Frankford Yellow Jackets
Encyclopedia
The Frankford Yellow Jackets were a professional American football
team, part of the National Football League
from 1924 to 1931, though its origin dates back to as early as 1899 with the Frankford Athletic Association. The Yellow Jackets won the NFL championship in 1926
. The team played its home games from 1923 in Frankford Stadium
(also called Yellow Jacket Field) in Frankford
, a section in the northeastern part
of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
, noted for the subway-elevated transit line
that terminates there.
and the local American Legion Post 211. The officers of the Association never received a salary nor compensation for their work on behalf of the team.
The association's clubhouse was originally located at the current site of Frankford High School
. The field at this site, known as Wistar Field, became the first official home of the Yellow Jackets. Several years later, when the construction of the current high school was proposed, the team moved to Brown's Field. The Association initially fielded a baseball
team, however soccer and football clubs also formed. The Association's football team, played several games in 1899, including victorious contests against the Pioneer Athletic Association, Jefferson Medical College, the Philadelphia Athletic Club and a team from Atlantic City
.
The original Frankford Athletic Association apparently disbanded prior to the 1909 football season. Several of the original players from the 1899 football team kept the team together, and they became known as Loyola Athletic Association. In keeping with Yellow Jackets tradition, they carried the "Frankford" name again in 1912, to become the Frankford Athletic Association.
. That year Frankford captured the unofficial championship of Philadelphia. During the 1922
and 1923
seasons the Yellow Jackets comprised a 6-2-1 record against teams from the National Football League. This led to the Frankford Athletic Association being granted an NFL franchise in 1924
.
to begin preparing for the upcoming season. The team included Yellow Jackets' Harry Dayhoff
, Russ Stein
, Joe Spagna, Whitey Thomas
, Al Bedner and Bob Jamison. The team often played 15 to 20 games a season. Frequently, they would schedule two games on the same weekend, typically one at home on Saturday and, because of Pennsylvania's blue law
s, an away game on Sunday. In their very first game as a member of the NFL, the Yellow Jackets defeated the Rochester Jeffersons
21-0. Frankford finished the season with an overall record of 17-3-1, and 11-2-1 record in league play. They finished third in league standings only behind the Cleveland Bulldogs
and Chicago Bears
; under modern standings tabulation procedures, Frankford would have finished in first place.
, who served as a player-coach
for NFL championship teams such as the 1922 and 1923 Canton Bulldogs
and the 1924 Cleveland Bulldogs. After 9-0-1 start, Frankford lost several key players, including Chamberlin, to injuries. After a 49-0 defeat to the Pottsville Maroons
, Frankford's captain Bull Behman
was suspended indefinitely from the team for indifferent play. He was accused of not giving his best during the past few weeks because of some dissension with other players. The move helped improve the team, which posted a 13-7 record in league play.
in Philadelphia; the Yellow Jackets asserted that their nearby rivals had infringed on their territorial rights by playing the game against a non-league opponent in Philadelphia. The league agreed and suspended the Maroons, allowing the Chicago Cardinals
to win the 1925 title. However the NFL reinstated the Maroons the following year after fears that the team would join Red Grange's
upstart American Football League
, which posed a threat to the league.
with an exhibition game against the Atlantic City Roses, which Frankford won 45-0. Their NFL campaign started just six days later, in a disappointing 6-6 tie at home against the Akron Pros
. The first weekend in October saw the club post two solid victories over the Hartford Blues
. They then played a two-game series against the Buffalo Rangers. During the Saturday game, the Yellow Jackets defeated the Rangers 30-0 in Frankford. The Jackets then headed to Buffalo
for the Sunday game; however, the Rangers canceled due to "wet grounds". The Yellow Jackets prepared for another two-game set, this time against the New York Giants
, resulting in a pair of 6-0 Frankford victories. The Canton Bulldogs were next on the schedule; Frankford won the first game 10-0 while the second game was canceled due to rain.
During the final weekend of October, the Yellow Jackets had a league-leading 6-0-1 record. However they had an upcoming two-game set with their toughest opponent yet, the Providence Steam Roller
. The Yellow Jackets managed to split the series. The team's November schedule included only single-game weekends, and a Thanksgiving Day game. This played to the Yellow Jackets’ advantage. The team posted victories over the Chicago Cardinals, Duluth Eskimos and Dayton Triangles
. This string of victories left Frankford in great shape in the standings as the team headed into its Thanksgiving Day game with the Green Bay Packers
. For the next five seasons the Frankford-Green Bay Thanksgiving Day game would become an annual tradition. Frankford went on to win the game 20-14, due mainly to a touchdown
pass from Hust Stockton
to Two-Bits Homan
. The Yellow Jackets then posted a 7-6 victory over the Detroit Panthers
two days later.
After a win over the Chicago Bears, the Yellow Jackets played a second two-game series against the Providence Steamroller. Frankford won the first game 24-0; the second game was cancelled because of heavy snow. Frankford then had to play their final game of the season against the Pottsville Maroons, who were still upset after their NFL championship title had been stripped from them after complaints from Frankford. The game resulted in a scoreless tie. However, a 14-1-2 final record left the Yellow Jackets alone atop the NFL standings. Since a Championship Game would not exist in the NFL until 1933, the team with the best regular season record was named the NFL Champion. This gave the Yellow Jackets undisputed claim to the league crown. The Jackets' 14 wins during the 1926 championship season set an NFL record for regular season victories that stood until 1984
, when it was broken by the 15-1-0 San Francisco 49ers
.
