The Buffalo Indians were a professional
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
team that competed in the
third American Football League in
1940
A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280.
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
*January ...
and in
1941
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January–August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar E ...
. The team played its home games in
Civic Stadium in
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Southe ...
. Owned by the Buffalo
American Legion
The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is a non-profit organization of U.S. war veterans headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. It is made up of state, U.S. territory, and overseas departments, and these are in turn made up of lo ...
, the Indians were managed by
Earl "Red" Seick, who was also
player-coach
A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the s ...
for the team for the first five games in 1940 (he was replaced by
Orlando Nesmith for the rest of the season).
[Indians Occupy Faded Spot in Buffalo's Football Scrapbook](_blank)
– Joe Marren, Professional Football Research Association (1997)[When the Indians Roamed Buffalo's Gridiron](_blank)
– Connie McGillicuddy, Professional Football Research Association (2000)
- www.billsbackers.com While most of the AFL membership focused on raiding the rosters of the local members of the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...
teams, the Indians (which did not have a local NFL competitor) concentrated on signing local talent, castoffs from the NFL, and men who played in the defunct
second American Football League.
Featuring the running talents of
halfback Carl Littlefield, the Indians struggled to a 2-8 record in 1940 (having been
shut out Shut Out may refer to:
* Shutout, a game in which one team prevents the opposing team from scoring
* ''Shut Out'' (album), a 1977 album by Paul Jabara
* "Shut Out" (song), a 1977 song by Paul Jabara and Donna Summer
* "Shutout", a song by The Wal ...
four times and
forfeit
Forfeit or forfeiture may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Forfeit'', a 2007 thriller film starring Billy Burke
* "Forfeit", a song by Chevelle from ''Wonder What's Next''
* ''Forfeit/Fortune'', a 2008 album by Crooked Fingers
L ...
ed one game; they also won one game by forfeit) and finished in fifth place. The club was reorganized in early 1941, with a new name (Buffalo Tigers) and a new coach (
Tiny Engebretsen).
The changes yielded the same results once league play resumed that fall, Buffalo finishing with a 2-6 record and fourth place in the five team loop
before the AFL suspended operations after the
Pearl Harbor attack
The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, ju ...
and the U.S. entry into
World War II.
[David L. Porter, ed., ''Biographical Dictionary of American Sports: Football'' (Greenwood Press 1987) , p. 142][George Gipe, ''The Great American Sports Book'' (Doubleday 1978) ]
By the time the war ended, both the league and the Buffalo Tigers officially ceased to exist, but Buffalo's foray into major league football was not forgotten as the
All-America Football Conference
The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was a professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League (NFL) from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many of the ...
formed in 1946 with a new team, the
Buffalo Bisons
The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fie ...
, being the new tenants in the newly renamed
War Memorial Stadium.
Origin
The history of the Buffalo Indians begins in early 1940, with an agreement among businessmen in Buffalo, New York City, and Boston to start a new major league football league to compete with the established
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...
. At roughly the same time, a minor league
calling itself the American Football League announced plans for expansion with the goal of becoming a major league itself. When the businessmen convinced the owners of the
Columbus Bullies
The Columbus Bullies were a professional football team founded by Phil H. Bucklew in Columbus, Ohio in 1938. The Bullies started out as a member of the American Professional Football Association (APFA) in 1939. Later, in 1940, the Bullies joine ...
,
Cincinnati Bengals and the newly minted expansion team, the
Milwaukee Chiefs to join ''their'' league, the minor AFL imploded as the formation the new six-team "major league," the
third "major" American Football League, was announced July 14, 1940.
The Indians were originally owned by the Buffalo
American Legion
The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is a non-profit organization of U.S. war veterans headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. It is made up of state, U.S. territory, and overseas departments, and these are in turn made up of lo ...
, which "Red" Seick acting in the triple role of player, coach, and business manager. The team drew its players from two sources, area college stars and men who once played in the NFL and the
second AFL.
