The Fort Wayne Friars were an early professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

team based in

Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...

. The team, which was also known as the Friars Athletic Association, consistently fielded good and noteworthy teams. Because Fort Wayne is situated near the

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

border, the Friars often played Ohio teams as well as those from

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

History

Amateur origins

From their conception in 1909, the Friars began as a purely amateur team. However by 1913, as was the custom in those days, Fort Wayne would on occasion employ a "ringer” or two who usually turned out to be a current star

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

player.

Knute Rockne Knut (Norwegian and Swedish), Knud (Danish), or Knútur (Icelandic) is a Scandinavian, German, and Dutch first name, of which the anglicised form is Canute. In Germany both "Knut" and "Knud" are used. In Spanish and Portuguese Canuto is used whi ...

played for the Friars in 1913 under the alias, "Jones". By 1914, the Friars relied on graduated stars for its roster when needed.

Professional team

In 1915 Friars coach Samuel Byroades brought together a line-up that consisted of at least 5 players who had previously played for Notre Dame, 3 players from

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

and D.C. Smith from

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

. The 1915 Friars went 7-1-1, losing only to the Evanston North Ends and tying the Wabash Athletic Association. The final game of the 1915 saw the Friars shut out the Columbus Panhandles, featuring six of the infamous Nesser Brothers. A year later the Friars posted an 8-1-1 record, losing again only to Wabash. That season the Friars employed 9 Notre Dame players.

and

Gus Dorais Charles Emile "Gus" Dorais (July 2, 1891 – January 3, 1954) was an American football player, coach, and athletic administrator. Dorais played college football at the University of Notre Dame, where he was an All-American in 1913 at quarterback ...

both played for the Friars that season.

World War I

The manning shortages associated with

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

caught up with the Friars in 1917. Some players left the team for better pay elsewhere, while some played only on a week-by-week basis for the highest bidder for their services. The Friars folded and would not return to play until 1920.

Return and closure

In 1920, the Friars Athletic Association decided to file a team and recapture some of the glory of its past. The new Friars signed several players from the Fort Wayne local teams. They also as held tryouts for other players. Because of inflation, the Friars played all of their games at home in 1920. The Friars based their financial strategy on the projection that they could draw at least 2,000 fans per game by playing at home. The first game of the season resulted in a 6-0 loss to the

Cincinnati Celts The Cincinnati Celts (pronounced with a hard C) was the first professional football team to play in Cincinnati, Ohio. The team played in the unofficial "Ohio League" and the American Professional Football Association (renamed the National Footba ...

. During the inaugural season 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 ...

(then called the American Professional Football Association), the Friars defeated the league's Columbus Panhandles 14-0. For this game, the Friars employed

Bob Peck Robert Peck (23 August 1945 – 4 April 1999) was an English actor who played Ronald Craven in the television serial ''Edge of Darkness'', for which he won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor. He was also known for his role as game warden Rob ...

and

Ken Huffine Kenneth Wilbur Huffine (December 22, 1897 – September 26, 1977) was a professional football player-coach who played in the National Football League from 1920 until 1925. During that time, he played for the Muncie Flyers, Chicago Staleys and t ...

. Then after a series of scheduling missteps, that resulted in "no shows" by their opponents, the Friars beat the

Pitcairn Quakers The Pitcairn Quakers were a professional American football team from Pitcairn, Pennsylvania, United States. The team played as an independent from 1904 until 1920 and featured the best players in the community as well as some famous college-level ...

, 7-0, on a

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

that was set up by an interference penalty. The Friars then held another AFPA team, the

Detroit Heralds Detroit had four early teams in the National Football League before the Detroit Lions. The Heralds played in 1920, and had played as an independent as far back as 1905. The Tigers, a continuation of the Heralds, played in 1921, folding midseason ...

, to a scoreless tie. The 1920 season ended with an exhibition game against the Notre Dame freshman team. The game took place on a Saturday, when most Friars fans were at work. Therefore it can be assumed that the Friars were lucky to break even for that game. The Friars lost a couple of players as a result of the previously unplayed "no show" games and later folded.

References

* *{{cite journal , title=Friar Gridders Were Fort Wayne Favorites , publisher=KPC News , issue=February 5 , year=2009 , pages=1–2 , url=http://www.kpcnews.com/index.php?view=article&catid=83%3Abob-gagen&id=1152%3A-Friar-gridders-were-Fort-Wayne-favorites&format=pdf&option=com_content, authors=Staff Report Sports in Fort Wayne, Indiana American football teams established in 1909 American football teams disestablished in 1921 1909 establishments in Indiana 1921 disestablishments in Indiana Defunct American football teams in Indiana