The Philadelphia Phillies 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 based in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
in 1902. The team was a member of what was referred to as 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 ...
—not to be confused with 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 ...
of today.
[Peterson, p. 34.] The whole league was a curious mixture of football players as well as baseball players who adapted to playing football. The Phillies were owned and financed by baseball's
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...
just as the owners of the
Philadelphia Athletics
The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oaklan ...
financed their team, the
Philadelphia Athletics
The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oaklan ...
. The
Pittsburgh Stars
The Pittsburgh Stars or Pittsburg Stars were a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that were only in existence for one season in 1902. The team was a member of what was referred to as the first National Football ...
made up the third team and was suspected of being financed by the
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...
baseball team.
History
Origins
The Phillies began as the Philadelphia Athletic Club in 1901. The team was more commonly called throughout Philadelphia as the Philadelphia Professionals or the Philadelphia Pros. It was the region's first entirely professional football squad. Wilson Wright, a
Penn graduate, was the team's manager and chief financial backer. The team, led by Penn's
Blondy Wallace
Charles Edgar "Blondy" Wallace (died March 5, 1937) was an early professional football player and later convicted criminal during the Prohibition Era. He was a 240-pound, former Walter Camp second-team All-American tackle from the University o ...
, was largely made up of former Penn players along with a few veterans of such teams as the
Duquesne Country and Athletic Club
The Duquesne Country and Athletic Club was a professional American football, football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1895 until 1900. The team was considered one of the best, if not the best, professional football teams in the country ...
and the
Latrobe Athletic Association
The Latrobe Athletic Association was a professional football team located in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, from 1895 until 1909. A member of the unofficial Western Pennsylvania Professional Football Circuit, the team is best known for being the first fo ...
.
1901
Philadelphia opened its 1901 season with shut outs of the
Conshohocken Tigers, the
Orange Athletic Club
The Orange Tornadoes and Newark Tornadoes were two manifestations of a long-lived professional American football franchise that existed in some form from 1887 to 1941 and from 1958 to 1970, having played in the American Amateur Football Union from ...
,
Susquehanna University
Susquehanna University is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania. Its name is derived from the original Susquehannock settlers of the region. Founded in 1858 as a m ...
and a tough squad from
Lafayette College
Lafayette College is a private liberal arts college in Easton, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter and other citizens in Easton, the college first held classes in 1832. The founders voted to name the college after General Laf ...
. Next Philadelphia had to play the
1901 Homestead Library & Athletic Club football team
The 1901 Homestead Library & Athletic Club football team won the professional football championship of 1901. The team was affiliated with the Homestead Library & Athletic Club in Homestead, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh. The team featured a line ...
. Homestead was a successful team that gave up only seven points over a span of two seasons and was clearly the strongest of the many competitive teams of Western Pennsylvania. In fact Homestead was considered it the best professional team in the nation. This match-up was generally accepted as the professional championship of the United States. Both teams worked diligently to prepare for the game. However Philadelphia proved no match for the Homestead team and lost by a score of 18-0. The two teams then closed out their seasons in
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
the following Saturday. This time Philadelphia lost by a score of only 6-5. They held Homestead to a single touchdown and managed to score the only touchdown against the team in two seasons.
Phillies
Although still lacking the established fan base of college football, Philadelphia Athletic Club benefited from being built on a strong foundation of well known local college talent. Philadelphia's first experience with pro football left fans in anticipation for the next season. This gained the attention of
John Rogers, the owner of baseball's Philadelphia Phillies.
In 1902 the war between baseball's well established
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...
and the new
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...
was really heating up. In an effort to get the upper hand in the battle for fans, Rogers took over the professional football club and renamed them the Phillies, after his baseball team. Blondy Wallace, who was a captain of the 1901 Pros team, left the team to join its cross town rival, the Athletics football team owned by baseball's
Ben Shibe
Benjamin Franklin Shibe (January 23, 1838 – January 14, 1922) was an American sporting goods and baseball executive who was owner and president of the Philadelphia Athletics of the American League from 1901 until his death. He is credited with th ...
. The Phillies baseball manager,
Bill Shettsline
William Joseph Shettsline (October 25, 1863 – February 22, 1933) was a baseball executive who served as the business manager of the Philadelphia Phillies of the National League from 1896 to 1926. He also served as club president from 1904 to 1 ...
became the team's manager, while
Ben Roller
Benjamin Franklin Roller (July 1, 1876 – April 19, 1933) was an American physician, a professional wrestler and a football player.
Biography
Early life
Roller was born in Newman, Illinois. where he grew up on his family's farm. As a boy on th ...
became the team's coach.
Both Rogers and Shibe knew that to lay claim to the "World Championship", they had to play a team from Pittsburgh, which was the focal point of football at the time. They called on pro football promoter
Dave Berry and a Pittsburgh team was soon formed. These three teams are all that made up the first NFL. The league played all of its games on Saturdays, since there were no Sunday sports events according to Pennsylvania
blue laws
Blue laws, also known as Sunday laws, Sunday trade laws and Sunday closing laws, are laws restricting or banning certain activities on specified days, usually Sundays in the western world. The laws were adopted originally for religious reasons ...
in 1902. The teams began playing various colleges and local football clubs before finally playing each other.
[Carroll p.5]
1902
The Athletics had split on the 1902 season with the Phillies, as had the Pittsburgh Stars. However each team carried a record of 2-2 for league play, with a complete record of 8-3.
Pittsburgh had by far the better point ratio, scoring 39 points to their opponents' 22. Both the Athletics and the Phillies gave up more points than they scored in their league games. This led to a championship game between the A's and Stars. After playing the first game to a scoreless tie, Pittsburgh finally won the second championship game late in the fourth quarter to give them a controversial championship win. The defeated A's then went home and defeat the Phillies 17-6 to give them the city championship and a second showing in the league.
[Carroll p.8]
World Series of Football
In late December
the 1902 World Series of Football was held at
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. While neither the Phillies nor Athletics participated in this event, several members of both squads joined together on a team known variously as "
New York", the "New Yorks" and the "New York Philadelphians". The New York team played in the first indoor football game against the
Syracuse Athletic Club
A nameless professional American football team, based in Syracuse, New York and generically known as the Syracuse Pros or Syracuse Eleven, was once thought to have joined the National Football League, American Professional Football Association (no ...
.
["The First Football World Series" p. 3]
Seasons
*
1901 Philadelphia Football Club season
*
1902 Philadelphia Phillies (NFL) season
Notes
References
*
*
*
*
{{Philadelphia Phillies
National Football League (1902) teams
Defunct American football teams in Pennsylvania
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...
American football teams in Philadelphia
1901 establishments in Pennsylvania
American football teams established in 1901
1902 disestablishments in Pennsylvania
Sports clubs disestablished in 1902
Athletic Club football teams and seasons