Brooklyn Dodgers (NFL)

The Brooklyn Dodgers were an American football team that played in the National Football League from 1930 to 1943, and in 1944 as the Brooklyn Tigers. The team played its home games at Ebbets Field. In 1945, because of financial difficulties, the team was merged with the Boston Yanks. The franchise is not related to the Brooklyn Dodgers franchise that played in the All-America Football Conference from 1946 to 1948; nor is it related to the American Football League franchise that played as the Brooklyn Tigers for the first half of the 1936 season before moving to Rochester and playing as the Rochester Tigers. Another NFL team that played in Brooklyn was the Brooklyn Lions (which became the Brooklyn Horsemen after merging with an AFL team of the same name) in 1926.

Early years
The team began play in 1930 after two Brooklyn businessmen bought the Dayton Triangles for $2,500 and moved the team into Ebbets Field. These two individuals were Bill Dwyer, a past owner of the New York Americans and Pittsburgh Pirates of the National Hockey League, and Jack Depler, a player for the NFL's Orange Tornadoes. Dwyer and Depler then renamed the Triangles the Brooklyn Dodgers, borrowing the name of Brooklyn's then major league baseball team.

The 1930 Dodgers finished fourth in the NFL with a 7-4-1 record. The high point of their season consisted of a 7-6 upset over the New York Giants at the end of November. The Dodgers star back was Jack McBride, a former Giant. He led the league in scoring with a total of 56 points in 1930. However the 1931 season saw the Dodgers post a 2-12 record. Once the season ended, Benny Friedman was brought in as the team's new player-coach.

The 1932 season started off promising with wins over the Staten Island Stapletons and the new Boston Braves (later renamed the Redskins). However the team soon hit a five game losing streak. The streak ended with a 3-0 win over the Chicago Cardinals, however that win was followed by four more losses. The Dodgers ended their season 3-9.

Post-Dwyer era
At the end of the 1932 season, Bill Dwyer had enough of professional football. His three years with the Dodgers had cost him an estimated $30,000. The Dodgers were then purchased by two former New York Giants players, Chris Cagle and John Simms Kelly for $25,000. Cap McEwen, a successful college football coach, was then brought in to replace Friedman, who would continue to play tailback for the Dodgers through half of the upcoming season. The 1933 season also saw the NFL split into two divisions. The Dodgers were placed in the Eastern Division. Dodgers had a chance for first place, by posting a 5-2-1 record, however a 10-0 loss to the Giants in front of 28,000 Brooklyn fans at Ebbets Field, ended that chance in November.

The following season Dan Topping bought Chris Cagle's half of the team. Topping would later become an owner and president of baseball's New York Yankees. Meanwhile Cagle continued to play in the Brooklyn backfield. However the only positive story to come out of the season for Brooklyn was the signing of Ralph Kercheval. Kercheval would go on to become one a great NFL kicker. He would go on to play for Brooklyn for the next seven seasons. He also scored every point for the Dodgers last in their last six games as they finished with a 4-7 record.

In 1935, Paul Schissler the former coach of the Chicago Cardinals took over as the Dodgers coach. However the team's stars Cagle, Friedman, and Kelly all retired. As a result the Dodgers line-up consisted of 15 rookies. The 1935 season did show the team posting a 5-6-1 record and second place in the Easter Division. Over the next four seasons, the Dodgers placed either in the fourth or third place in the Eastern standings. Several of the star players to wear a Dodgers uniform during this time included Bob Wilson and Bill Lee. The roster also included future Hall of Famers, Red Badgro and Ace Parker. Both men had played professional baseball in the majors. Badgro played for the St. Louis Browns before playing in the NFL for the Giants and Yankees. Meanwhile Parker played under Connie Mack, while as a member of the Philadelphia Athletics. He is best known for hitting a home run his first time at bat as a pinch hitter, becoming the first player in American League history to do so. Another future Hall of Famer joined the team in 1938, Frank Kinard. Kinard would play for Brooklyn for the rest of the franchise's history.

The Dodgers made NFL history on October 22, 1939. That day, at Ebbets Field, the Dodgers played the Philadelphia Eagles in the first NFL game shown on television. The Dodgers won the game 23-14.

Jock Sutherland era
In 1940, the Dodgers chose Jock Sutherland as their team's next coach. Sutherland brought to Brooklyn the Single-wing formation, that he had used at Lafayette College and Pitt. Under Sutherland, Brooklyn finished in second place in the Eastern standings. Meanwhile Parker was awarded the Joseph Carr Trophy as the leagues Official Most Valuable Player. During this time, Dodger staples Dick Cassiano and Ben Kish, who played for Sutherland at Pitt; George Cafego and Banks McFadden were signed by the team.

In 1941, the team again landed in second place of the eastern division, behind only the Redskins. Dodger Clarence "Pug" Manders won the NFL rushing title that season with 486 yards. His title still represents the smallest amount of yards carried to ever win this title. Warren Alfson and Merlyn Condit joined the team that season. Sutherland's 1940 and 1941 campaigns would be the most successful during the franchise's history.

Decline
Beginning in 1942, the team went into a steep decline, as World War II caused a shortage of players and fans. Sutherland, Parker and several other players left the team to join the military. Mike Getto, who took over the coaching duties, however with the core of the team gone, the Dodgers sunk to a 3-8-0 record. A year later the team ended up only winning two games.

In 1944, the team was renamed the Tigers but suffered a 0-10 regular season record. In a desperate attempt for survival, the team merged with the Boston Yanks for the 1945 season. The merged team played four home games in Boston and one in New York. But fans from neither cities cared as they finished with a 3-6-1 record. The merger occurred after the 1945 NFL Draft.

Topping, the Dodgers and the AAFC
In December 1945, Topping announced his intentions to accept the All-America Football Conference's New York franchise. In response, the NFL cancelled his NFL team franchise and all of its players were assigned to Boston. Meanwhile the AAFC planted another team in Brooklyn called the Dodgers. The two teams would later merge in 1949. Topping's Yankees employed several former Dodgers players in 1946 and 1947 such as Parker, Kinard and Manders. The Yankees would lose the AAFC Championship in 1946 and 1947 to the Cleveland Browns.

Indirect ties to the Indianapolis Colts
While there are no direct ties to either the Baltimore or Indianapolis Colts, the sequence of events begun by the demise of the Brooklyn Dodgers NFL team eventually resulted in the creation of the Colts franchise.

After the 1949 season the NFL added three teams from the AAFC. The AAFC Yankees players were split between the New York Giants and the New York Bulldogs who renamed themselves New York Yanks. The Dodgers-Tigers players were given to the Boston Yanks after the NFL canceled the Brooklyn NFL team franchise in 1945. After the New York Yanks folded in 1951, the NFL replaced the team with the Dallas Texans. In 1952, after the Texans folded, the NFL replaced that franchise with the Baltimore Colts, which relocated to Indianapolis in 1984.

First Round Draft Selections

 * 1936 Dick Crayne Back Iowa
 * 1937 Ed Goddard Back Washington State
 * 1938 Boyd Brumbaugh Back Duquesne
 * 1939 Bob MacLeod Back Dartmouth
 * 1940 Banks McFadden Back Clemson
 * 1941 Dean McAdams Back Washington
 * 1942 Bob Robertson Back Southern California
 * 1943 Paul Governali Back Columbia
 * 1944 Creighton Miller Back Notre Dame
 * 1945 Joe Renfroe Back Tulane

Pro Football Hall of Famers

 * Morris "Red" Badgro
 * Benny Friedman
 * Frank Kinard
 * Clarence "Ace" Parker