UConn's first NFL players - 1926

[Adios]

http://www.oldestlivingprofootball.com/martinleoredoneill.htm

He was also our first All-American candidate in 1924. The Hartford Blues were a member of the NFL for 1 year in 1926. They were independent for their 3 other seasons, 1924, 1925, and 1927. The "Four Horsemen", who put Notre Dame on the map with ND's first national championship in 1924, played for the Waterbury/Hartford Blues in 1925. The NFL was founded in 1920 and was very turbulent for it's first decade. Teams played against NFL teams and independent teams.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hartford_Blues

http://www.luckyshow.org/football/Hartford Blues.htm

The owner of the team was George Mulligan.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Mulligan

The "Four Horsemen" also lost to the legendary 1925 Pottsville Maroons on a separate team in an exhibition game due to a last minute field goal that put the professional football ahead of college football for good. The Maroons were controversially stripped of their title for playing that game.

More on the Waterbury/Hartford Blues before they joined the NFL:

http://www.profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/04-08-107.pdf

The Waterbury/Hartford Blues did play 3 games against 2 NFL teams, the Rochester Jeffersons and the Canton Bulldogs, in 1925 and that team had a "QB" who played at UConn. They won two of those games. The story and schedule can be found in the above link.

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The UConn QB from the 1925 (and 1926) Hartford Blues (assuming he was on the 1924 UConn team, as well):

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/R/RadzVi20.htm

He also played for the 1926 Hartford Blues. Played in 8 games and scored 1 FG and 2 XPs. That gives us two players in the NFL on the 1926 Hartford Blues. Back then, there were no platoons for offense and defense. 11 players played offense and defense with substitutions during the game, as they do in soccer and rugby.

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A continuation of the article about the Hartford Blues from 1925. This article covers the 1926 season. Both are great reads.

http://www.profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/04-09-110.pdf

Red O'Neill and Vic Radzievitch scored 21% of the 1926 Blues' points and the Blues did have a decent defense. UConn's strength in 1924 was their defense. The NY Football Giants' first game in 1926 was against the Blues, at Hartford. The Giants won, 21-0. The Giants would win their first NFL title next season. Red O'Neill played in 9 games and scored 1 of Hartford's 7 total TDs for the season.

http://www.databasefootball.com/teams/teamyear.htm?tm=HAR&yr=1926&lg=nfl

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/hrt/1926.htm

Fun tidbit: The NY Giants played their second game ever against All-New Britain in 1925, winning by the score of 26-0, in New Britain. Jim Thorpe scored one of the Giants' TDs. All-New Britain also played 3 games against 2 NFL teams, losing all 3 games.

 

[ZooCougar]

You should start a website covering the history of the game in the state. Between Yale and UConn you would have a ton of material to work with.

 

[Adios]

You should start a website covering the history of the game in the state. Between Yale and UConn you would have a ton of material to work with.

That would be a LOT of work. It's amazing that people would rather constantly waste their time bashing other conferences, programs, commissioners, etc, rather than bother to freaking dig up the history of their own program or state. This forum has really been going for 10 years? I am a total newbie compared to some here.

Connecticut probably has the deepest history or most tradition out of all states in gridiron football. "Oh, we have no tradition!" Yeah, right. I actually discovered this information by accident and couldn't believe it. People constantly talking about drawing NFL level talent and no one else seems to be excited about this kind of information? We have some inept historians (and marketers) in our athletic department. If the athletic department hires me as a historian, maybe then I'll do a web site.

We have so much history here that is suppressed in the minds of people and can be used to market our own program to heights we dream about. If we become a very successful program (win a national championship) and draw crowds of 60K+, someone will grab us quickly. Our potential is incredible. Penn State did very well and they are in the middle of nowhere. People can say whatever they want about Joe Paterno, but he was a coaching genius. No one will ever be able to take that away from him. Did anyone mention that one of our longest tenured coaches, Tom Jackson, played at Penn State under Paterno? Our last four head coaches played at Penn State, Notre Dame and Syracuse.