One day after capturing the title, however, Theodore "Thee" Holden and Guy Chamberlin stepped down as president and coach of the Frankford Athletic Association.
as the team's new coach. However, Moran's son Tom briefly served as the team's interim coach that year after Charley took a leave of absence to officiate in the 1927 World Series
between the New York Yankees
and the Pittsburgh Pirates
. The Jackets suffered as a result of these changes and held a 2-5-1 record after eight league games. This led to Ed Weir
becoming the team's player-coach. Weir had fellow players Russ Daugherty, Charlie Rogers
and Swede Youngstrom
serve as assistant coaches. Under Weir's leadership the team finished with a 6-9-3 record in 1927. The Jackets rebounded in 1928 with a 11-3-2 league record, behind only the Providence Steam Roller. In 1929, Bull Behman became coach of the Yellow Jackets. The team finished with a 9-4-5 record for third place in league standings.
in 1930. Shep Royle, president of the Franklin Athletic Association, arranged for coaches Bull Behman and Wally Diehl
to attend a coaching clinic in Chicago run by Glenn "Pop" Warner
and Dick Hanley, in the hopes that it would improve their coaching techniques and develop a way to better utilize their players. At the same time, however, the Association's management decided to retain only a few veteran players, replacing most of the squad with rookies direct from college. This resulted in a string of ten consecutive losses; the worst losing streak in Yellow Jackets' history. To end the streak, Frankford purchased eleven players from the Minneapolis Red Jackets, and George Gibson took over the team's coaching duties from Behman. The Legion Post
also tried to rally to the Yellow Jackets, pledging its support. However, the effects of the economic depression and poor performance on the field combined to reduce the team's fan base. The season finally ended with a 6-13-1 overall record and 4-13-1 record in league play.
, Frankford Stadium was severely damaged by a fire, forcing the club to find another location for its home games. However most facilities suitable for professional football were already booked. The Yellow Jackets had to overcome this scheduling problem by playing at three different locations around the city of Philadelphia: Frankford High School's Community Memorial Stadium, Philadelphia Municipal Stadium and Shibe Park. Philadelphia Municipal Stadium and Shibe Park were located outside of the Frankford area, making attendance difficult for local fans. The team had hoped to draw broader support from Philadelphia at large.
Herb Joesting
took over the team's coaching duties in 1931. However the team was in terrible shape. Some members of the press began referring to the team as the Philadelphia Yellow Jackets, in an attempt to increase fan support. However that support never materialized. By October NFL President Joe Carr
, after witnessing the poor attendance at Frankford home loss to the Portsmouth Spartans, approved a plan for the Yellow Jackets to finish the season as a traveling team
. Carr hoped that this move would allow the team to curb spending and rebound financially.
The Yellow Jackets failed to complete the 1931 season. On October 26, 1931, the franchise suspended operations the day after the team defeated the Chicago Bears, 13-12, at Wrigley Field
. This game marked the last time a Philadelphia-based NFL team would win an away game over the Bears until October 17, 1999, when the Eagles
defeated the Bears 20-16 at Soldier Field
. The 1928 Yellow Jackets win over the Packers marked the last time in 51 years a Philadelphia NFL team won a road victory over the Packers. The Eagles' 1979 win at Green Bay finally ended that streak.
, where even the host teams' sportswriters took notice of their enthusiasm. The club occasionally sponsored half-time exhibitions by the Frankford Midgets, as well as a women's football team.
During their time in the NFL, Frankford's Ignacio Molinet became the league's first Latino
player.
Today the Philadelphia Fire Department's Engine 14, stationed in Frankford, have adopted the Yellow Jackets moniker on their fire trucks.
and Lud Wray
, and awarded them the remains of the Yellow Jackets organization. Bell and Wray named their team the Philadelphia Eagles
, after the symbol of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal
. Some people assume that the Yellow Jackets and the Eagles are the same franchise; however, that is not the case. Bell and Wray did not buy the Yellow Jackets team, but rather the rights to an NFL team in the Philadelphia area that formerly had belonged to the Frankford Athletic Association. The Yellow Jackets franchise had been revoked by the league in 1931. Due to the two-year period of dormancy, the Eagles do not claim the Yellow Jackets' history as their own, and the NFL considers the Eagles a 1933 expansion team for record-keeping purposes. Additionally, Bell and Wray assembled an almost entirely new team; almost no players from the 1931 Yellow Jackets ended up with the 1933 Eagles.
For the first few years of the Eagles' existence, however, they wore powder blue
and yellow
uniforms similar to those worn by the Yellow Jackets. Replicas were later worn as 1934 throwbacks in a game against the Detroit Lions
on September 23, 2007 as part of the team's 75th anniversary season. Many members of the media mistakenly stated that the Eagles were still known as the Yellow Jackets that year.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
team, part of the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
from 1924 to 1931, though its origin dates back to as early as 1899 with the Frankford Athletic Association. The Yellow Jackets won the NFL championship in 1926
1926 NFL season
The 1926 NFL season was the 7th regular season of the National Football League. The league grew to 22 teams, a figure that would not be equaled in professional football until 1961, adding the Brooklyn Lions, the Hartford Blues, the Los Angeles Buccaneers, and the Louisville Colonels, with Racine...
