Depression Era Teams... Reorganizing the NFL in 1933

Complied by staff@footballhistorian.com:

The National Football League consisted of 22 teams in 1926 but with the Great Depression taking its toil, by 1932 it had only eight. The next year, 1933, the League reorganized and adopted two divisions and an annual championship game.

Football History It was commonplace during this era for teams to take the names of the more popular baseball teams with which they shared stadiums. The NFL new franchise - the Cincinnati Reds, an expansion team - played in Crosley Field in Cincinnati. The club adopted the name - the Reds - the nickname of the city's baseball team.

The coaches of the new 1933 Reds were Al Joley and Mike Palm... the team finished the season at 3-6-1.

In reviewing an old newspaper clipping from a Cincinnati paper, we see the following description of the new team's play - 'Weakness continues to brew in the tackle positions, and the ends, but the loudest cry is, 'Our kingdom for a tackle.'"

In August of '34, a deal was made with interests in St. Louis to move the there. However the NFL owners balked at first and wouldn't allow it, because of the additional travel expenses it would bring. But attendance dropped sharply in Cincinnati and NFL relented and approved the transfer to St. Louis.

An independent professional team already existed in St. Louis, it played games against Kansas City, Memphis and other nearby cities. It was headquartered at the St. Louis National Guard Armory and was nicknamed the 'Gunners'.

Only six Reds' player made the move to St. Louis, the rest of the squad consisted of Gunners' players. The new club played only three games in 1934, drew small crowds, and then, fell into financial ruin, and disappeared forever. Their gate receipts were garnished and some of the salaries owed its players in two cities never was paid.

NFL Archives - Cincinnati Reds/St. Louis Gunners 1933-34 -

A few of the players' names... position... college:

Frank Abruzzino, Center, Colgate... Ed Aspatore, Tackle, Marquette... Lloyd Burdick, Tackle, Illinois... Harvey Sark, Guard, Phillips... Cookie Tackwell, End, Kansas State... Russ Lay, Guard, Michigan State... Mack Gladden, End, Missouri... Les Caywood, Guard, St. John's... Pete Cole, Guard, Trinity... Foster Howell, Tackle, TCU... Charlie Diehl, Guard, Idaho... Tal Maples, Center, Tennessee... Len McGirl, Guard, Missouri... Cole Wilging, Tackle, Xavier... Ross Grant, Guard, NYU... Milford Berner, Center, Syracuse... Don Moses, End, Southern Cal... Paul Moss, End, Purdue... George Rogge, End, Iowa... John Rogers, Center, Notre Dame

The following are all listed as Backs:

Myers 'Algy' Clark, Ohio State... Swede Johnson, Marquette... Fait 'Chief' Elkins, Haskell,... Benny LaPresta, St. Louis... Otto Vokaty, Heidelberg... Mike Palm, Penn State... Ben Sohn, Washington... Jim McLaughlin, Villanova...

Gyp Battles
Halfback - Boston Redskins 1932-1936; Washington Redskins 1937... Member of the NFL Hall of Fame

One of the top halfbacks in pro football history, Clifford 'Gyp' Battles was a quick maneuvering, all-around star for the Boston Redskins during the early 1930s. A news' headliner and a four-time All-Pro selection, 1933, 1934, 1936 and 1937, he helped the Boston Redskins win an Eastern Division title in 1936 and-then when the 'Skins moved to Washington D.C. the following year - win a NFL World Championship.

Gyp Battles was among the leading ground-gainers and among the league's top scorers every season in his 6-year NFL Hall of Fame career... Gyp Battles career stats: 873 rushes for 3,622 yards, 4.1 average, 27 TD... 37 pass receptions, 556 yards, 15.0 average, 4 TD.

Bill Hewitt
End - Chicago Bears 1932-1936; Philadelphia Eagles 1937-1939, 1943 - NFL Hall of Fame... Michigan University

A fleet footed, two-way End and one of the NFL's brashest stars, Bill Hewitt was a hard-hitting defensive end and one of the best all-around athletes in the decade of the 1930s. And, he was the last of the old-breed of football stars in that he refused to wear a helmet because he felt it hampered his quickness, but he finally relented and wore one in his 8th pro season - 1939.

He was an All Pro in three of his five years with the Chicago Bears and again in his first season with the Philadelphia Eagles... Bill Hewitt was killed in a car accident on January 14, 1947 just three years after retiring - Rest In Peace. Football History

Dan Fortman
Guard and Linebacker - Chicago Bears 1936-1943... NFL Hall of Fame... attended Colgate

Danny Fortman was an instant success with the Chicago Bears in 1936, his rookie season. His determination and hard-tackling and offensive blocking in the line earned him All Pro honors in six of his eight NFL seasons - and were consecutive, 1938-1943.

On defense his genius at signal calling for lineman was rated the best in the game and Dan Fortman was a top-notch blocking Guard on offense. He was elected to the NFL Hall of Fame in 1965... footballhistorian.com - NFL Football History - Archives

NFL bird dogs scout talent: the field

Evaluating a player's skills April 19, 2001: From the Chicago Tribune by Rick Morrissey - 'In the wake of the news.' 'I don't like him,' the NFL personnel director said. 'What do you mean you don't like him? Look at the film flickering in front of you. Look at the way he's block that defensive lineman. It's a flippin' total eclipse.' 'Skinny ankles.' Excuse me? 'He has skinny ankles.' I'm afraid to ask this but what does that have to do with anything? 'I like offensive lineman with thick ankles. Carry all that weight, you need thick ankles. I look at their ankles and their wrists.' This was a few years ago. I was sitting with a man who would have a strong say in how his team would draft, and the immediate future of the organization apparently was riding on whichever kid had ankles the size of cantaloupes. Isn't that why they make athletic tape and high tops? The people who say the NFL draft is a science are right. It's the branch of medicine we know as psychiatry. I'm not sure when it happened, when football completely st its mind, but the sport is so far gone, it's somewhere in the Sahara right now, probably testing a running back's ability to perform in a sandstorm. It's as if the farther away a scout gets from evaluating a player's football skills, the more he falls in love with him. You: Boy that cornerback got toasted on a simple hitch route. NFL scout: Ever hear him play the violin portion of Beethoven's Triple Concerto in C Major? The finger work gives me the chills. Do you know what that says about his ability to intercept passes? I was reminded of this in a story in Wednesday's Tribune about Wisconsin receiver Chris Chambers. Chambers has a 45-inch vertical leap. For the uninitiated, this means from a standing position he can jump almost 4 feet off the ground. It means he can dunk a basketball with ease, grab a 5-gallon can of chicken broth off the top shelf at 'Sam's Club' and sky high for footballs. It doesn't mean he can catch footballs, just that theoretically he can be at the necessary altitude if need be. It's certainly possible that chambers will turn into a great player, but the fact is the excitement surrounding him is based almost completely on that one freakish statistic. It is why he has become Somebody. Never mind that he played in a run-oriented system at Wisconsin or that he has been injured a lot. The guy can jump. He just might vertically leap into the first round of Saturday's draft. The whole thing is a cop-out by talent evaluators. How many times have you heard that a particular player's stock has dropped dramatically between the time his college career ended and the days preceding the draft? A wide receiver can have a dominant four years, with opponents even now shaking their heads, and it means about as much as a mood ring. What matters is the NFL combine, where players are asked to run 40-yard dashes, lift weights, take an intelligence test and do the 'Curly Shuffle.' From that experience they learn that their stock is either rising or falling. One day you're IBM, the next you're a dot.com.

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