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| ISBN-13: | 9781935603412 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | University of Akron Press, The |
| Publication date: | 08/01/1998 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 503 |
| File size: | 4 MB |
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The Sunday Game
By Keith McClellan
The University of Akron Press
Copyright © 2000 The University of AkronAll right reserved.
ISBN: 1-884836-35-6
Chapter One
The Dawn of Professional FootbalOn a gray, overcast Sunday in Canton, Ohio, in late November 1915, local football fans witnessed the dawn of professional football. Professional football is the direct offspring of independent football, so titled by sportswriters of the era because it was played by adults independent of college affiliation. Independent football emerged in the steel and coal towns of Pennsylvania and Ohio shortly before the beginning of the twentieth century and quickly spread across the Midwest from Altoona, Pennsylvania, to Davenport, Iowa, and even beyond, and from Louisville in the south to Minneapolis and Duluth in the north. Usually played on Sunday afternoons, independent football was particularly popular in the medium-sized factory cities of the Midwest that were not blessed with a college team. It never penetrated the South, in part because the Baptists, Southern Methodists, and Christian Evangelicals were strongly opposed to breaking the Sabbath. Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and parts of New York also passed blue laws that prohibited commerce on Sundays and, consequently, hindered the development of the Sunday football game.
In the early years of the twentieth century, professional football experienced the same stages ofdevelopment as professional baseball did in the 1870s, when the National Baseball League was taking root. Initially, independent football teams recruited players locally, then teams began hiring a few outstanding individuals from outside the community to win critical games. Later, while most members of the team were paid only if the team made money, teams also hired key players for the season and paid them an agreed-upon amount per game, making these teams semiprofessional. Finally, when all of the players received an agreed-upon amount of money per game instead of splitting the pot at the end of each season, the teams completed the transition to professional status. The progression was not always straightforward or without complications.
According to sports scholar Marc S. Maltby, "it is difficult to pinpoint the exact moment of professional football's origin, particularly when definitions of professionalism are, by no means, precise or static. By the standards of the late nineteenth century, professional players were not at all uncommon. 'Ringers' or 'tramp' athletes were prevalent on many college campuses and were thought by press, public and universities to pose a serious problem." However, it is important to distinguish between individuals who were paid to play football and teams designed to be money- making enterprises and comprised solely of paid players. In 1902, there was an abortive attempt to organize a professional football league in Pennsylvania. Led by David Berry, editor of the Latrobe Clipper, and Connie Mack, owner of the Philadelphia Athletics baseball team, the league went broke before the end of the season, possibly because the teams had to play on Saturday, putting them in direct competition with college football, which was much more popular.
In the Midwest, strong community rivalries fueled the change from independent to semiprofessional football. Following the example of baseball, independent football teams schemed for an advantage in important games. As early as 1895, some independent teams recruited an outstanding former college football star or two to play for them in an important game against a team from a rival city. Most players on town teams lived in the town and played just for team spirit and the love of the game. But the ringers, unmotivated by town spirit, expected to be well paid for their efforts.
The evolution of independent football into the modern professional game was a slow process that encountered a number of setbacks. The cost of pay-to-play football frequently escalated beyond the means of the small cities that pioneered the independent sport. Key players moved on or retired; managers, owners, and sponsors tired of the risks associated with the sport or experienced business failures; and, on occasion, local fans lost interest. Innovations such as having a whole team of paid players failed initially, but later they became an integral part of the business.
In the early years, few were concerned about the future of the sport. In 1903, a group of civic leaders decided that Massillon, Ohio, should have a football team. At this time, a local sporting goods store in Massillon was having a clearance sale on black-and-orange-striped jerseys. The team sponsors bought up the jerseys and called the team the Massillon Tigers.
