Founded | 1905 (Heralds/Tigers) 1925 (Panthers) 1928 (Wolverines) |
---|---|
Folded | 1921 (Heralds/Tigers) 1926 (Panthers) 1928 (Wolverines) |
Based in | Detroit, Michigan, United States |
League | Ohio League (1911–1919) American Professional Football Association (1920–1921) National Football League (1925–1926, 1928) |
Team history | Detroit Heralds (1905–1920) Detroit Tigers (1921) Detroit Panthers (1925–1926) Detroit Wolverines (1928) |
Team colors | Red, white (Heralds) Orange, black, white (Tigers) Blue, gold, white (Panthers) Blue, white (Wolverines) |
Home field(s) | Navin Field (Heralds, Tigers, Panthers) Dinan Field (Wolverines) |
Detroit had four early teams in the National Football League before the Detroit Lions. The Heralds played in 1920, and had played as an independent as far back as 1905. The Tigers, a continuation of the Heralds, played in 1921, folding midseason and sending their players to the Buffalo All-Americans. The Panthers competed from 1925 to 1926 and the Wolverines in 1928.
In 1905, several University of Detroit football players, led by Bill Marshall, organized the Heralds as an amateur team after the university did not field a squad. [1] [2] While the university's football team resumed play in 1906, the Heralds continued to play as an amateur team. [1] [2] In 1911, the team dropped its amateur status and became semi-professional. [3] [4] In 1916, several out-of-town players were brought in to replace some of the older players, several of whom had been with the Heralds since 1905. [3]
Despite not being based in Ohio, the Heralds played many of their games against teams in the Ohio League. [3] In 1917, the team recorded an 8–2 record, their only losses coming at the hands of the Ohio League champion Canton Bulldogs and a military team from Battle Creek. [3] [5] The Heralds were a rarity in 1918; while most teams either stopped play or reduced their schedules to only local teams because of World War I and the flu pandemic, the Heralds continued to play a full schedule and even travel to other cities, accruing a 6–2 record with both losses coming to the Ohio League champion Dayton Triangles. [3] In 1919, as the suspended teams resumed play and travel restrictions eased significantly, the Heralds went 1–4–2, including losses to Bulldogs and the Massillon Tigers. [6]
In 1920, the American Professional Football Association, predecessor to the National Football League, was established. While the Heralds did not officially join the association, they are listed in league standings for the season. [3] [4] Overall, the Heralds went 2–3–3. [7]
The Heralds were reorganized into the Detroit Tigers, after the city's Major League Baseball team, for the 1921 season. [1] However, after a tie and a win in their first two games, the Tigers lost the next five. [8] Several players complained about not getting paid and left the team during the season. The team officially folded in mid-November. Its remaining players were given to the Buffalo All-Americans. [3]
In 1925, Detroit fielded its second NFL franchise, the Detroit Panthers. The team was organized by future Hall of Famer, Jimmy Conzelman. [9] [10] Conzelman was a quarterback who had recently played with the Decatur Staleys, Rock Island Independents and the Milwaukee Badgers. [10] Conzelman served as the team's owner, coach, and starting quarterback. [9] The Panthers started the season 8–1. However, a 6–3 upset loss to the Independents on Thanksgiving Day knocked them out of first place and they ended the season in third. [11] [12] [13]
The Panthers hoped to build on their 1925 season, but they opened the 1926 season with an 0–3 record. After rallying to a 4–0–2 record in their next six games, they lost their last three. [14] Conzelman gave up the franchise and joined the Providence Steam Rollers as player-coach. [9] [10]
Following the 1927 season, the Cleveland Bulldogs were sold to a group of investors, who moved the team to Detroit. [9] Coached by LeRoy Andrews, the team was renamed the Detroit Wolverines. They were named after quarterback Benny Friedman's alma mater, the Michigan Wolverines. [9] The Wolverines finished their 1928 season in third place with a 7–2–1 record, losing only to the Providence Steam Rollers and the Frankford Yellow Jackets, the NFL's first and second place teams. [15] [16]
During the offseason, Tim Mara, the owner of the New York Giants, was interested in acquiring Friedman. Rather than simply trade for Friedman, Mara bought the entire Wolverines franchise and promptly deactivated it, delivering Friedman and other star Wolverines players to New York. [3] [9] [17] The NFL would not return to the Motor City for six years, until the Portsmouth Spartans became the Detroit Lions in 1934. [18]
While the Lions are well known for playing on Thanksgiving Day, the other Detroit teams had a history of playing on Thanksgiving Day as well:
Detroit Heralds / Tigers / Panthers / Wolverines Hall of Famers | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Players | ||||
No. | Name | Position | Tenure | Inducted |
— | Jimmy Conzelman | HB/QB Coach | 1925–1926 | 1964 [21] |
— | Benny Friedman | QB | 1928 | 2005 [22] |
Year | W | L | T | Finish | Coach | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Heralds | 1920 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 9th | Bill Marshall |
Tigers | 1921 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 16th | |
Panthers | 1925 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 3rd | Jimmy Conzelman |
1926 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 12th | ||
Wolverines | 1928 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 3rd | LeRoy Andrews |
The Cleveland Bulldogs were a team that played in Cleveland, Ohio in the National Football League. They were originally called the Indians in 1923, not to be confused with the Cleveland Indians NFL franchise in 1922. However, after team owner Samuel Deutsch purchased the Canton Bulldogs in 1924, he merged the Canton team with his Indians and renamed his franchise the Cleveland Bulldogs. The Canton Bulldogs remained a part of the team until 1925, when they were sold back to Canton. The Cleveland Bulldogs played in the NFL until 1928 when they were relocated to Detroit and became the Detroit Wolverines. The team was later incorporated into the New York Giants in 1929. The Cleveland Bulldogs won the 1924 NFL championship.
