Northwest Football League

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Northwest Football League
SportAmerican football
Inaugural season1935
Ceased1938
Claim to fameThe first football league to feature an all-Black football team
No. of teamsvaried (from 4 to 8)
CountryUnited States
Last
champion(s)
Most titles and (2)

The Northwest Football League (NWFL) was a professional American football league that played from 1935 to 1938, in the northern part of Midwestern United States.[1] The league had some relationships with the National Football League (NFL), and scheduled exhibition games against the Chicago Bears, Chicago Cardinals and Green Bay Packers through it existence.

The last remaining member of the NWFL, the , continued as independents through 1940.[1][2]

League origin[]

Prior to the NWFL first season there was a circuit that operated in the Midwestern area called Tri-States Football League in 1934.[3] The "league" was more of a loose association between the teams, who also scheduled games against NFL[4] and other prominent independent or Canadian pro teams, without attempt to crown a champion as scheduling was left up to each team. Because of that there were wide variations, both in the overall number of games played and in the number played against other association members.

The ,[5] ,[6] [7] and (then known as the Minnesota University All-Stars[8]) would later form the Tri-States Division in the Northwest Football League.

1935[]

The season started with eight teams, four teams from the Tri-States Football League, and four from the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area, divided to two separate divisions. The St. Paul Bears folded after only two games (both loses), while the Minneapolis Ewalds decided to dropped out before the final week of the season.

Tri-States Division
Team W L T PCT
[9] 5 0 0 1.000
*[10] 6 1 0 .857
[11] 3 3 2 .500
[12] 3 4 1 .437
Twin Cities Division
Team W L T PCT
[13] 3 3 2 .500
dagger[14] 1 4 1 .250
[15] 1 5 2 .250
dagger[16] 0 2 0 .000

  Northwest Football League champions.
dagger Folded mid-season.

Championship Game: Minneapolis Jerseys 0 vs. La Crosse Old Style Lagers 25 (November 24, 1942 in Minneapolis, MN)

Lagers star Halfback was killed in a car accident on his way to the game, while starting Guard was seriously injured and had to retired from football. A week after the season La Crosse played All-Star benefit exhibition game against "Northwest Football League All-Stars", winning the match 18–13, and donating the earnings to the players families.[17]

1936[]

After the dissolution of the Tri-States Division, the league dropped the two-division format, and decided the championship solely on the regular season results. On October 11, La Crosse decided to run the score against Madison (winning 100–0), because they wanted the Cardinals to dropped out of the league, as they failed to attract former Wisconsin Badgers stars as promised. The Cardinals folded few days later.[17]

Team W L T PCT
[18] 7 1 1 .833
[19] 6 2 1 .722
[20] 2 1 1 .625
Duluth Eskimos[21] 1 1 1 .500
Rock Island Independents[22] 2 4 0 .333
[23] 2 6 0 .250
[24] 1 4 0 .200
[25] 0 2 0 .000

  Northwest Football League champions.

1937[]

The league returned for the 1937 with only four teams. Des Moines were able to defeat La Crosse in both meetings, finishing the season with a perfect 6–0 record and winning their first championship.

Team W L T PCT
[26] 6 0 0 1.000
[27] 3 2 0 .600
[28] 1 4 0 .200
[29] 0 4 0 .000

  Northwest Football League champions.

1938[]

The two-time champions La Crosse failed to field a team for the 1938 season, with only Des Moines and Cedar Rapids returning from previous season. To compensate, the league added lower level independent teams, but none offer a real competition to the Comets, who ran out the league for their second and final NWFL championship. The league disbanded at the end of the season, with most teams folded.

The only other important team that season was the , an all-black team that played almost exclusively on the road. The Brown Bombers played a year earlier against league members as a non-league opponents, but made history in 1938 when they joined the NWFL full-time, as the first all-black football team in a pro football league.[17]

Team W L T PCT
[30] 8 0 0 1.000
[31] 2 1 0 .667
[32] 0 1 0 .000
[33] 0 2 0 .000
[34] 0 3 0 .000
[35] 0 3 0 .000

  Northwest Football League champions.

References[]

  1. ^ a b Coffin Corner: Other Minor Leagues
  2. ^ "1940 Des Moines Comets".
  3. ^ "Fort Atkinson Blackhawks meets Chippewa Falls Marines". Ironwood Daily Globe. October 20, 1934.
  4. ^ "Green Bay Packers 28, Fort Atkinson Blackhawks 7".
  5. ^ "1934 Chippewa Falls Marines (TSFL)".
  6. ^ "1934 Gogebic Panthers".
  7. ^ "1934 La Crosse Old Style Lagers (TSFL)".
  8. ^ "1934 Minnesota University All-Stars (TSFL)".
  9. ^ "1935 La Crosse Old Style Lagers (NWFL)".
  10. ^ "1935 Gogebic Panthers (NWFL)".
  11. ^ "1935 Chippewa Falls Marines (NWFL)".
  12. ^ "1935 Minnesota All-Stars (NWFL)".
  13. ^ "1935 Minneapolis Jerseys (NWFL)".
  14. ^ "1935 Minneapolis Ewalds (NWFL)".
  15. ^ "1935 Minneapolis Flour City (NWFL)".
  16. ^ "1935 St. Paul Bears (NWFL)".
  17. ^ a b c Bob Gill, with Tod Maher. Outsiders: Minor League And Independent Football, 1923-1950, p. vii. St. Johann Press, 2006. ISBN 187828245X
  18. ^ "1936 La Crosse Lagers (NWFL)".
  19. ^ "1936 Des Moines Comets (NWFL)".
  20. ^ "1936 Gogebic Panthers (NWFL)".
  21. ^ "1936 Duluth Eskimos (NWFL)".
  22. ^ "1936 Rock Island Independents (NWFL)".
  23. ^ "1936 Minneapolis Millers (NWFL)".
  24. ^ "1936 St. Paul Saints (NWFL)".
  25. ^ "1936 Madison Cardinals (NWFL)".
  26. ^ "1937 Des Moines Comets (NWFL)".
  27. ^ "1937 La Crosse Lagers (NWFL)".
  28. ^ "1937 Cedar Rapids Crushers (NWFL)".
  29. ^ "1937 St. Paul Bears (NWFL)".
  30. ^ "1938 Des Moines Comets (NWFL)".
  31. ^ "1938 Cedar Rapids Crushers (NWFL)".
  32. ^ "1938 St. Paul Saints (NWFL)".
  33. ^ "1938 Chicago Brown Bombers (NWFL)".
  34. ^ "1938 Peoria Wildcats (NWFL)".
  35. ^ "1938 Macomb Eagles (NWFL)".
Retrieved from ""