Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

had two 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 ...

teams in 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 ...

: the Louisville Breckenridges (or Brecks for short) from 1921 to 1924 and the Louisville Colonels in 1926. The NFL intended for the Brecks to be a

traveling team Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical locations. Travel can be done by foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, bus, airplane, ship or other means, with or without luggage, and can be one way or round trip. Travel can ...

, however the team played a series of "home" games. All Brecks home games were played at

Eclipse Park Eclipse Park was the name of three successive baseball grounds in Louisville, Kentucky in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They were the home of the Louisville baseball team first known as the Louisville Eclipse and later as the Louisvill ...

, until the stadium caught fire and burned to the ground on November 20, 1922. Meanwhile, the Colonels played all of their games on the road. While the Colonels were really a traveling team out of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

they are usually accepted as a continuation of the Brecks franchise.

Louisville Brecks (1899–1924)

The Brecks dated their beginnings back to 1899. Officially the name of the team was the Louisville Breckenridge Club. The club was located in Louisville at corner of Fifth and St. Catherine Streets at what was then the city's perimeter. The ''

Louisville Courier-Journal The ''Courier Journal'', also known as the ''Louisville Courier Journal'' (and informally ''The C-J'' or ''The Courier''), and called ''The Courier-Journal'' between November 8, 1868, and October 29, 2017, is the highest circulation newspape ...

'' reported in 1922 that the Brecks dated "back fifteen years, springing from a boys neighborhood team, the Floyds and Brecks, that has kept itself intact probably longer than any independent team in the country." At first the team was considered an amateur team, made up of mostly neighborhood boys. However, by 1919, the team was considered professional, although evidently still made up of local players. The team's first ever professional football game was held on November 16, 1919. The game resulted in a 17–0 Brecks victory over the

New Albany Calumets New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

. That win allowed the Brecks to claim the mythical "Falls Cities" title. While a champion was declared, no "league" existed at this time.

The NFL

Brecks owner, Aaron Hertzman, sent a $25 franchise fee to the NFL on February 21, 1921. The Official NFL Encyclopedia confirms that although officials from Louisville failed to attend the April 1921 league meeting, the NFL did receive a letter requesting a franchise from the Breckenridges. As a result, Hertzman beat out many of the other professional and

semi-pro ''Semi-Pro'' is a 2008 American sports comedy film. The film was directed by Kent Alterman in his directorial debut, written by Scot Armstrong, and produced by Jimmy Miller. It stars Will Ferrell, Woody Harrelson, André Benjamin and Maura Tier ...

football teams in the Louisville area. In 1920, there were at least nine independent teams in the area, including the Brecks and the Evansville Ex-Collegians. NFL President

Joseph Carr Joseph Francis Carr (October 22, 1879 – May 20, 1939) was an American sports executive in American football, baseball, and basketball. He is best known as the president of the National Football League from 1921 until 1939. He was also one of ...

liked the idea of having professional football in cities with strong

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

traditions. This may answer why he granted Hertzman and the Brecks their franchise in 1921. Unlike today, the announcement of Louisville being granted an NFL franchise, was widely ignored by the Louisville press. However, in 1920, only a little attention had been paid the league. The Brecks were one of eight teams that joined the NFL (then called the

American Professional Football Association 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 maj ...

) in 1921. Carr had intended to use the Brecks a traveling team to fill in open dates in the schedules of the more "established" teams. However, the Brecks did not operate like one. The team played only two league games in 1921, one at home and one on the road, hardly justify the Brecks as a road team. But they were all Louisville born or raised in Louisville. And unlike most road teams, the Brecks' two league games were not with established teams but with the struggling

Evansville Crimson Giants The Evansville Crimson Giants were a professional American football team based in Evansville, Indiana and were a part of the National Football League in 1921 and 1922. The Giants home games were played at Bosse Field. According to the ''Evansvill ...

and the

Columbus Panhandles The Columbus Panhandles were a professional American football team based in Columbus, Ohio. The club was founded in 1901 by workers at the Panhandle shops of the Pennsylvania Railroad. They were a part of the Ohio League from 1904 before foldi ...

, another road team. Hertzman managed the Brecks. The team played split schedules between league games and local, independent games.

1921 season

They lost their first league game to the Evansville Crimson Giants on October 2, 1921. Reports estimated that the game drew more than 2,000 spectators. The games proceeds went to a fund to erect a memorial to the first Indiana soldier to die in

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 ...

. The Brecks next six games were played at Eclipse Park against independent teams. During those six games, the Brecks finished with a 4–2 record. A November 6, 1921 a game with 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 ...

was canceled, because the Celts could not fulfill the contract. The Brecks didn't play another APFA team until December 4. That game resulted in a 6–0 loss to the Columbus Panhandles in Louisville, due to a late game

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 ...

pass. The Brecks lost their only two league games in 1921, however they did manage to finish with an overall record of 4–4–1.

Karl Hower Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl Marx, German philosopher and political writer * Karl of Austria, last Austria ...

, played in 1921 for his hometown team.

1922 season

The Brecks home schedule included only games with other road teams. However, the Brecks played a series of tough opponents on the road. The team lost on the road to the eventual 1922 NFL Champion

Canton Bulldogs The Canton Bulldogs were a professional American football team, based in Canton, Ohio. They played in the Ohio League from 1903 to 1906 and 1911 to 1919, and the American Professional Football Association (later renamed the National Football Leag ...

38–0 and the

Toledo Maroons The Toledo Maroons were a professional American football team based in Toledo, Ohio in the National Football League in 1922 and 1923. Prior to joining the NFL, the Maroons played in the unofficial "Ohio League" from 1902 until 1921. History Or ...

