The Portland Rockets 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 wi ...

team based in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

for two nonconsecutive seasons during World War II. They were members of the Northwest War Industries League as the Portland Boilermakers in 1942 and the American Football League (AFL) in 1944. The Rockets played their home games at

Multnomah Stadium Multnomah may refer to: *The Multnomah people, a Chinookan people who lived in the area of modern Portland, Oregon, United States **''Multnomah'', the middle Chinookan dialect of the Multnomah people ;Places, vessels, and institutions whose name ...

and its colors were green and orange. In 1944 team president Henry J. "Sandy" Sandberg asked people to submit suggestions for the team's nickname, the winner of which was L. J. Maclin of Salem, Oregon. Six other people made the same suggestion, but Maclin had submitted his entry first. They all received season tickets. Robert L. Mathews, former

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

of the

Portland Pilots The Portland Pilots is the nickname for athletics at the University of Portland. The Pilots compete in the West Coast Conference (WCC) at the NCAA Division I level. History The Pilots started to gain attention when Clive Charles began coachi ...

football team, was hired to coach the Rockets during the 1944 season. Their first game was held at 2:30 on September 3 against the Seattle Bombers. In front of 10,213 attendees at Multnomah Stadium Seattle beat Portland, 21–13. The Rockets finished their first season with a 3–6 record. At the end of the 1944 season, Rockets owners were out $40,000 after plans to

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used ...

the league's talent to 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 ...

(NFL) failed.

References

American football teams established in 1942 American football teams disestablished in 1944

Rockets A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely ...

Defunct American football teams in Oregon 1942 establishments in Oregon 1944 disestablishments in Oregon {{oregon-sport-team-stub

See also

References