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The Dayton Triangles were an original franchise of the
American Professional Football Association The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...
(now the
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...
(NFL)) in 1920. The Triangles were based in
Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, Ohio, Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County, Ohio, Greene County. The 2020 United S ...
, 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 Dayton. They were the longest-lasting traveling team in the NFL (1920–1929), and the last such "road team" until the Dallas Texans in 1952, who, coincidentally, descended from the Dayton franchise. The Texans players and assets were moved to Baltimore in 1953, and then to Indianapolis in 1983, where they now operate as the Colts, just 117 miles west of their origin. They have kept their color scheme through the years and, ultimately, have never missed an NFL season in some form.


Origins

The original Dayton Triangles members first began playing together as
basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
players at St. Mary's College, now the
University of Dayton The University of Dayton (UD) is a private, Catholic research university in Dayton, Ohio. Founded in 1850 by the Society of Mary, it is one of three Marianist universities in the nation and the second-largest private university in Ohio. The univ ...
, from 1908 until 1912. After graduation, the players organized a basketball team of alumni, students, and other local athletes. They went by the name of the St. Mary's Cadets. The Cadets claimed the title of "World Basketball Champions" by defeating the Buffalo German Ramblers.Collett & Presar (1990), p. 1 In the fall of 1913, the St. Marys Cadets organized a football team. The team was coached by
Louis Clark Louis Clark (27 February 1947 – 13 February 2021) was an English music arranger and keyboard player. He trained at Leeds College of Music. He is best known for his work with Electric Light Orchestra and '' Hooked on Classics''. Clark started ...
, who coached the St. Mary's college football team as well. Al Mahrt was elected team captain. The team finished its first season with a 7–0 record and won the Dayton City Championship. It also won the Southern Ohio Championship by defeating the
Cincinnati Celts The Cincinnati Celts (pronounced with a hard C) was the first professional football team to play in Cincinnati, Ohio. The team played in the unofficial " Ohio League" and the American Professional Football Association (renamed the National Footb ...
27–0 at Redland Park. The team won a second city championship in 1914, despite injuries to Al Mahrt and Babe Zimmerman. In 1915 the team changed its name to the Dayton Gym-Cadets after their presumed sponsors, the Dayton Gymnastic Club. That season saw Al Marhrt take over as the team's coach. The team only lost one game that season, to the
Columbus Panhandles The Columbus Panhandles were a professional American football team based in Columbus, Ohio. The club was founded in 1901 by workers at the Panhandle shops of the Pennsylvania Railroad. They were a part of the Ohio League from 1904 before fold ...
. It also won its third city championship.


1916–1919

The team was reorganized in 1916 as a recreational football team from among the employees of three downtown Dayton factories: the Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company (or Delco), the Dayton Metal Products Company, and the Domestic Engineering Company (now called Delco-Light). Carl Storck, who later served as treasurer of the NFL and as acting league president from 1939 to 1941, co-sponsored the Dayton Cadets and used players recruited from the three factories to fill out the team roster. Storck would later become the team's manager, while
Bud Talbott Nelson Strobridge "Bud" Talbott (June 10, 1892 – July 6, 1952) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach of the Dayton Triangles of the "Ohio League" and later a charter member of the National Football League (NFL). ...
, a Walter Camp All-American tackle and team captain at
Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...
, was named the team's coach. The team's name was also changed to the Dayton Triangles that season. In 1916, the Triangles went 9–1, defeating teams from
Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...
,
Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...
, Toledo and
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
. The
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 the American Professional Football Association (later renamed the National Football Lea ...
, with the legendary
Jim Thorpe James Francis Thorpe ( Sac and Fox (Sauk): ''Wa-Tho-Huk'', translated as "Bright Path"; May 22 or 28, 1887March 28, 1953) was an American athlete and Olympic gold medalist. A member of the Sac and Fox Nation, Thorpe was the first Native ...
in the line-up, claimed the "Ohio League" Championship after their win over the Massillon Tigers. The Triangles challenged the Bulldogs to a game on December 10, 1916, but the game was never played. The following season saw the Triangles move into their new park, Triangle Park. The team's 1917 campaign was successful. The team went 6–0–2 that season. The Triangles were able to score 188 points and gave up only 13 to their opponents.


