The Rochester Tigers were a professional

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

team that competed in the second American Football League in 1936 and 1937. Owned by Mike Palm (who doubled as coach) and Harry Newman, the Tigers were originally awarded to Rochester as a charter member of the AFL, but were shifted to Brooklyn two weeks afterward despite the lack of availability of a home stadium in its new home town, then moved back to Rochester midway through the 1936 season.

1936 season

The Brooklyn Tigers delayed their start of the 1936 season as the team started as essentially a

traveling team In professional team sports, a traveling team (also called a road team) is a member of a professional league that never competes in a home arena or stadium. This differs from a barnstorming team as a barnstorming team competes in exhibition games ...

, with the Tigers playing their first game on October 11 (in Week Four of the league schedule); while

Ebbets Field Ebbets Field was a Major League Baseball stadium in the Flatbush, Brooklyn, Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York City, New York. It is mainly known for having been the home of the History of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Brooklyn Dodgers baseball tea ...

was designated the Tigers' home stadium, the only AFL game scheduled to be played there was moved to

Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx in New York City. It is the home field of Major League Baseball’s New York Yankees and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. The stadium opened in April 2009, replacing the Yankee S ...

to accommodate a large anticipated crowd for the Tigers' November 1 game against the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

. As the two teams played to a 3-3 tie, another AFL team (the former

Syracuse Braves The Syracuse Braves were a professional American football team that competed in the second American Football League in 1936 and 1937. Coached by Don Irwin and Red Badgro, the Braves played in Municipal Stadium, which had a capacity of only ab ...

) played its only game as the Rochester Braves at Red Wing Stadium before going out of business. Two weeks later, the Tigers moved back to Rochester and renamed themselves the Rochester Tigers. Playing in Red Wing Stadium, the Tigers lost the last two games of the season, wrapping up a season of futility with no wins, six losses, and one tie (ironically, one-half game behind the defunct Syracuse/Rochester Braves). Yet the team managed to survive the turbulent season to continue into 1937 with plans on staying full-time in Rochester.

1937 season

The 1937 AFL season presented several changes, most notably a reconfiguration as the

Cleveland Rams The Cleveland Rams were a professional American football team that played in Cleveland from 1936 to 1945. The Rams competed in the second American Football League (AFL) for the 1936 season and the National Football League (NFL) from 1937 to ...

departed for the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

while the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

and the Los Angeles Bulldogs joined the league. While the Rochester Braves were a distant memory, the Rochester Tigers kept their owners and coach from the 1936 season, but like fellow AFL members

Pittsburgh Americans The Pittsburgh Americans or Pittsburgh Amerks were a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1936 until 1937. The team was a member of the major-league American Football League and participated in the league's 1 ...

, the Tigers were not in good financial shape. As Los Angeles marched through its AFL schedule on its way to the first undefeated-untied season in major professional American football history, the other five AFL members were financially devastated. Pittsburgh, averaging only about 2000 fans in attendance, folded after only three games in 1937; Rochester, with only slightly better numbers despite a second-place 3-3-1 record, barely hung on until the end of the season.George Gipe, ''The Great American Sport Book'' (Doubleday 1978) After the last game of the season, the AFL folded; only the Bulldogs and the Bengals, the two newest AFL members, continued into 1938.

References

{{Rochester Sports American Football League (1936) teams Tigers American football teams established in 1936 American football teams disestablished in 1937 1936 establishments in New York (state) 1937 disestablishments in New York (state)