1940
Within two weeks of the league's organizational meeting (held in Buffalo's Hotel Lafayette, August 4–5, 1940), Seick proceeded to sign up local college talent and players who had been out of pro football for one or two years. The team's first quarterback was
Steve Banas, former
Pittsburgh Steeler
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...
and
Detroit Lion. New starting tackle
Ed Karp was another former Steeler who helped
Byron White
Byron "Whizzer" Raymond White (June 8, 1917 April 15, 2002) was an American professional football player and jurist who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1962 until his retirement in 1993.
Born and raised in Color ...
's rushing game decades before he became a
U.S. Supreme Court justice
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point of ...
. A third former Steeler,
Carl Littlefield, became the Indians' starting halfback.
Despite the presence of local and veteran talent, the Indians suffered from a lack of offense. Banas was shifted from quarterback to fullback in the fourth game and was replaced behind center by former
St. Bonaventure
Bonaventure ( ; it, Bonaventura ; la, Bonaventura de Balneoregio; 1221 – 15 July 1274), born Giovanni di Fidanza, was an Italian Catholic Franciscan, bishop, cardinal, scholastic theologian and philosopher.
The seventh Minister Ge ...
star
Steve Hrycyszyn. About the same time, former
New York Yankee
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...
Orlando "Ole" Nesmith was signed to be a backup halfback; a week later, Nesmith replaced Seick as player-coach of the Indians (which, at that time, had a 1-4 record).
Buffalo then proceeded to lose four more games (one by forfeit) before winning its last scheduled game (against the
Cincinnati Bengals) by forfeit.
Two forfeits
While the Bengals had two games cancelled (against the
Milwaukee Chiefs and against the
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...
) in 1940, the Buffalo Indians were involved in two forfeits, the last two forfeited games in the history of major professional football.
On November 17, 1940, the last scheduled home game in Buffalo was called after a storm dumped four inches of snow on the field, which was covered by a
tarpaulin
A tarpaulin ( , ) or tarp is a large sheet of strong, flexible, water-resistant or waterproof material, often cloth such as canvas or polyester coated with polyurethane, or made of plastics such as polyethylene. Tarpaulins often have reinforced ...
. The snow had partially melted overnight, and then froze on top of the cover... and also froze the tarp to the ground itself. Early-arriving fans assisted the grounds crew in a futile attempt to clear the field of snow and remove the tarp while other fans struggled to find usable seats in the stands. When the time for kickoff approached, it became apparent that the field would not be in playable condition for the game; so the officiating crew declared a forfeit in favor of the visiting New York Yankees.
Two weeks later, the Tigers were scheduled to play their last game of the season, but the scheduled opponent, the
Cincinnati Bengals, were so diminished by a rash of injuries that they couldn't field a team in time for the game. A forfeit was declared, this time in favor of the Tigers, the last forfeit to be declared in major professional football in the United States.
1941
The span of time between the last game of the 1940 season and the first game of 1941 brought sizable changes to the Buffalo AFL team. A reorganization resulted in a new owner (coal
magnate
The magnate term, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", means a man from the higher nobility, a man who belongs to the high office-holders, or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ot ...
Fiore Cesare), a new coach (
Paul Engebretsen
Paul Joseph “Tiny” Engebretsen (July 27, 1910 – March 31, 1979) was a professional American football player who played offensive lineman for two seasons for the Chicago Bears, Chicago Cardinals, and Pittsburgh Pirates, and 9 years for the G ...
), and a new team name (the Buffalo Tigers). Most of the 1940 Indians players did not return to Buffalo in 1941 to play as Tigers, but stars Steve Hrycyszyn, Steve Banas, and Carl Littlefield were back in the hope of improving on the 2-8 record the team had in 1940.
Engebretsen signed former Milwaukee Chief end
Sherm Barnes and back
Andy Karpus, who had started for four teams in two American Football Leagues.
Joe Ratica, formerly of the
Brooklyn Dodgers
The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the club moved to Los Angeles, Califor ...
and
Boston Bears, became the Tigers' new starting center.
