Minneapolis (NFL)
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Contents |
[edit] 1921 American Professional Football Association Standings
1.Chicago Staleys 2.Buffalo All-Americans 3.Akron Pros 4.Canton Bulldogs 5.Rock Island Independents 6.Green Bay Packers 7.Evansville Crimson Giants 8.Dayton Triangles 9.Chicago Cardinals 10.Washington Senators 11.Cleveland Indians 12.Rochester Jeffersons 13.Hammond Pros 14.Minneapolis Marines 15.Cincinnati Celts 16.Detroit Heralds 17.Columbus Panhandles 18.Tonawanda Kardex 19.Louisville Brecks 20.Muncie Flyers 21.New York Giants
[edit] The Beginning
The Minneapolis Marines were an American football team that existed prior to the Minnesota Red Jackets and later the Minnesota Vikings. The Marines existed between the years of 1905-1924 and were owned locally by Minnesotans John Dunn and Val Ness. Composed primarily of working class teenagers, the Marines did not have an excellent record, however, they were initially triumphant before losing several players to other teams in their league. The Minneapolis Marines are of historical value to Minnesota, as they existed prior to the nationally known Minnesota Vikings. During the early 1920's, many professional football teams had come and gone, yet the Marines, owned locally by Dunn and Ness seemed to be virtually unknown to most football fans. The team mostly grew up in the area of the Cedar/Washington avenue which was located close to the Metrodome. Some of the first games were played at Camden Park, Parade Stadium, and Bottineau Field and were later played played at larger stadiums such as Niocollet and Lexington Park. The Marines initially won many of their games as they were participating in a semi-pro NFL league. Dunn was extremely happy with the Marines initial performance and he wanted to move his team to the higher ranks of football; the professional leagues. Dunn moved the Marines away from the teams they had already beaten and into a new stadium called Nicollet Park. Nicollet Park was the previous home of the Minneapolis Millers baseball team and was a lot bigger than what the Marines were used to. Dunn scheduled games against out of town teams and the Marines went on to have a huge winning streak of 34 games in a row. However, their first loss brought them down big time and it appeared their winning streak came to a halt after the Marines lost the 1910 Thanksgiving game against Minnesota's All Star Team.
[edit] The Players
The Marines started out its football career in the 115-pound weight class and later in 1907 moved up to the 145-pound weight class. Following this change, many key players became interested in the Marines and several of them were acquired between the years of 1907 and 1909. Some of these players include Rube Ursella who was the quarterback and the placekicker, Walt "Big Boy" Buland who was a tackle, John Albert "Sheepy" Redeen who was an end, and captain Johhny Dunn who was the Marines halfback. These star players brought several inital wins to the Minneapolis Marines and represented the core of the team for the next ten years. Rube Ursella was the outstanding player for the Marines and had a long and outstanding career with the Marines and the Rock Island Independents. Ursella also played baseball for a minor league team called the Northern League. Many players that made the Marine's squad had previously played for big college teams such as the University of Minnesota, Hamline University, Augsburg College, Macalester College, and Carleton College. In 1909, the coaches added a couple more players. Mike Palmer was a tight end for the Marines, Harold Selvig was a guard, Oswald Sundby was the fullback and Labe Safro who was named "the Jewish Lion" was the halfback. These players became regulars of the Marines and were added to its list of the individuals who contributed to the core of the team for ten consecutive years. It is thought that the Marines defensive line brought the Marines most of their wins as the defense was extremely strong. Headed by Buland and Gaustad, this rock solid defense allowed the Marines to step it up to the next level. Also consisting in the lineup for the Marines was one of the first African American players to ever play professional football. His name was Bob Marshall and with his name in the Minneapolis Marines lineup, the Marines gained some historical value to their team as Marshall really was one of the first black players to ever be a part of the professional ranks. Standing at 6 foot 2, Marshall weighed 195 pounds, played end, and aided the Marines in several of their wins. From 1905 to around 1913, the Minneapolis Marines consisted of players that really had no football experience prior to playing for the Marines. The core players remained in good condition and health for ten years and the team remained truly "independent". After the Marines lost to the Beavers in 1912, the Marines acquired new players and the coaches though that ex-college players would definitely aid the Marines in winning. Some of these new players consisted of Marshall, who was one of the first black football players, Dewey Lyle, Frank Dries,and Fred Chicken who later became a future pro star.
[edit] The Beginning of the End
The Marines are especially known for their lack of prior football experience and their outstanding ability to still remain one of the best "independent" teams in the upper midwest regions. They worked hard and did everything that they could to gain an edge over the competition and be at the top of their game. They would hold pre-season training camps in order to get in shape and harness their skills, one of which was called Clef Camp located near Pokegama Lake in Grand Rapids, MN. The Marines winning streak went on until World War I. Between the years of 1910 and 1914, the Marines steadily increased their playing abilities and the big game of the Independent Football League was between the Beavers and the Marines. Unlike the Marines, all of the players who played for the Beavers had previous playing experience, yet the undefeated Marines still defeated them 6-0. However, in 1912 the Beavers upset the Marines twice and after these losses, the Marines basically changed their entire team. For the first time, the Marines added ex-college players and acquired an outside coach named Ossie Solem. Ossie Solem was a standout end with the Minnesota Gophers and later became a coach at Syracuse and then Iowa. As much as Solem attempted to help the Marines come to victory again, he could not help them enough. However, Solem did introduce the Minnesota shift and the single wing to the Marines as the team had only played T-formation up until that time. The came bad time for the Marines-they lost an entire season in 1918 due to the influenza sickness and were not able to play for an entire season due to the epidemic. When they finally were able to play again in the 1919 season, they were down several of their key players who decided to move to the Rock Island Independents. The players that moved consisted of Marshall, Ursella, Buland, Lyle, and Chicken. With there core players gone, the Marines were never really able to regain their pre-war form and basically went downhill after 1919.
[edit] The End for the Marines
With the loss of many of the Marines players, not only could they not get back to how they were at the founding of their team but they also did not have the crowds that they used to have. Coaches Dunn and Solem tried extremely hard to keep the Marines winning but it just did not seem like it was going to happen for the team. In the hopes of continuing the Marines, Dunn bought a franchise with the Professional football league in hopes that this would positively affect his dwindling team. He hoped that if the Marines were playing professional football, there would be more fans and more money generated to help the team out. However, this plan failed and in 1921 Dunn pulled the Marines out of the professional leagues after they were not able to win a game. The coaches of the Marines decided that the Marines were not working out and they stopped the Marines for good in 1929. They decided they would try one more time to produce an effective team and good professional football team and they became the new owners of the Minneapolis Red Jackets. The Red Jackets, named for their red jerseys that the Marines had worn years earlier were also a pretty ineffective team and had a losing record from the get go. The Red Jackets, after losing several games decided they would merge with the Frankford Yellow Jackets and they were only allowed to play home games on Sundays due to Pennsylvania's blue laws. Therefore the Yellow Jackets played on Sunday and the Red Jackets played on Saturday. This new team, merged or not was still as weak as before and Minneapolis decided it was time to close down its professional ranks as a football team and dropped out of the NFL in 1930 after their season came to an end.
[edit] Season-by-season
| Year | W | L | T | Finish | Coach | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marines | 1921 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 13th | Rube Ursella |
| 1922 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 12th | Russell Tollefson | |
| 1923 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 13th | Harry Mehre | |
| 1924 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 16th | Joe Brandy | |
| Red Jackets | 1929 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 11th | Herb Joesting |
| 1930 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 10th | George Gibson |
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