Because the Massillon group knew that a game with Canton would be a good draw, they contacted an attorney in Canton, some twelve miles away, and talked to him about starting a rival team. In this way, the Canton Bulldogs were formed to play the Massillon Tigers, and the greatest rivalry in the country began. The two Ohio teams started a rush to sign up top players anywhere they could find them. Between 1903 and 1906, the rivalry became intense, and both teams attracted paid players from Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and beyond. At the close of the 1906 season, however, financial difficulties and a scandal around charges of point fixing by players and tampering by gamblers ended professional, independent football in those two cities for a number of years. At the same time, however, strong independent football teams were developing in Akron, Columbus, Elyria, Toledo, Dayton, and Cincinnati, Ohio; Detroit and Ann Arbor, Michigan; Fort Wayne, Wabash, and Pine Village, Indiana; Evanston and Rock Island, Illinois; Racine, Wisconsin; and Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The tradition of paying former college players to play for independent teams continued in these towns and elsewhere. For example, Shelby, Ohio, located near Mansfield, had a reputation for finding the best athletes available in the upper Midwest to represent their community. Shelby was determined to win the state championship of Ohio. On one occasion, Shelby hired Ty Cobb to play on their baseball team in a game to determine the state baseball championship. On another occasion, they hired Guy Schulz, the brother of Adolph "Germany" Schulz, the great All-American center from the University of Michigan. Considered by many to be the best center to play in the first fifty years of American college football, Germany Schulz, at six feet four 245 pounds, was one of the fastest men on the field and could dominate a game. In 1907, Adolph Schulz almost alone held a strong University of Pennsylvania team at bay for more than forty-five minutes, according to the great sports reporter Grantland Rice. Some argued that his brother Guy, who did not attend college, was as good as Adolph, and newspaper reports sometimes confused the two brothers.
With this kind of history, it is not surprising that, by 1908, the Shelby Blues took the lead in hiring former college players to upgrade their strong, independent team. The Blues hired former Massillon Tigers star, George "Peggy" Parratt, as player-manager. He promptly engaged half a dozen of the best former college stars from various parts of Ohio, and the Blues became the state independent football champions. Because Shelby relied primarily on hired talent rather than local men, the Blues became one of the outstanding semiprofessional football teams in America.
Independent state football championships during this period were entirely unofficial. An informal consensus of sportswriters, team managers, and fan opinion determined the "state champion." The decision was based on all games played, but some games were more important than others. The strength of a team's opponents was the most important factor in the ranking and, if a team played an opponent twice, the second game was given more weight than the first. The system was not as well organized as the modern high school and college rankings, but it usually worked to the satisfaction of those who cared.
Akron, Ohio, offers an excellent case study of the transition from independent football to professional football. The roots of professional football are as deep in Akron as they are in Canton, Massillon, and Shelby, Ohio. As early as 1902, the Akron East End Athletic Club fielded a team that challenged the Massillon Tigers and the Shelby Athletic Club for the Ohio independent football championship. Coached by Bill Laub, the Akron club defeated independent teams from Detroit, Youngstown, and Canton. They also defeated college teams from Mt. Union College and Ohio Northern University. Akron's only loss in 1903 was to the Massillon Tigers.
In 1907, the Akron Indians replaced the Akron Athletic Club. They played their games at the Sherman Street Field and moved to the Nolan Park field a year later. The team was made up almost exclusively of hometown players. The Indians featured Charles A. "Doc" Baker, one of the first African-American professional football players. Baker played halfback for the Akron Indians from 1907 through 1909, and again in 1911. In 1908 and 1909, the Indians were undefeated and claimed the independent football championship of Ohio.
From 1907 through 1911, the Indians shared hometown football fan loyalty with the Akron Tigers. The Tigers were never quite in the same class as the Indians, although they only lost 5-0 in one of the two games played by these teams in 1910. The real competition for the state title in 1910 was between Akron and the Shelby Blues. Named the Blues because the team wore blue jerseys, they were coached by John Miller, their halfback, but quarterback Peggy Parratt was thought to be the man in charge. Parratt and Guy "Germany" Schulz were the stars for the Blues. For some of the critical games, they hired one of the Nesser brothers.
As semiprofessional teams hired more professional players, these teams began demanding guarantees for away games. In 1911, the Shelby Blues demanded and received a $135 guarantee for their out-of-town Sunday games. This was one of the highest guarantees in independent football during these years. Pay to players averaged five dollars per game, with stars receiving as much as twenty-five dollars per game. By contrast, the average worker made five to ten dollars a week.
