In this episode on our journey through the early pro teams that built the NFL into what it is today. Author and Pro Football Historian R.C. Christiansen shares the story of early pro football development in Minnesota, the Minneapolis Marines, Red Jackets and their significance to the early NFL.
Here is a link to get information on the book right from the author's website: Mill City Scrum Book
The cover of Mill City Scrum Courtesy of R.C. Christiansen
R. C. Christiansen has been hitting the archives of Minnesota hard the past few years. Little has ever been collected and recorded in the modern record of professional football from the Minnesota area for the late 19th and early 20th centuries. R. C. has done this, corrected a couple of things that were previously thought, and presented it in one writing for all to enjoy.
The latest work from Mr. Christiansen is the long sought after, Mill City Scrum in which the story of the entire history of the Minneapolis Marines and Minneapolis Red Jackets (1905-1930) is told. Here is a brief outline provided by R. C. on the history of the Marines.
Harry "Pecky" Rhoades, who hailed from the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood started the Marines baseball team in 1905 at age 16. The baseball team lasted 8 years even after Rhoades left to play minor league baseball. Some of the remaining team members started Marines football team in 1905. There were some key player that joined this "sandlot" team during these early years. Some were substantial, as six of them would go on to play in the NFL.
Photograph coutesy of Wikimedia Commons is of the 1922 Minneapolis Marines
Front row: Sampson, fullback; Terach, tackle; Kraft, end; Erickson, tackle; Irgens, halfback; Mason, utility backfield; Flynn, end.
Back row: Townsend, guard; Gaustad, guard; Anderson, utility lineman; Tollefson, coach; Cleve, halfback; Norton, quarter; Mehre, center.
R.C. shares that the roster looked somemthing like this from 1905 through 1907:
LG Art Gaustad
FB Ed Sundby
RT Walt Buland
HB John Dunn
E Al Redeen
QB Reuben Ursella
E Charles Jonasen
G Morris Tallaksen
T Mike Palmer
HB Labe Safro
G Harold Selvig
The Twin Cities are was filled with amateur football for years including popular Park League games in the areas extensive system of city green spaces. The First pro team in Minneapolis was a squad that called themselves the Deans (1907-1909) who played in a “Sunday League” and Bobby Marshall served as the player-coach.
Here is a link that takes you to a purchase point for his book Mill City Scrum .
Here is more on the football legend....
The Marines expereinced much success with these core players, even winning a title in 1908. Manager Fran Hammer took over shortly thereafter and the squad's success continued. They gradually absorbed one tough rival after another on totheir roster. Part of the success was managing and play of Rube Ursella. As the coach, Ursella instituted the use of the same Minnesota
Shift as the University of Minnesota Gophers during the 1911 season. The Marine surged to a 17-3-2 record over 3 seasons (1910-12), and were 35-5-6 overall record (1905-12), while outscoring opponents to the tune of 293-37 in 1912. By 1913 the team was appearing in games where 8,000 fans would be in attendance.
Here is more on some of the key players...
World War I saw many players serving in the U.S. Armed forces in Europe. Upon the completion of WWI, many players returned hom and still wanted to play ball. It was shortly thereafter though the rival Rock Island Independents poached a half dozen players; including Chicken , Marshall, and Ursella from the Marines. A total of six players left the Marine in 1919 for RII and the former Minneapolis players provided quite a bit of offense for the Independents.
The Marines rebuilt their roster and eventually joined the APFA/NFL in 1921. Their First NFL game vs. Chicago Cardinals at Normal Park in Chicago. During the NFL existence the team held a 4-18-2 NFL record (1921-24). This was a far cry from the overall record of 77-29-9 (1905-24).
R.C. Christiansen is a wealth of information on gridiron history. We have more about his books and some previous visits to Pigskin Dispatch found below.
Here is more about the historian and author...
Right now the best place to purchase a copy of the book is to go to the Amazon page, Mill City Scrum.
A special thanks to R.C Christiansen who provided the informational content found above, and for sharing his time and knowledge with us. Here is a link that takes you to a purchase point for his book Mill City Scrum .
Here are some other great visits of R.C. Christiansen to the Pigpen discussing some other incredible gridiron history topics.