. The team played its home games from 1923 in Frankford Stadium
Frankford Stadium
Frankford Stadium was a football field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that was the home of the Frankford Yellow Jackets football team of the National Football League, which predated the Philadelphia Eagles. The stadium was also known as Yellow Jacket Field.The stadium, located at Frankford Avenue...
(also called Yellow Jacket Field) in Frankford
Frankford, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Frankford is a large and important neighborhood in the lower Northeast section of Philadelphia situated about six miles northeast of Center City. Although its borders are vaguely defined, the neighborhood is bounded roughly by the original course of Frankford Creek, now roughly Adams to Aramingo...
, a section in the northeastern part
Northeast Philadelphia
Northeast Philadelphia, nicknamed Northeast Philly, the Northeast and the Great Northeast, is a section of the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. According to the 2000 Census, the Northeast has a sizable percentage of the city's 1.547 million people — a population of between 300,000 and 450,000,...
of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
, noted for the subway-elevated transit line
Market-Frankford Line
The Market–Frankford Line is a rapid transit line in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, operated by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority .-Route:The Market–Frankford Line begins at 69th Street Transportation Center, in Upper Darby...
that terminates there.
Frankford Athletic Association
The Frankford Athletic Association was organized in May 1899 in the parlor of the Suburban Club. The cost of purchasing a share in the association, was $10. However there were also contributing memberships, ranging from $1 to $2.50, made available to the general public. The Association was a community-based non-profit organization of local residents and businesses. In keeping with its charter, which stated that "all profits shall be donated to charity". All of the team's excess income was donated to local charitable institutions. The beneficiaries of this generosity included Frankford Hospital, the Frankford Day Nursery, the local Boy ScoutsBoy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...
and the local American Legion Post 211. The officers of the Association never received a salary nor compensation for their work on behalf of the team.
The association's clubhouse was originally located at the current site of Frankford High School
Frankford High School
Frankford High School is a public high school in the School District of Philadelphia. It is located at Oxford Avenue and Wakeling Street in the Frankford section of Northeast Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States....
. The field at this site, known as Wistar Field, became the first official home of the Yellow Jackets. Several years later, when the construction of the current high school was proposed, the team moved to Brown's Field. The Association initially fielded a baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
team, however soccer and football clubs also formed. The Association's football team, played several games in 1899, including victorious contests against the Pioneer Athletic Association, Jefferson Medical College, the Philadelphia Athletic Club and a team from Atlantic City
Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States, and a nationally renowned resort city for gambling, shopping and fine dining. The city also served as the inspiration for the American version of the board game Monopoly. Atlantic City is located on Absecon Island on the coast...
.
The original Frankford Athletic Association apparently disbanded prior to the 1909 football season. Several of the original players from the 1899 football team kept the team together, and they became known as Loyola Athletic Association. In keeping with Yellow Jackets tradition, they carried the "Frankford" name again in 1912, to become the Frankford Athletic Association.
Yellow Jackets and the NFL
In the early 1920s the Frankford Athletic Association's Yellow Jackets gained the reputation as being one of the best independent football teams in the nation. In 1922, Frankford absorbed the Philadelphia City Champion the Union Quakers of PhiladelphiaUnion Quakers of Philadelphia
The Union Quakers of Philadelphia were a professional independent football team, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1921. The team evolved from a number of pro players who played with the Union Club of Phoenixville during their 1920 season. During their only season of operation, the club won...
. That year Frankford captured the unofficial championship of Philadelphia. During the 1922
1922 NFL season
The 1922 NFL season was the 3rd regular season of what was now called National Football League . The NFL fielded 18 teams during the season, including new league teams such as the Milwaukee Badgers, the Oorang Indians, the Racine Legion, and the Toledo Maroons...
and 1923
1923 NFL season
The 1923 NFL season was the 4th regular season of the National Football League. For the first time, all of the clubs that were considered to be part of the NFL fielded teams. The new teams that entered the league included the Duluth Kelleys, the St. Louis All Stars , and a new Cleveland Indians team...
seasons the Yellow Jackets comprised a 6-2-1 record against teams from the National Football League. This led to the Frankford Athletic Association being granted an NFL franchise in 1924
1924 NFL season
The 1924 NFL season was the 5th regular season of the National Football League. The league had 18 teams play during the season, including the new clubs Frankford Yellow Jackets, Kansas City Blues, and Kenosha Maroons. The Louisville Brecks, Oorang Indians, St...
.
1924 season
The Yellow Jackets assembled in September 1924 under coach Punk BerrymanPunk Berryman
Robert Norman "Punk" Berryman was a professional American football coach. He played as a halfback at Pennsylvania State University and was elected All-American in his senior year . He went on to coach at Lafayette College, the University of Iowa, then at Dickinson College. In 1922 and 1923 he was...
to begin preparing for the upcoming season. The team included Yellow Jackets' Harry Dayhoff
Harry Dayhoff
Harry Oscar Dayhoff was a professional football player from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. He attended Bucknell University and later made his professional debut in the National Football League with the Frankford Yellow Jackets in 1924...