George Waterson "Peggy" Parratt did more than anyone else in America to foster the transition from independent to professional football. Though largely unrecognized for his contributions, he was one of the football geniuses of the pre-World War I era. While Canton is generally acknowledged as the birthplace of professional football, in reality, the Canton Bulldogs simply completed the job started by Parratt in Shelby and Akron.
Born in May 1882 to the William Parratts, Peggy played football at West High School in Cleveland and entered Case School of Applied Science on September 16, 1902, where he became a campus hero. Playing for Case between 1903 and 1906, he was All-Ohio at end for two years and All-Ohio at quarterback in 1905, his senior year. He was captain and coach of the first baseball team at Case, in 1906, and organized and played on the school's first basketball team. In the fall of 1905, Parratt played semiprofessional football on Sundays for the Shelby Athletic Club while simultaneously playing college football at Case in Cleveland on Saturdays. When this was discovered sometime in 1906, he was declared ineligible to play amateur athletics. In the spring of 1906, he graduated from Case with a mechanical engineering degree.
After declining the head coaching position at Marietta College, in 1906, Parratt became the starting quarterback for the Massillon Tigers, and, on October 25, 1906, he threw the first complete forward pass in semiprofessional football. The Massillon Tigers broke up at the end of the 1906 football season because of financial problems, and did not reorganize until 1915, so Peggy played for the Franklin Athletic Club of Cleveland in 1907, organized and coached the Cleveland Broadway Athletic Club, and spent most of his spare time that year making money by officiating.
In 1908, Parratt returned to Shelby where he helped organize, coach, and play for the Shelby Athletic Club. In 1909, the Shelby team claimed a share of the state independent football championship along with Akron. In 1910 and 1911, Parratt helped recruit well-known former Ohio college players for the Blues, who won the state championship both years. The use of a large number of paid players established Shelby as one of the leading semiprofessional teams in the country.
In 1912, at twenty-seven years of age, George "Peggy" Parratt was part of a group that acquired control of the Akron Indians. He became its coach and, as the team's manager, helped to reinstate it as one of the nation's best independent football teams. The process of outgunning Shelby, however, was not easy, as this report in the Cleveland Leader on November 4, 1912, indicates:
Professional football is a queer game, with many queer results.... Remember Peggy Parratt, that sensational Peggy of a few years back, who brought fame and glory to Case School by his wonderful work at end, by his wonderful speed, and by his still more wonderful pluck? "Peggy" of late years has been closely identified with professional football in this state. The power of the [Akron] Indians has been so recognized that the team has frequently had difficulty getting games. The difficulty had been as great in 1912 as in any other year. The Indians wanted a game with Shelby. Shelby, home of strong teams of the past, was reckoned as a fine drawing card. Akron likes professional football and turns out well to see the games. Shelby was scheduled. Shelby's 1912 team was but a shadow of the great teams of the past. The Indians needed a good game, a strong opponent. They realized that their faithful rooters were entitled to a good game. Parratt thought Shelby could not give good competition. He anxiously inquired about the players on the team. He thought the Indians would win so easily that the Akron fans would be disappointed. That wouldn't do. Peggy grew charitable. He volunteered to help Shelby. He volunteered to get some good players for Shelby. The Shelby manager appreciated Parratt's help. perhaps cracking his sides at the same time in anticipation of the surprise which would be sprung on Peggy. The day of the big game arrived. It was last Sunday. Five thousand of the faithful fought for choice positions to watch the contest, and incidentally to watch their favorites annihilate their bitter rivals. "Peggy" was ostensibly prepared to meet any style of game that Shelby could produce. He himself has imported acknowledged stars for the game to be used in case of emergency. Among the stars were "Hull" Hinaman, former Case guard, and now well known coach of Ohio University.
Continues...
Excerpted from The Sunday Game by Keith McClellan Copyright © 2000 by The University of Akron. Excerpted by permission.
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