Connecticut Gridiron: Football Minor Leaguers of the 1960s and 1970s

by William J. Ryczek

Overview

This narrative history of minor league football teams in Connecticut in the 1960s and 1970s is based on extensive newspaper and periodical research and interviews with nearly 70 former players, broadcasters and journalists. Only a few players--like Marv Hubbard, Lou Piccone and Bob Tucker--made it to the NFL, but many more played for as little as $25 per game in their quest to make it big or just have fun. Wealthy men like Pete Savin and Frank D'Addario owned teams in Hartford and Bridgeport.

In the days before cable television saturated the media with live sports, small town fans turned out to support their local heroes, often men who worked on construction crews during the week and stopped by the diner Sunday morning to talk football. Now in their 60s, 70s and 80s, these men share their stories of a simpler era; the good times, like the Hartford Knights' 1968 ACFL championship season, and the long bus rides and missed paydays that were as much a part of minor league ball as first downs and interceptions.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476617268
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Publication date:	10/21/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	388
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

William J. Ryczek is a finance professional from Wallingford, Connecticut, who writes about early baseball, football, the Yankees, and the Mets.
William J. Ryczek is a finance professional from Wallingford, Connecticut, who writes about early baseball, football, the Yankees, and the Mets.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments  ix
Introduction: The Twenty-First Century  1
1. A Minor League Town  13
2. One Big Step from the NFL  19
3. That’s What They Do in the Fall  24
4. A Football Crazed Town: The 1962–63 Ansonia Black Knights  38
5. The 1962 Stamford Golden Bears  62
6. A Hopeful Beginning and a Rude Awakening: The 1964–65 Hartford Charter Oaks  70
7. It’s Hard to Be a Major League: The 1966–67 Hartford Charter Oaks  97
8. Two Steps from the Major Leagues: The Meriden Shamrocks and New Britain Bees  116
9. An Unhappy Relationship: The 1966–67 Waterbury Orbits  138
10. A New Team in Hartford  161
11. The Championship Team: The Right Place at the Right Time  179
12. The Championship Season: The 1968 Hartford Knights  201
13. The 1969 Hartford Knights  224
14. The Snow Bowl: The 1970 Hartford Knights  239
15. Hi Ho, Hi Ho, to Bridgeport We Go: The 1968–70 Bridgeport Jets  260
16. A Four-Team ACFL: The 1971 Hartford Knights and Bridgeport Jets  287
17. A Perfect Season in an Imperfect League: The 1972 Hartford Knights  302
18. Back in the ACFL: The 1973 Hartford Knights and Bridgeport Jets  320
Epilogue  335
Appendix: Scores and Records by Season  351
Chapter Notes  359
Bibliography  365
Index  367