, Russ Stein
Russ Stein
Russell Frederick Stein was born in Warren, Ohio. After high school Stein attended Washington & Jefferson College. While in College he was the captain on W&J’s 1921 undefeated football team, which played to the only scoreless tie in the history of the 1922 Rose Bowl against the University of...
, Joe Spagna, Whitey Thomas
Whitey Thomas
William C. "Whitey" Thomas was an American football end. At 5'10", 180 pounds, he played for the Frankford Yellow Jackets in 1924 in the National Football League at the age of 29 and for the Philadelphia Quakers in 1926 in the first American Football League at the age of 31...
, Al Bedner and Bob Jamison. The team often played 15 to 20 games a season. Frequently, they would schedule two games on the same weekend, typically one at home on Saturday and, because of Pennsylvania's blue law
Blue law
A blue law is a type of law, typically found in the United States and, formerly, in Canada, designed to enforce religious standards, particularly the observance of Sunday as a day of worship or rest, and a restriction on Sunday shopping...
s, an away game on Sunday. In their very first game as a member of the NFL, the Yellow Jackets defeated the Rochester Jeffersons
Rochester Jeffersons
The Rochester Jeffersons from Rochester, New York played in the National Football League from 1920 to 1925.Formed as an amateur outfit by a rag-tag group of Rochester-area teenagers after the turn of the century , the team became known as the Jeffersons in reference to the locale of their playing...
21-0. Frankford finished the season with an overall record of 17-3-1, and 11-2-1 record in league play. They finished third in league standings only behind the Cleveland Bulldogs
Cleveland Bulldogs
The Cleveland Bulldogs was a team that played in Cleveland, Ohio in the National Football League. They were originally called the Indians in 1923, not to be confused with the Cleveland Indians NFL franchise in 1922...
and Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
; under modern standings tabulation procedures, Frankford would have finished in first place.
1925 season
In 1925 the Frankford Athletic Association enlisted the services of Guy ChamberlinGuy Chamberlin
Berlin Guy "Champ" Chamberlin was a professional American football player and coach in the National Football League . He played at Nebraska Wesleyan University and then at the University of Nebraska, where he was a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity. He graduated from Nebraska in 1916...
, who served as a player-coach
Player-coach
A player-coach, in sports, is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. The term can be used to refer to both players who serve as head coaches, or as assistant coaches....
for NFL championship teams such as the 1922 and 1923 Canton Bulldogs
Canton Bulldogs
The Canton Bulldogs were a professional American football team, based in Canton, Ohio. They played in the Ohio League from 1903 to 1906 and 1911 to 1919, and its successor, the National Football League, from 1920 to 1923 and again from 1925 to 1926. The Bulldogs would go on to win the 1917, 1918...
and the 1924 Cleveland Bulldogs. After 9-0-1 start, Frankford lost several key players, including Chamberlin, to injuries. After a 49-0 defeat to the Pottsville Maroons
Pottsville Maroons
The Pottsville Maroons were an American football team based in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1920, they went on to play in the National Football League for four seasons, from 1925–1928...
, Frankford's captain Bull Behman
Bull Behman
Russell K. "Bull" Behman was a professional football player and coach in the early National Football League. He played at Dickinson College in 1922 and 1923, captaining the team in the latter year....
was suspended indefinitely from the team for indifferent play. He was accused of not giving his best during the past few weeks because of some dissension with other players. The move helped improve the team, which posted a 13-7 record in league play.
1925 NFL Championship controversy
The Yellow Jackets had a hand in the 1925 NFL Championship controversy. A dispute arose over a game that the nearby Pottsville Maroons had played against the Notre Dame All-StarsNotre Dame Fighting Irish football
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is the football team of the University of Notre Dame. The team is currently coached by Brian Kelly.Notre Dame competes as an Independent at the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision level, and is a founding member of the Bowl Championship Series coalition. It is an...
in Philadelphia; the Yellow Jackets asserted that their nearby rivals had infringed on their territorial rights by playing the game against a non-league opponent in Philadelphia. The league agreed and suspended the Maroons, allowing the Chicago Cardinals
Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
to win the 1925 title. However the NFL reinstated the Maroons the following year after fears that the team would join Red Grange's
Red Grange
Harold Edward "Red" Grange, nicknamed "The Galloping Ghost", was a college and professional American football halfback for the University of Illinois, the Chicago Bears, and for the short-lived New York Yankees. His signing with the Bears helped legitimize the National Football League...
upstart American Football League
American Football League (1926)
The first American Football League , sometimes called AFL I, AFLG, or the Grange League, was a professional American football league that operated in 1926. It was the first major competitor to the National Football League. Founded by C. C...
, which posed a threat to the league.
1926 Championship season
The Yellow Jackets began the 1926 season1926 NFL season
The 1926 NFL season was the 7th regular season of the National Football League. The league grew to 22 teams, a figure that would not be equaled in professional football until 1961, adding the Brooklyn Lions, the Hartford Blues, the Los Angeles Buccaneers, and the Louisville Colonels, with Racine...
with an exhibition game against the Atlantic City Roses, which Frankford won 45-0. Their NFL campaign started just six days later, in a disappointing 6-6 tie at home against the Akron Pros
Akron Pros
The Akron Pros were a professional football team located played in Akron, Ohio from 1908–1926. The team originated in 1908 as a semi-pro team named the Akron Indians, however name was changed to the Pros in 1920 as the team set out to become a charter member of the American Professional...
