out of the Title Race
In December 1925, the Maroons played in Philadelphia despite repeated NFL warnings. They won the game—and lost their eligibility for the championship.
On December 12, 1925, the Pottsville Maroons beat a team of former Notre Dame players, 9–7, at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. They had played despite three notices from NFL president Joe Carr forbidding the game. That day, Carr fined the club, suspended its league rights—including its eligibility for the championship—and declared its franchise forfeited to the league. A victory outside the NFL had cost Pottsville its place in the title race.
The Maroons were in their first NFL season, having joined after success as an independent professional team. Six days before the Philadelphia game, they had beaten the Chicago Cardinals, 21–7, at Comiskey Park. Pottsville and Chicago were the league’s leading title contenders. The Maroons’ win over their rival put them close to a championship; it did not settle a season that was still in progress.
The objection to Shibe Park came from the Frankford Yellow Jackets. Philadelphia was their protected territory, and the Maroons’ game was scheduled for the same day as a Yellow Jackets home game. Frankford protested. Pottsville went ahead anyway, drawing 8,000 spectators. According to an account by Joe Horrigan, Bob Braunwart and Bob Carroll for the Professional Football Researchers Association, Dr. J.G. Striegel received Carr’s telegram imposing a $500 fine and announcing the suspension and forfeiture. Providence was then told it could not play Pottsville the following day.
The Cardinals finished with the best record among the teams eligible for the title, and the 1925 championship is credited to them. The formal handling of that title is less clear: the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s history says Chicago was named champion, while the researchers’ account says the Cardinals initially refused to accept the championship and the league never officially awarded one. Both accounts leave Pottsville without the title.
A separate controversy complicated Chicago’s finish. In a hastily arranged game against the Cardinals, Milwaukee used four high school boys to fill out its team. Carr investigated. Cardinal player Art Folz admitted procuring the boys and was initially banned for life; Milwaukee owner Ambrose McGurk was given 90 days to sell his club. The Cardinals were fined $1,000 and placed on probation, although the researchers’ account says their owner, Chris O’Brien, had not known about the arrangement. Carr said the Milwaukee game would be removed from the standings, but it remained there. During the NFL’s fight with a rival league the next year, the Cardinals’ fine was rescinded and Folz was reinstated.
Striegel went to Columbus and asked Carr to reconsider Pottsville’s punishment. Carr agreed to put the case before the owners. At their February 6, 1926, meeting in Detroit, with Striegel present, he stated the issue plainly: “Three different notices forbidding the Pottsville club to play were given and the management elected to play regardless.” The suspension was confirmed. Pottsville returned to the NFL that summer, but the return did not include consideration of awarding it the championship.