1918 Championship

1918 saw the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
entry in
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
, as well as the devastating
Spanish flu pandemic The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...
. While the Triangles lost players to military service, they also had many kept home with regular jobs in industries deemed essential to the war effort and, along with the few other teams still playing, far less competition for the talent pool. This allowed the Triangles to keep a team on the field and beat what few representative teams remained and eventually claiming an Ohio League Championship. The Triangle player-coach that season was
Earle "Greasy" Neale Alfred Earle "Greasy" Neale (November 5, 1891 – November 2, 1973) was an American football and baseball player and coach. Early life and playing career Neale was born in Parkersburg, West Virginia. Although writers eventually assumed that Nea ...
, since Bud Talbott joined the
army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
. During their championship run, the Triangles defeated future NFL teams, the
Toledo Maroons The Toledo Maroons were a professional American football team based in Toledo, Ohio in the National Football League in 1922 and 1923. Prior to joining the NFL, the Maroons played in the unofficial " Ohio League" from 1902 until 1921. History O ...
,
Hammond Pros The Hammond Pros from Hammond, Indiana played in the National Football League from 1920 to 1926 as a traveling team. History The Pros were established by local businessman Paul Parduhn and Dr. Alva Young. Young, a boxing promoter and owner ...
, Columbus Panhandles and Detroit Heralds. The Triangles went 8–0–0 in 1918, one of two known teams to have collected a perfect record of more than five games that year, the other being the Buffalo Niagaras, whose 6–0–0 record was collected as a result of playing only teams from Buffalo and who built their team on many of the players left out of work because of the Ohio League teams' suspension. In 1919, they followed up their championship with a season record of 4–2–1.


National Football League (NFL) era

At the first meetings held on August 20, 1920 and September 17, 1920 at Ralph Hay's Hupmobile dealership located in
Canton, Ohio Canton () is a city in and the county seat of Stark County, Ohio. It is located approximately south of Cleveland and south of Akron in Northeast Ohio. The city lies on the edge of Ohio's extensive Amish country, particularly in Holmes an ...
, the Triangles were represented by their manager Carl Storck as they became charter members of the new league called the American Professional Football Association (APFA), until 1922 when it was renamed the National Football League. During the latter meeting, Jim Thorpe was unanimously elected as the new league's president. Also at this meeting, a membership fee of $100 per team was established, however
George Halas George Stanley Halas Sr. (; February 2, 1895October 31, 1983), nicknamed "Papa Bear" and "Mr. Everything", was an American professional football player, coach, and team owner. He was the founder and owner of the National Football League's Chi ...
stated that none of the charter teams ever paid it. On October 3, 1920, the Triangles won what could be considered the very first APFA/NFL game, with a 14–0 defeat of the Columbus Panhandles at Triangle Park. The high point of the Triangles' 1920 season was a 20–20 tie at Triangle Park with Thorpe's Canton Bulldogs; it was the first time a team had scored three touchdowns on the Bulldogs since 1915. Trailing the Triangles, 20–14, Thorpe nailed two late field goals to tie the score. Six games into the season, the Triangles remained undefeated (4–0–2) but in the final three games lost twice to the eventual league champion, the
Akron Pros The Akron Pros were a professional football team that played in Akron, Ohio from 1908 to 1926. The team originated in 1908 as a semi-pro team named the Akron Indians, but later became Akron Pros in 1920 as the team set out to become a charter ...
, ending 1920 with a 5–2–2 mark.