39–0. The very next game featured the worst loss in franchise history as the Brecks were defeated by the

Racine Legion The Racine Legion was a professional American football team based in Racine, Wisconsin, of the National Football League from 1922 to 1924. Its official name was the Horlick-Racine Legion. The team then operated as the Racine Tornadoes in 1926. ...

59–0. Louisville's first NFL victory didn't come until November 22, 1922. During that game, the Brecks defeated the Crimson Giants, 13–6. This game also proved to be the only game in which the Brecks scored. However, the Brecks experienced tragedy a few days later, when Eclipse Park caught fire and burned to the ground. The team's remaining two games were then cancelled. Had Eclipse Park not burned down, forcing cancellation of the final two games, the team would probably have financially broken even.

1923 season

After the destruction of Eclipse Park, the Brecks decided to play their home games of the 1923 season at the newly constructed

Parkway Field Parkway Field is the name of a baseball park that stood in Louisville, Kentucky. It was home to college, minor league, and negro league teams throughout its life, with the longest stints by the Louisville Colonels of the American Association from ...

. In order for the team to bring the

Akron Pros The Akron Pros were a professional football team that played in Akron, Ohio from 1908 to 1926. The team originated in 1908 as a semi-pro team named the Akron Indians, but later became Akron Pros in 1920 as the team set out to become a charter mem ...

, Columbus Panhandles, or

Oorang Indians The Oorang Indians () were a traveling team in the National Football League from LaRue, Ohio (near Marion). The franchise was a novelty team put together by Walter Lingo to market his Oorang dog kennels. All of the Indians players were Native Am ...

to Louisville, the Brecks announced the sale of season tickets. However, the 1923 season began in the same manner as the previous year, with a 37–0 loss to Canton. The following week saw a 34–0 loss at Columbus. Meanwhile, the Brecks home opener against Akron was cancelled due to poor ticket sales. The Breck did manage to play the Oorang Indians in Louisville, for the team's very last NFL game. The Indians were an all- Native American football team, created by, owner

Walter Lingo Walter Lingo (October 12, 1890 – December 31, 1966) was an Airedale Terrier breeder from La Rue, Ohio. During the 1920s, he owned the Oorang Dog Kennels. As a way of promoting his kennels, Lingo financed a National Football League franchise, c ...

to promote the sale of his

airedale terrier The Airedale Terrier (often shortened to "Airedale"), also called Bingley Terrier and Waterside Terrier, is a dog breed of the terrier type that originated in the valley (''dale'') of the River Aire, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. It ...

s. The game included pre-game entertainment and the very first

halftime show A halftime show is a performance given during the brief period between the first and second halves, or the second and third quarters, of a sporting event. Halftime shows are not given for sports with an irregular or indeterminate number of div ...

s. The Indians roster also included

Jim Thorpe James Francis Thorpe ( Sac and Fox (Sauk): ''Wa-Tho-Huk'', translated as "Bright Path"; May 22 or 28, 1887March 28, 1953) was an American athlete and Olympic gold medalist. A member of the Sac and Fox Nation, Thorpe was the first Native ...

. The Brecks lost the game 12–0.

1924 season

The Brecks finished their last season of football in 1924 as members of the Fall Cities Football Federation and compiled a 2–3 record. The Brecks felt Alumni Field was "more suitable" to their schedule and moved their home games to the field in 1924. Meanwhile, Aaron Hertzman, the owner of the now defunct Brecks, was elected the NFL's Sergeant of Arms.

Louisville Colonels (1926)

The Louisville Colonels were created in 1926 to fill the schedules of the expanded NFL, but they were a traveling team that operated out of Chicago. That season, the NFL added several

teams to their ranks, mostly to keep them out of the rival

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...

. While the Colonels were really a traveling team out of Chicago, they are usually accepted as a continuation of the Brecks franchise.

Bill Harley Bill Harley (born William Harley, July 1, 1954 in Greenville, Ohio) is an American children's entertainer, musician, and author who has been called "the Mark Twain of contemporary children's music" by ''Entertainment Weekly''. He uses a range o ...

, the former owner of the Toledo Maroons, was granted the right to manage the Louisville Colonel operation out of Chicago, while Hertzman still owned the team. The Colonels failed to register a single point during the 1926 season, one of a very small number of organized teams to have suffered such an ignonomy. The team's first game resulted in a 13–0 loss to the

, while their second game resulted in a 47–0 loss to the Detroit Panthers. Louisville's final two NFL games came on November 7, 1926 (

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

34, Louisville Colonels 0) and November 14, 1926 (

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

14, Louisville Colonels 0). The Brecks-Colonels franchise is the last team from the four currently extant

major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada The major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada commonly refer to the highest men's professional competitions of team sports in those countries. The four leagues traditionally included in the definition are Major League Bas ...

to play its home games in Kentucky, although the

Kentucky Colonels The Kentucky Colonels were a member of the American Basketball Association for all of the league's nine years. The name is derived from the historic Kentucky colonels. The Colonels won the most games and had the highest winning percentage of ...

played in the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger, American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, ...

from 1967 until the ABA-NBA merger brought the ABA into the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

after the 1975–76 season. Only five of 38 different players played NFL football outside of Louisville.

Season-by-season

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Louisville Brecks Colonels American football teams in Kentucky American football teams established in 1921 American football teams disestablished in 1926 Defunct National Football League teams 1921 establishments in Kentucky 1926 disestablishments in Kentucky