. The first weekend in October saw the club post two solid victories over the Hartford Blues
Hartford Blues
The Hartford Blues of the National Football League played only in the 1926 NFL season, with a record of 3-7. The team was based in Hartford, Connecticut but played at the East Hartford Velodrome.-Origins:...
. They then played a two-game series against the Buffalo Rangers. During the Saturday game, the Yellow Jackets defeated the Rangers 30-0 in Frankford. The Jackets then headed to Buffalo
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
for the Sunday game; however, the Rangers canceled due to "wet grounds". The Yellow Jackets prepared for another two-game set, this time against the New York Giants
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
, resulting in a pair of 6-0 Frankford victories. The Canton Bulldogs were next on the schedule; Frankford won the first game 10-0 while the second game was canceled due to rain.
During the final weekend of October, the Yellow Jackets had a league-leading 6-0-1 record. However they had an upcoming two-game set with their toughest opponent yet, the Providence Steam Roller
Providence Steam Roller
The Providence Steam Roller was a professional American football team based in Providence, Rhode Island in the National Football League from 1925 to 1931. Providence was the first New England team to win an NFL championship...
. The Yellow Jackets managed to split the series. The team's November schedule included only single-game weekends, and a Thanksgiving Day game. This played to the Yellow Jackets’ advantage. The team posted victories over the Chicago Cardinals, Duluth Eskimos and Dayton Triangles
Dayton Triangles
The Dayton Triangles were an original franchise of the American Professional Football Association in 1920. The Triangles were based in Dayton, Ohio, and took their nickname from their home field, Triangle Park, which was located at the confluence of the Great Miami and Stillwater Rivers in north...
. This string of victories left Frankford in great shape in the standings as the team headed into its Thanksgiving Day game with the Green Bay Packers
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...
. For the next five seasons the Frankford-Green Bay Thanksgiving Day game would become an annual tradition. Frankford went on to win the game 20-14, due mainly to a touchdown
Touchdown
A touchdown is a means of scoring in American and Canadian football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone.-Description:...
pass from Hust Stockton
Hust Stockton
John Houston Stockton was a professional football player for the Frankford Yellow Jackets from 1926 until 1928. Stockton was a member of Yellow Jackets' 1926 NFL Championship team. He later split the 1929 season between the Boston Bulldogs and the Providence Steamroller...
to Two-Bits Homan
Two-Bits Homan
Henry Homan was a professional American football player. Homan was a college stand-out at Lebanon Valley College where he played quarterback and graduated in 1924. He gained his nickname of "Two Bits" due to his size...
. The Yellow Jackets then posted a 7-6 victory over the Detroit Panthers
Detroit (1920s NFL teams)
Detroit, Michigan had four early teams in the National Football League before the Detroit Lions. The Heralds played in 1920, and had played as an independent as far back as 1905. The Tigers, a continuation of the Heralds, played in 1921, folding midseason and sending its players to the Buffalo...
two days later.
After a win over the Chicago Bears, the Yellow Jackets played a second two-game series against the Providence Steamroller. Frankford won the first game 24-0; the second game was cancelled because of heavy snow. Frankford then had to play their final game of the season against the Pottsville Maroons, who were still upset after their NFL championship title had been stripped from them after complaints from Frankford. The game resulted in a scoreless tie. However, a 14-1-2 final record left the Yellow Jackets alone atop the NFL standings. Since a Championship Game would not exist in the NFL until 1933, the team with the best regular season record was named the NFL Champion. This gave the Yellow Jackets undisputed claim to the league crown. The Jackets' 14 wins during the 1926 championship season set an NFL record for regular season victories that stood until 1984
1984 NFL season
The 1984 NFL season was the 65th regular season of the National Football League. The Colts relocated from Baltimore, Maryland to Indianapolis, Indiana....
, when it was broken by the 15-1-0 San Francisco 49ers
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and...
.
One day after capturing the title, however, Theodore "Thee" Holden and Guy Chamberlin stepped down as president and coach of the Frankford Athletic Association.
1927-1929 seasons
James Adams took over as president of the Frankford Athletic Association in 1927. He hired Charley MoranCharley Moran
Charles Barthell Moran , nicknamed "Uncle Charley," was an American sportsman who gained renown as both a catcher and umpire in Major League Baseball and as a collegiate and professional football coach.-Early life:...
as the team's new coach. However, Moran's son Tom briefly served as the team's interim coach that year after Charley took a leave of absence to officiate in the 1927 World Series
1927 World Series
In the 1927 World Series, the New York Yankees swept the Pittsburgh Pirates in four games. This was the first sweep of a National League team by an American League team....
between the New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
and the Pittsburgh Pirates
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...