Decline

In 1922, the other teams in the NFL were recruiting and signing top college players from around the country; however Dayton continued to use mainly local players. This marked a decline in the team's performance, and the Triangles ceased being competitive in the NFL. Because of their poor showing on the field, the Triangles were not able to draw crowds for home games: Triangle Park, with a seating capacity of 5,000, rarely saw that many fans. Soon, the combination of poor home gates and the lure of $2,500 guarantees to play at larger venues (like
Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago ...
,
Comiskey Park Comiskey Park was a baseball park in Chicago, Illinois, located in the Armour Square neighborhood on the near-southwest side of the city. The stadium served as the home of the Chicago White Sox of the American League from 1910 through 1990. Bui ...
and the
Polo Grounds The Polo Grounds was the name of three stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used mainly for professional baseball and American football from 1880 through 1963. The original Polo Grounds, opened in 1876 and demolished in 1889, was built fo ...
), made the Triangles primarily a traveling team. By the late twenties, Dayton was one of the league's doormats, winning just five of their 51 NFL contests from 1923 through 1929. Only the revenues from playing on the road kept them afloat. Also around this time, the NFL began shaking off its roots in mid-sized midwestern cities. Although the Triangles were one of only three original NFL teams (along with the Bears and Cardinals) to survive the 1920s, and the only team from the Ohio League to survive past 1926, it soon became apparent that Dayton was not big enough to support a team in the burgeoning league. Finally, on July 12, 1930, a
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
-based syndicate headed by Bill Dwyer bought the Triangles; the franchise moved to Brooklyn and was renamed the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Jack Depler John Charles Depler (January 6, 1899 – December 5, 1970) was a professional American football, football player and coach. Prior to his professional career, he played college football for the Illinois Fighting Illini football team of the Univ ...
was a co-owner and new coach of the Dodgers who had been a coach-player for the NFL's Orange Tornadoes. He took most of the members of the 1929 Tornadoes with him for the new Dodgers team.


Lineage

Due to numerous transactions over the years, the Triangles have a tenuous connection to the current NFL. The Dodgers merged with the Boston Yanks franchise for the 1945 season due to player shortages. In 1946, Brooklyn's owner jumped to the AAFC and played as the
New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...
, while the Boston Yanks remained in the NFL. In 1949, the Yanks moved to New York and became the New York Bulldogs, while the AAFC Yankees merged with the Brooklyn Dodgers and played as the Brooklyn-New York Yankees. When the AAFC merged with the NFL in 1950, the Yankees players were divided between the
New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...
and the New York Bulldogs, the latter of whom were renamed the New York Yanks. Due to heavy financial losses, the Yanks were sold back to the NFL in 1952 and awarded to a group from Texas, who moved them to Dallas for the 1952 season as the Dallas Texans. The Texans were again sold back to the NFL midway through the season, and in 1953, their players were awarded to an ownership group in
Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...
and continued to play as the (new)
Baltimore Colts The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from its founding in 1953 to 1984. The team now plays in Indianapolis, as the Indianapolis Colts. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breed ...
. The Colts moved to
Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
in 1984 and are still playing as the
Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...
. In spite of the unbroken continuity of the franchises that began with the Triangles in 1913 and the Boston Yanks from 1944, the NFL and the Colts organization currently do not consider the Colts to be a continuation of the Triangles or any other franchise.


Teams named after the football Triangles

During the 1970s, the Dayton Triangles
Soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
Club revived the name and enjoyed some success and recognition as a successful youth (and later semi-pro) soccer club. Like the football team, they took their name from the same city park and played an important role in development of soccer in the Miami Valley. In 1973, the Dayton Triangles RFC club was founded. Like the aforementioned soccer club, this team also took its name from the original football team and city park. Through various amalgamations over the years, the club is still active under the name of the
Dayton Area Rugby Club Dayton Area Rugby Club is a rugby union football club based in Dayton, Ohio, United States. The club currently fields Men's teams in Midwest Divisions III & IV and a Women's team in the Midwest Division II. They play their home games at Dayton Ru ...
.


Pro Football Hall of Famers


Season-by-season


Notes


References

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External links


Dayton Triangles fan website
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