The efforts to improve the offense from its four-shutout performance in 1940 appeared to be in vain as the 1941 season began when the Tigers were shut out by the Cincinnati Bengals (a team that lost twice to Buffalo the previous season) by a score of 29-0, and then to the newly renamed New York Americans 26-7 three days later, but the rematch with the Bengals ended in a 16-0 victory for the Tigers. It was the first on-field victory for the Buffalo franchise in over a year.
While Tiny Engebretsen's upgrades in the team's offense were taking hold (the Tigers scored touchdowns in each remaining game except one), they were still losing with regularity, matching the two wins they had in 1940. A 14-0 whitewash by the Milwaukee Chiefs ended the Tigers' 2-6 season.
One game with Johnny "Blood" McNally
The third American Football League featured teams with fluid rosters, and the Buffalo Indians and Tigers were no exception. For the October 8, 1941, game against the
New York Americans
The New York Americans, colloquially known as the Amerks, were a professional ice hockey team based in New York City from 1925 to 1942. They were the third expansion team in the history of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the second to play i ...
, three members of the
Kenosha Cardinals
Kenosha () is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the seat of Kenosha County. Per the 2020 census, the population was 99,986 which made it the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Situated on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, Kenosh ...
appeared in Buffalo Tigers uniforms: two members of the Cardinals roster (
Johnny Dolan, former
Pittsburgh Steeler
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...
and
Chicago Cardinal Ernie Wheeler) and the Kenosha coach, eventual
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coac ...
inductee
Johnny "Blood" McNally.
[Kenosha Cardinals: Life on the Fringe](_blank)
- Bob Carroll, Professional Football Researchers Association (1983) (McNally, to date, is the only player to have played in this particular incarnation of the AFL to be inducted into the Hall.
The Kenosha Cardinals had an unexpected two weeks off after the cancellation of two games between the Cardinals and the Milwaukee Chiefs when McNally took notice of his old teammate Tiny Engebretsen's Buffalo Tigers were outmanned by the Cincinnati Bengals in the first game of the AFL season by the score of 29-0. McNally, Dolan, and Wheeler traveled from Kenosha to Buffalo for the Tigers' second game.
Against the Americans, McNally rushed five times in the game (longest run: eight yards), but the Tigers lost again, 26-7. While NcNally returned to Kenosha, Wheeler and Dolan stayed with the Tigers for a rematch with Cincinnati on October 19, 1941, a 16-0 victory for Buffalo. Dolan and Wheeler returned to Kenosha after the game, but a month later, Wheeler returned to Buffalo, this time with Kenosha teammate
Clem Naughton in tow, for the Tigers' last two games of the 1941 season (both losses against the Milwaukee Chiefs).
Kenosha Cardinals: Life on the Fringe
- Bob Carroll, Professional Football Researches Association (1983)
Demise
Although the AFL lost the Boston Bears franchise prior to the beginning of the 1941 season, its owners were optimistic about the league's long-term future. Although the league's average attendance was less than that of the more-established NFL, the AFL seemed to be on as firm a financial footing as the older league. By the end of the 1941 season, the new Detroit franchise was preparing for a 1942 debut in the AFL. The league was the first major football league to complete a double round robin
A round-robin tournament (or all-go-away-tournament) is a competition in which each contestant meets every other participant, usually in turn.''Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged'' (1971, G. & C. Me ...
schedule, in which each team played each other twice.
All the plans for 1942 came to a sudden stop upon the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, ju ...
and the start of World War II on December 7, 1941. With the induction of college and professional players into the U.S. military
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...
, it became increasingly apparent to the AFL owners that the global conflict would put the continued success of the league into question.
On September 2, 1942, AFL president William B. Cox announced the suspension of league activities until the end of the war. Neither the third AFL nor the Buffalo Tigers returned; 1946 saw the beginning of a new professional football team in Buffalo (the Bisons, later renamed the Bills) in a new major league (the All-America Football Conference
The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was a professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League (NFL) from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many of the ...
).
References
{{AFL III
Defunct American football teams in New York (state)
American football teams established in 1940
American football in Buffalo, New York
1940 establishments in New York (state)
1942 disestablishments in New York (state)
Sports clubs disestablished in 1942
American Football League (1940) teams