. The Jackets suffered as a result of these changes and held a 2-5-1 record after eight league games. This led to Ed Weir
Ed Weir
Samuel Edwin Weir was an American collegiate and professional football player.He was the first Nebraska Cornhusker football player elected to the College Football Hall of Fame and is known as one of Nebraska's greatest athletes...
becoming the team's player-coach. Weir had fellow players Russ Daugherty, Charlie Rogers
Charlie Rogers
John Edward Rogers is a former American football running back and wide receiver in the NFL for the Seattle Seahawks , the Buffalo Bills and the Miami Dolphins ....
and Swede Youngstrom
Swede Youngstrom
Adolph Frederick "Swede" Youngstrom was a professional football player. Over the span of his career in the National Football League, Youngstrom played with the Buffalo All-Americans, Canton Bulldogs, Buffalo Bisons, Cleveland Bulldogs and the Frankford Yellow Jackets. He also served as a...
serve as assistant coaches. Under Weir's leadership the team finished with a 6-9-3 record in 1927. The Jackets rebounded in 1928 with a 11-3-2 league record, behind only the Providence Steam Roller. In 1929, Bull Behman became coach of the Yellow Jackets. The team finished with a 9-4-5 record for third place in league standings.
1930 season
The Yellow Jackets began to decline mainly because of financial hardships brought on by the Great DepressionGreat Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
in 1930. Shep Royle, president of the Franklin Athletic Association, arranged for coaches Bull Behman and Wally Diehl
Wally Diehl
Glenn Walter "Wally" Diehl was a professional American football fullback in the National Football League. He played three seasons for the Frankford Yellow Jackets .-External links:*...
to attend a coaching clinic in Chicago run by Glenn "Pop" Warner
Glenn Scobey Warner
Glenn Scobey Warner , most commonly known as Pop Warner, was an American football player and coach...
and Dick Hanley, in the hopes that it would improve their coaching techniques and develop a way to better utilize their players. At the same time, however, the Association's management decided to retain only a few veteran players, replacing most of the squad with rookies direct from college. This resulted in a string of ten consecutive losses; the worst losing streak in Yellow Jackets' history. To end the streak, Frankford purchased eleven players from the Minneapolis Red Jackets, and George Gibson took over the team's coaching duties from Behman. The Legion Post
American Legion
The American Legion is a mutual-aid organization of veterans of the United States armed forces chartered by the United States Congress. It was founded to benefit those veterans who served during a wartime period as defined by Congress...
also tried to rally to the Yellow Jackets, pledging its support. However, the effects of the economic depression and poor performance on the field combined to reduce the team's fan base. The season finally ended with a 6-13-1 overall record and 4-13-1 record in league play.
Final season
Before the start of the 1931 season1931 NFL season
The 1931 NFL season was the 12th regular season of the National Football League. The league decreased to 10 teams due to financial hardships caused by the Great Depression. While the Cleveland Indians joined as an expansion team, the league lost the Minneapolis Red Jackets and the Newark Tornadoes...
, Frankford Stadium was severely damaged by a fire, forcing the club to find another location for its home games. However most facilities suitable for professional football were already booked. The Yellow Jackets had to overcome this scheduling problem by playing at three different locations around the city of Philadelphia: Frankford High School's Community Memorial Stadium, Philadelphia Municipal Stadium and Shibe Park. Philadelphia Municipal Stadium and Shibe Park were located outside of the Frankford area, making attendance difficult for local fans. The team had hoped to draw broader support from Philadelphia at large.
Herb Joesting
Herb Joesting
Herbert W. Joesting was a professional American football player and coach in the early National Football League. Nicknamed "The Owatonna Thunderbolt", he played at the University of Minnesota, where he was an All-American in 1926 and 1927.In 1929, Joesting joined the Minneapolis Red Jackets as...
took over the team's coaching duties in 1931. However the team was in terrible shape. Some members of the press began referring to the team as the Philadelphia Yellow Jackets, in an attempt to increase fan support. However that support never materialized. By October NFL President Joe Carr
Joseph Carr
Joseph "Joe" F. Carr was the president of the National Football League from 1921 until his death in 1939. Carr was born in Columbus, Ohio. As a mechanic for the Pennsylvania Railroad in Columbus, he directed the Columbus Panhandles football team in 1907 until 1922...
, after witnessing the poor attendance at Frankford home loss to the Portsmouth Spartans, approved a plan for the Yellow Jackets to finish the season as a traveling team
Traveling team
In professional team sports, a traveling team is a member of a professional league that never or rarely competes in its home arena or stadium. This differs from a barnstorming team in that the latter does not compete within a league or association framework...
. Carr hoped that this move would allow the team to curb spending and rebound financially.
The Yellow Jackets failed to complete the 1931 season. On October 26, 1931, the franchise suspended operations the day after the team defeated the Chicago Bears, 13-12, at Wrigley Field
Wrigley Field
Wrigley Field is a baseball stadium in Chicago, Illinois, United States that has served as the home ballpark of the Chicago Cubs since 1916. It was built in 1914 as Weeghman Park for the Chicago Federal League baseball team, the Chicago Whales...
. This game marked the last time a Philadelphia-based NFL team would win an away game over the Bears until October 17, 1999, when the Eagles
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
defeated the Bears 20-16 at Soldier Field
Soldier Field
Soldier Field is located on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, Illinois, United States, in the Near South Side. It is home to the NFL's Chicago Bears...
. The 1928 Yellow Jackets win over the Packers marked the last time in 51 years a Philadelphia NFL team won a road victory over the Packers. The Eagles' 1979 win at Green Bay finally ended that streak.