1924 Connecticut Aggies fob now stays with me. We had NFL players in our program 88 years ago! No mention of this anywhere except databases and a gridiron football research association. This statement on UConn's football Wikipedia entry seems to hint what is being stated here: "The UConn Club memorializes O'Neill with a yearly award given to a former student-athlete who has had a successful professional career." The NFL was MUCH smaller in roster size and the amount of teams back then. I have no idea how many players who went to UConn between 1924 and 1998 went on to play professional football. That would require a lot of research.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Deepest history? It's not a question of probably. The Ivy's had been futzing around with the game for a few years, and the players/coaches involved carried the game out to the midwest at the time.....but Rutgers and Princeton in New Jersey, like to claim being the first to play, with their ad hoc rugby games, and annual rules meetings in the clubs in Manhattan about rules, which were then carried to points elsewhere in the country....from 1869-1875 or so, but american football didn't really begin, until Walter Camp came up with the standardized rules about the line of scrimmage in 1876, and the associated start and stop of play - which all happened right on the same field that is still maintained on Yale grounds in New Haven.

 

[Adios]

Deepest history? It's not a question of probably. The Ivy's had been futzing around with the game for a few years, and the players/coaches involved carried the game out to the midwest at the time.....but Rutgers and Princeton in New Jersey, like to claim being the first to play, with their ad hoc rugby games, and annual rules meetings in the clubs in Manhattan about rules, which were then carried to points elsewhere in the country....from 1869-1875 or so, but american football didn't really begin, until Walter Camp came up with the standardized rules about the line of scrimmage in 1876, and the associated start and stop of play - which all happened right on the same field that is still maintained on Yale grounds in New Haven.

This is the year that football took a turn for a rugby-like game. 1874, Harvard at McGill. First game played on US soil was Harvard vs Tufts. Canada was playing "big-time" rugby football before the US. The Toronto Argonauts were founded in 1873. The Hamilton Tigers were founded in 1869. They merged with the Hamilton Wildcats (founded 1940) to created the Tiger-Cats.

http://cfreference.net/cfr/schools/harvard/7/1874

Walter Camp took it from there and became an icon of the American game.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Football is, and always will be, defined by control of the line of scrimmage.

 

[Adios]

Football is, and always will be, defined by control of the line of scrimmage.

Gridiron football, yes.

 

[whaler11]

Football is, and always will be, defined by control of the line of scrimmage.

Sooner or later we were bound to totally agree about something. Probably helped that you kept it to a dozen words.

As for the history it's interesting to some. I find the origins of MLB and the NFL interesting. I don't think it resonates much with the population at large and especially with kids.

BTN has been showing some older games lately. The had a Michigan OSU game from the 70's on and once the novelty wears off it's brutal to watch. It makes Edsall look like Mouse Davis.

 

[Adios]

Sooner or later we were bound to totally agree about something. Probably helped that you kept it to a dozen words.

As for the history it's interesting to some. I find the origins of MLB and the NFL interesting. I don't think it resonates much with the population at large and especially with kids.

BTN has been showing some older games lately. The had a Michigan OSU game from the 70's on and once the novelty wears off it's brutal to watch. It makes Edsall look like Mouse Davis.

Some? Definitely not many people, apparently. How could anyone not publicize this kind of history for UConn football after all these years?! Some of our present fans say UConn's football past is worthless. Really?? I was hoping our fans would be glad to hear something like this, but the lack of responses speaks for itself. They were proven wrong. "Ignorance is bliss", some say. It's actually stupidity.

In the 1920s, a 30% completion percentage was considered good. Benny Friedman of U of Michigan and the Detroit Wolverines and NY Giants changed that. He hit 50%.

 

[whaler11]

Some? Definitely not many people, apparently. How could anyone not publicize this kind of history for UConn football after all these years?! Some of our present fans say UConn's football past is worthless. Really?? I was hoping our fans would be glad to hear something like this, but the lack of responses speaks for itself. They were proven wrong. "Ignorance is bliss", some say. It's actually stupidity.

In the 1920s, a 30% completion percentage was considered good. Benny Friedman of U of Michigan and the Detroit Wolverines and NY Giants changed that. He hit 50%.

Well what do you think the outcome is if they made a big deal about it? Our fanbase is more interested in tailgating than the current team, what are they going to do with info on people who have been dead for decades?

 

[Adios]

Well what do you think the outcome is if they made a big deal about it? Our fanbase is more interested in tailgating than the current team, what are they going to do with info on people who have been dead for decades?

I am aware of the obsession with tailgating. Emphasizing history can make some recruits and fans more interested in the program. How many? I have no idea. Big-time programs tend to emphasize history (the "5 big conferences" now). Look at the ACC, even. I do know we go after intelligent recruits. We've been playing football for 116 years.

