August 27

Here is what happened in Football History on August 27: the Green Bay Packers are accepted into the APFA; the Minneapolis Marines, Tonawanda Kardex Lumbermen, and the Evansville Crimson Giants also join the League. We remember the people and events that made the gridiron a great sport. We will provide you with a little bit of football nostalgia. This early team, football history segment, features the Great events, Franchise formations, and the stories of these long-forgotten teams in some cases that helped shape the arena of American pro football into what it is today.

All of today's Uniform Graphics are courtesy of Gridiron Uniform Database http://www.gridiron-uniforms.com/

August 27, 1921 - The Green Bay Packers were admitted into the APFA (predecessor of the NFL) as J.E. Clair of Green Bay's ACME Packing Company is granted a franchise. 

August 27, 1921- Evansville Crimson-Giants franchise formed  and played in the NFL's early formation called the AFPA in the 1921-22 seasons. The nickname Giants was not too far off as the team was headed by the 6'-4" , 250 pound star player and coach Franklin Fausch and Herb Henderson who according to reports could kick a ball 80 yards! The Crimson Giants were an early hit in the league as they competed with the best the AFPA had to offer but after a couple of crippling beat downs in Green Bay, some mismanagement of team funds and disinterest from the home fans, the Evansville Eleven had to fold in 1922.

August 27, 1921 - Tonawanda Kardex Lumberman franchise applies and plays in the AFPA only in the 1921 season. The "Jacks" played only one game, and have the destinction of the shortest lived franchise in NFL history. Their home was in a small town just north of Buffalo, NY. They were from the smallest town in the NFL with just over 10,000 in population and the team was only able to schedule away games on a week by week basis. This coupled with the hometown newspaper's better coverage the semi-pro All-Tonawandans gave little support for the Kardex squad. What made it even worse was that other NFL teams felt that they could not get an attendance draw from playing the Jacks so they scheduled other more reputable teams in order to fill the stands with fans.

August 27, 1921 - Minneapolis Marines/Redjackets team joins the AFPA/NFL for the 1921-24 and again rejoined the NFL for the 1929 and 1930 seasons as the Minneapolis Red Jackets. According to the Pro Football Researcher Association's Coffin Corner Publication 1998 Volume 20 article by Jim Quirk, the Marine sqad formed in 1905 and had their heigth of success in the years prior to the AFPA and NFL forming. Quarterback Rube Ursella and tackle Walt "Big Boy" Buland were the Minneapolis star players that played as teens in the early years of the team right up through the professional ones in the early 1920s. A stout defense was what the Marines were known for as Ursella and Big Boy played both ways. For more on this franchise, please go to our post on the Minneapolis Marines where we also have a full podcast on the history of the team featuring historian and fellow SHN Podcast host Ross Blilie of the Pigskin Tales Podcast who hails from the Twin Cities area.

August 27, 1992 - The Canadian Football League strips the British Columbia Lions of their CFL franchise rights. This event occurred when Murray Pezim took control of the Lions team and then refused to pay bills that the club owed. Later on in September, Bill Comrie would purchase the franchise from the CFL and the Lions would roar again in the Canadian League.

August 27, 2015 - US Patent for Helmet Head Impact Tracking and Monitoring System (U.S Patent No. 2015/0238143 A1) is issued.

August 27, 1954 - Scott Studwell was a linebacker from the University of Illinois who was drafted in the 9th round of the 1977 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings. He enjoyed a 14 year career with the Vikes on their defense.

August 27, 1967 - Rob Burnett was a defensive end from Syracuse University that in the 1990 NFL draft was selected by the Cleveland Browns in the 5th round. He went on to have a nice 12 year career with the Browns Ravens and the Dolphins finishing with 73 career sacks in 202 games played.

August 27, 1987 - Darren McFadden was a former running back from the University of Arkansas. He had a nice long career in the NFL after he was drafted by the Oakland Raiders and then played out the last 3 seasons of his decade long tenure with the Dallas Cowboys. McFadden twice finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting but won the Doak Walker Award twice, The Sporting News Player of the Year Award, the Walker Camp Award and the SEC Offensive Player of the Year honors in his college career. This great runner was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame in the entry class of 2019 to remember his collegiate accomplishments.

We would like to thank Bill Schaefer for the lending of the graphics and the research that he and his team including Tim Brulia and Larry Schmitt contributed on the the uniform graphics shown in today's edition. You can catch more of Bill, Tim and Larry's great work on the Gridiron Uniform Database, gridiron-uniforms.com.

The picture in the banner above are from the U.S. Library of Congress taken by photographer Carol Highsmith circa 2019 and is titled: "Aerial view of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with a focus on two of the city professional sports venues: the football Philadelphia Eagles' Lincoln Financial Field . "