Legacy
The Frankford Athletic Association not only fielded the Yellow Jackets football team, but also the Yellow Jackets' Band and the Frankford Legion Post 211 Drum & Bugle Corps. The Association also sponsored bus and train trips for fans to travel along to games in such places as Pottsville and New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, where even the host teams' sportswriters took notice of their enthusiasm. The club occasionally sponsored half-time exhibitions by the Frankford Midgets, as well as a women's football team.
During their time in the NFL, Frankford's Ignacio Molinet became the league's first Latino
Latino
The demonyms Latino and Latina , are defined in English language dictionaries as:* "a person of Latin-American descent."* "A Latin American."* "A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often one living in the United States."...
player.
Today the Philadelphia Fire Department's Engine 14, stationed in Frankford, have adopted the Yellow Jackets moniker on their fire trucks.
Philadelphia Eagles
The NFL spent two years searching for a new team to operate in Philadelphia. Finally, on July 9, 1933, the NFL granted an expansion franchise to Bert BellBert Bell
De Benneville "Bert" Bell was the National Football League commissioner from 1946 until his death in 1959. As commissioner, he helped chart a path for the NFL to facilitate its rise in becoming the most popular sports attraction in the United States...
and Lud Wray
Lud Wray
James R. Ludlow "Lud" Wray was a professional American football player, coach, and co-founder, with college teammate Bert Bell, of the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League. He was the first coach of the Boston Braves in 1932 and of the Eagles, 1933-1935...
, and awarded them the remains of the Yellow Jackets organization. Bell and Wray named their team the Philadelphia Eagles
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
, after the symbol of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
. Some people assume that the Yellow Jackets and the Eagles are the same franchise; however, that is not the case. Bell and Wray did not buy the Yellow Jackets team, but rather the rights to an NFL team in the Philadelphia area that formerly had belonged to the Frankford Athletic Association. The Yellow Jackets franchise had been revoked by the league in 1931. Due to the two-year period of dormancy, the Eagles do not claim the Yellow Jackets' history as their own, and the NFL considers the Eagles a 1933 expansion team for record-keeping purposes. Additionally, Bell and Wray assembled an almost entirely new team; almost no players from the 1931 Yellow Jackets ended up with the 1933 Eagles.
For the first few years of the Eagles' existence, however, they wore powder blue
Powder blue
Powder blue may refer to two different colors.The paler variant is often associated with powder snow.-Powder blue :The web color powder blue is shown on the right....
and yellow
Yellow
Yellow is the color evoked by light that stimulates both the L and M cone cells of the retina about equally, with no significant stimulation of the S cone cells. Light with a wavelength of 570–590 nm is yellow, as is light with a suitable mixture of red and green...
uniforms similar to those worn by the Yellow Jackets. Replicas were later worn as 1934 throwbacks in a game against the Detroit Lions
Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...
on September 23, 2007 as part of the team's 75th anniversary season. Many members of the media mistakenly stated that the Eagles were still known as the Yellow Jackets that year.
Other notable players
- Nate BarragarNate BarragarNathan Robert Barragar was an American collegiate and professional football player.-Biography:Barragar was the only son of Nathaniel Hawthorne Barragar , a clergyman, and Olive Jan Barragar . The family moved to Yakima, Washington, then eventually settled in Los Angeles...
- Bull BehmanBull BehmanRussell K. "Bull" Behman was a professional football player and coach in the early National Football League. He played at Dickinson College in 1922 and 1923, captaining the team in the latter year....
- Jug EarpJug EarpFrancis Louis "Jug" Earp was a professional football player. He played eleven seasons in the National Football League, mostly with the Green Bay Packers and was inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame in 1970...
- Two-Bits HomanTwo-Bits HomanHenry Homan was a professional American football player. Homan was a college stand-out at Lebanon Valley College where he played quarterback and graduated in 1924. He gained his nickname of "Two Bits" due to his size...
- Herb JoestingHerb JoestingHerbert W. Joesting was a professional American football player and coach in the early National Football League. Nicknamed "The Owatonna Thunderbolt", he played at the University of Minnesota, where he was an All-American in 1926 and 1927.In 1929, Joesting joined the Minneapolis Red Jackets as...
- Mort KaerMort KaerMorton "Mort" Armour Kaer , nicknamed "Devil May," was a world-famous athlete, as a track star and All-American collegiate and professional American football player....
- Bill KellyBill Kelly (football)William C. "Wild Bill" Kelly was a professional American football player. He was born in Denver, Colorado, but grew up in Missoula, Montana.-High school career:...
- Joseph LightnerJoseph LightnerJoseph Lightner was the 18th head football coach for the Dickinson College Red Devils in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and he held that position for three seasons, from 1923 until 1925. His overall coaching record at Dickinson was 17 wins, 7 losses, and 2 ties...
- Hap MoranHap MoranFrancis Dale "Hap" Moran was a collegiate and professional American football player. He played mainly at halfback for Carnegie Tech , Grinnell College , the Frankford Yellow Jackets , the Chicago Cardinals , the Pottsville Maroons , and the New York Giants...
- Ray RichardsRay RichardsRaymond W. Richards was an American football player and coach on both the collegiate and professional levels, including head coach for the National Football League's Chicago Cardinals....
- Herb SteinHerb SteinHerb Stein was an American football player. After high school, Stein attended the University of Pittsburgh and served as the team's center from 1918 until 1921. He was a consensus All-American for Pitt in both his junior and senior years and served as the team captain in 1920...