Another UConn player who may be linked to the program in the 1920s, Art Williams:

http://www.databasefootball.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=WILLIART01

He would have been a freshman at UConn in 1924, if I am doing the math correctly. They did have freshman squads back then. He won a championship with the Providence Steam Roller in 1928, his first year. He would be our first champion in any professional sport.

One more player who is listed as attending UConn, Jim Hamill. Educated guess says he would have been a senior in 1924.

http://www.profootballarchives.com/1925nflpro.html

4 players who may have been associated (quite likely were) with the the football program in the 1920s played in the NFL. 2 played for the Hartford Blues and 2 for the Providence Steam Roller, New England's first NFL champion. He played only 1 game in 1925. Would require further research to see which players absolutely played for the Connecticut Agricultural College Aggies football program. UConn's yearbooks from back then don't mention three of those players but nor do these yearbooks have full rosters. Historians are saying they all went to UConn at some point.

Wouldn't it be nice to find some of these players' memorabilia...

 

[Adios]

Art Williams has the most rushing TDs in Providence Steam Roller history.

http://www.databasefootball.com/teams/teamleaders.htm?tm=PRO&lg=nfl

Anyone have a suggestion who I should forward this thread/information to in the UConn athletic department? I have connections to the person who runs that web site. Will try to do more research.

 

[ZooCougar]

Definitely send it to the Press people in the AD. At a minimum this is useful in the Press Guide.

 

[Adios]

Definitely send it to the Press people in the AD. At a minimum this is useful in the Press Guide.

Cannot find any contact information. Would anyone be able to help? Did find this, though.

http://www.uconnhuskies.com/trads/museum.html

 

[HuskyDogArt]

Art Williams has the most rushing TDs in Providence Steam Roller history.

http://www.databasefootball.com/teams/teamleaders.htm?tm=PRO&lg=nfl

Anyone have a suggestion who I should forward this thread/information to in the UConn athletic department? I have connections to the person who runs that web site. Will try to do more research.

I guess that record will NEVER be broken (since the Steam Rollers, I love that name, BTW, will never be in the NFL.)

 

[Adios]

I guess that record will NEVER be broken (since the Steam Rollers, I love that name, BTW, will never be in the NFL.)

I'd have to say franchise names were more creative back then. Not too many franchises won a title and they are one of them. Here's a trophy that was issued for the 1928 championship. I do not know if it is for a particular player or for the team. Belongs to the Pro Football Hall of Fame now. Probably buried in their basement, like a lot of the old stuff is.

Kind of weird how historians called the team the "Steam Roller" but the trophy says "Steam Rollers". It appears the team went by the singular and plural names.

Does anyone have contact info for UConn's media department, at all?

Our players were playing with Hall of Famers in the 20s. Here's one.

http://www.profootballhof.com/mobile/hof/member.aspx?PlayerId=242

 

[Adios]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connecticut_Huskies_football#Early_years

Can someone please fix reference #4?

That trophy belonged to Hall of Famer Jimmy Conzelman. The rest of the team was awarded gold watches. The Hartford Blues beat Jim Thorpe and the Canton Bulldogs in 1926. Deep history we have.

 

[Rondogg]

Loving this thread.

 

[Adios]

Glad you are enjoying it, Rondogg.

Whoever made the fix, thank you very much. Red O'Neill and Art Williams deserve their own Wiki pages. Rosters in the 1920s NFL were puny compared to now.

 

[Adios]

They're all in the UConn media guide....

http://www.uconnhuskies.com/datadump/MFootball/2006/MediaGuide/7/NFL.pdf

Does WFootball have a future?

 

[SAMCRO]

IDoes anyone have contact info for UConn's media department, at all? [/url]

Here's the contact info from the site. Start w/ someone in Athletic Marketing or Athletic Communications. Mike Enright handles Communications for football, he may be able to direct you to the right person.
http://www.uconnhuskies.com/school-bio/staff-directory.html#fb

 

[Adios]

Here's the contact info from the site. Start w/ someone in Athletic Marketing or Athletic Communications. Mike Enright handles Communications for football, he may be able to direct you to the right person.
http://www.uconnhuskies.com/school-bio/staff-directory.html#fb

Thank you very much for the information; they already have these players in their annals. Look at the media guide from 2006 in the post before yours. Do they have this info in game guides sold at the stadium? People say we have no tradition. Now we do.