The Providence Steam Rollers were a professional American football team based in Providence, Rhode Island in the National Football League (NFL) from 1925 to 1931. Providence was the first New England team to win an NFL championship. The Steam Roller won the league's championship in 1928, which is the latest NFL championship win by a defunct team to date. Most of their home games were played at the Cycledrome, a 10,000-seat stadium that was built as a velodrome for bicycle races.
The Rock Island Independents were a professional American football team, based in Rock Island, Illinois, from 1907 to 1926. The Independents were a founding National Football League franchise. They hosted what has been retrospectively designated the first National Football League game on September 26, 1920 at Douglas Park. The Independents were founded in 1907 by Demetrius Clements as an independent football club. Hence, the team was named the "Independents."
James Joseph Harbaugh is an American football coach and former quarterback who is the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the head coach at the University of Michigan from 2015 to 2023, the San Francisco 49ers from 2011 to 2014, Stanford University from 2007 to 2010 and the University of San Diego from 2004 to 2006.
Benjamin Friedman was an American football player and coach, and athletic administrator.
The 1927 NFL season was the eighth regular season of the National Football League. Prior to the season, the league decided to eliminate the financially weaker teams. As a result, the league dropped from 22 to 12 teams. The league absorbed many players and one franchise from the defunct American Football League. Wilfrid Smith in the Chicago Tribune wrote that "the reduction formed a more compact circuit and provided better competition." Smith opined that the "outstanding feature" of the 1927 NFL season was the debut of Benny Friedman who became one of the game's "best drawing cards" and proved that professional football could support itself in Cleveland.
James Gleason Dunn Conzelman was an American football player and coach, baseball executive, and advertising executive. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1964 and was selected in 1969 as a quarterback on the National Football League 1920s All-Decade Team.
John Matthew Stafford is an American football quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Georgia and was selected first overall by the Detroit Lions in the 2009 NFL Draft. Ranking in the top 12 of all-time in pass attempts, pass completions, passing yards and passing touchdowns, Stafford is currently fifth all-time in passing yards per game and is the fastest player in NFL history to have reached 40,000 career passing yards.
Harry Lawrence Newman was an All-Pro American football quarterback. He played for the University of Michigan Wolverines (1930–32), for whom in 1932 he was a unanimous first-team All-American, and the recipient of the Douglas Fairbanks Trophy as Outstanding College Player of the Year, and the Helms Athletic Foundation Player of the Year Award, he was later inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. He then played professionally for the New York Giants (1933–35), and the Brooklyn/Rochester Tigers (1936–37).
The Ohio League was an informal and loose association of American football clubs active between 1902 and 1919 that competed for the Ohio Independent Championship (OIC). As the name implied, its teams were mostly based in Ohio. It is the direct predecessor to the modern National Football League (NFL).
Thomas Leighton Edwards was an American football player. He played college football at the University of Michigan, where he was an All-American tackle for the Michigan Wolverines. Edward played professional football for one season, in 1926, with the New York Yankees of the American Football League and the Detroit Panthers of the National Football League (NFL).
Vivian Joseph Hultman was an American football player from Grand Rapids, Michigan. He attended and played his college football at Michigan State University. Hultman then played professionally in the National Football League (NFL) with the Detroit Panthers from 1925 through 1926 and the Pottsville Maroons in 1927.
The 1925 Detroit Panthers season was their third in the league and first season as the Panthers. The team improved on their previous output of 1–5–1, winning eight games. They finished third in the league. The Panthers played in the first Wednesday game in NFL history against the Cleveland Bulldogs, and won 22–13. Future Pro Football Hall of Famer Jimmy Conzelman scored two touchdowns in the first quarter.
Brandon Lee Graham is an American football defensive end for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Eagles in the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft with the thirteenth selection in the draft and the first from the Big Ten Conference. He played college football at Michigan.
Douglas Park is a public park located at 18th Avenue and 10th Street in Rock Island, Illinois. A former National Football League venue, Douglas Park was the site of the first-ever National Football League game on September 26, 1920. The Rock Island neighborhood that is today called Douglas Park dates back to the 1830s, with the athletic park being constructed in 1904 to 1905 and utilized for football beginning in 1907.
Charles William Grube was an American football player.
Devin Akeem Funchess is an American former football wide receiver. He played college football for the Michigan Wolverines as a tight end, and was selected by the Carolina Panthers in the second round of the 2015 NFL Draft. He was also a member of the Indianapolis Colts, Green Bay Packers, San Francisco 49ers and Detroit Lions.
Events from the year 1925 in Michigan.
Events from the year 1926 in Michigan.