- Hust StocktonHust StocktonJohn Houston Stockton was a professional football player for the Frankford Yellow Jackets from 1926 until 1928. Stockton was a member of Yellow Jackets' 1926 NFL Championship team. He later split the 1929 season between the Boston Bulldogs and the Providence Steamroller...
- Charley "Pie" Way
- Ed WeirEd WeirSamuel Edwin Weir was an American collegiate and professional football player.He was the first Nebraska Cornhusker football player elected to the College Football Hall of Fame and is known as one of Nebraska's greatest athletes...
Season-by-season record
(Record of NFL play only)| Year | W | L | T | Finish | Coach |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1924 1924 Frankford Yellow Jackets season The 1924 Frankford Yellow Jackets season was their inaugural season in the National Football League. The team finished 11-2-1 in league play and 17-3-1 overall, enough to finish in third in the league.-Schedule:-Standings:-References:... |
11 | 2 | 1 | 3rd | Punk Berryman Punk Berryman Robert Norman "Punk" Berryman was a professional American football coach. He played as a halfback at Pennsylvania State University and was elected All-American in his senior year . He went on to coach at Lafayette College, the University of Iowa, then at Dickinson College. In 1922 and 1923 he was... |
| 1925 1925 Frankford Yellow Jackets season The 1925 Frankford Yellow Jackets season was their second in the National Football League. The team improved on their previous output of 11-2-1, winning thirteen league games to finish the season in sixth place... |
13 | 7 | 0 | 6th | Guy Chamberlin Guy Chamberlin Berlin Guy "Champ" Chamberlin was a professional American football player and coach in the National Football League . He played at Nebraska Wesleyan University and then at the University of Nebraska, where he was a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity. He graduated from Nebraska in 1916... |
| 1926 1926 Frankford Yellow Jackets season The 1926 Frankford Yellow Jackets season was their third in the National Football League. The team improved on their previous output of 10-4, winning fourteen games. By virtue of their league-best record of 14-1-2, they were crowned the 1926 NFL Champions.... |
14 | 1 | 1 | 1st | Guy Chamberlin |
| 1927 1927 Frankford Yellow Jackets season The 1927 Frankford Yellow Jackets season was their fourth in the National Football League. The team failed to improve on their previous output of 14-1-2, winning only six league games to finish in seventh place in the league standings.-Schedule:-Standings:... |
6 | 9 | 3 | 7th | Charley Moran Charley Moran Charles Barthell Moran , nicknamed "Uncle Charley," was an American sportsman who gained renown as both a catcher and umpire in Major League Baseball and as a collegiate and professional football coach.-Early life:... (2-5-1); Swede Youngstrom Swede Youngstrom Adolph Frederick "Swede" Youngstrom was a professional football player. Over the span of his career in the National Football League, Youngstrom played with the Buffalo All-Americans, Canton Bulldogs, Buffalo Bisons, Cleveland Bulldogs and the Frankford Yellow Jackets. He also served as a... /Charley Rogers/Russ Daugherty/Ed Weir Ed Weir Samuel Edwin Weir was an American collegiate and professional football player.He was the first Nebraska Cornhusker football player elected to the College Football Hall of Fame and is known as one of Nebraska's greatest athletes... (4-4-2) |
| 1928 1928 Frankford Yellow Jackets season The 1928 Frankford Yellow Jackets season was their fifth in the National Football League. The team improved on their previous league output of 6-9-3, winning eleven games. They finished second in the league standings.-Schedule:-Standings:-References:... |
11 | 3 | 2 | 2nd | Ed Weir Ed Weir Samuel Edwin Weir was an American collegiate and professional football player.He was the first Nebraska Cornhusker football player elected to the College Football Hall of Fame and is known as one of Nebraska's greatest athletes... |
| 1929 1929 Frankford Yellow Jackets season The 1929 Frankford Yellow Jackets season was their sixth in the National Football League. The team failed to improve on their previous league output of 11-3-2, winning only ten games, losing four, and tying five. They finished third in the league standings.... |
10 | 4 | 5 | 3rd | Bull Behman Bull Behman Russell K. "Bull" Behman was a professional football player and coach in the early National Football League. He played at Dickinson College in 1922 and 1923, captaining the team in the latter year.... |
| 1930 1930 Frankford Yellow Jackets season The 1930 Frankford Yellow Jackets season was their seventh in the National Football League. The team failed to improve on their previous league output of 9-4-5, winning only four league games. They played eight games in the month of October, losing all eight, and finished ninth in the league... |
4 | 13 | 1 | 9th | Bull Behman (2-10-1); George Gibson George Gibson (football) George F. Gibson was a professional American football offensive lineman and coach in the early National Football League. He played collegiately at the University of Minnesota, where he was an All-American in 1928.... (2-3) |
| 1931 1931 Frankford Yellow Jackets season The 1931 Frankford Yellow Jackets season was their eighth and final in the National Football League. The team failed to improve on their previous output of 4-13-1, winning only one league game... |
1 | 6 | 1 | 10th | Bull Behman Bull Behman Russell K. "Bull" Behman was a professional football player and coach in the early National Football League. He played at Dickinson College in 1922 and 1923, captaining the team in the latter year.... |