The Goodyear Silents were a semi-professional football team based in

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city prop ...

, composed of deaf players. Most, if not all, of the team worked for the

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is an American multinational tire manufacturing company founded in 1898 by Frank Seiberling and based in Akron, Ohio. Goodyear manufactures tires for automobiles, commercial trucks, light trucks, motorcycles, ...

. During World Wars I and II, many industrial companies hired deaf people, including Goodyear and Firestone in Akron. In existence from 1915–1927, the team played against local and regional semi-pro teams, and compiled an all-time record of 68–35–11. In the process, they won several league championships. The most disappointing moments the successful team experienced was their failure to defeat cross-town archrivals Akron Pros, losing all four games to this team. The Akron Pros was one of the pioneering teams in the fledgling

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). The four losing scores were: 9–0, 20–7, 6–0 and 14–0.Barry Strassler
"Deaf Jews in Sports: Louis Seinensohn; The Goodyear Silents Championship Football Team Had A Jewish Fullback"
Los Angeles Jewish Deaf Community Center newsletter, September/October 1998. Joe Allen, one of the Goodyear Silents players, was the only one to continue his career in semi pro football after the team went out of business.

References

External links

* . From the Gallaudet University website
1923
an

season records at profootballarchives.com. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company Sports in Akron, Ohio {{Ohio-sport-team-stub