The Boston Yanks were a

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 ...

team based in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

, that played from 1944 to 1948. The team played its home games at

Fenway Park Fenway Park is a baseball stadium located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, near Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home of the Boston Red Sox, the city's American League baseball team, and since 1953, its only Major League Bas ...

. Any games that conflicted with the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

baseball schedule in the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

were held at Braves Field of the cross-town

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

team, the Boston Braves. Team owner Ted Collins, who managed singer and television show host Kate Smith (1907–1986) for thirty years, picked the name Yanks because he originally wanted to run a team that played at

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

's old

Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home field of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. Opened in April 2009, the stadium replaced the orig ...

. The Yanks could manage only a 2–8 record during their first regular season. Because of a shortage of players caused by

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the Yanks were temporarily merged with the erratic founding APFA member Dayton Triangles' franchise, then known as the

Brooklyn Tigers The Brooklyn Dodgers were an American football team that played in the National Football League from 1930 to 1943, and in 1944 as the Brooklyn Tigers. The team played its home games at Ebbets Field of the baseball National League's team, the Broo ...

, for the 1945 season, and styled as just the Yanks with no home city named. The merged team played four home games in Boston and one in New York and finished with a 3–6–1 record. When Brooklyn Tigers owner

Dan Topping Daniel Reid Topping (June 11, 1912 – May 18, 1974) was a part owner and president of the New York Yankees baseball team from 1945 to 1964. During Topping's tenure as chief executive of the Yankees, the team won 14 American League pennants and ...

announced his intention to join the newly established rival professional football league, the All-America Football Conference (AAFC), in 1946, his NFL franchise, which was a founding APFA member that he had moved from Dayton, Ohio in 1929, was revoked and all of its players were assigned to the Yanks, with the original Triangles legacy being carried on by this group. After three continuous losing seasons, Collins finally was allowed to move to

. But instead of an official relocation, he asked the league to officially fold his Boston franchise and give him a new franchise, for a Federal tax write-off. The League granted his request, and Collins named his new team the

New York Bulldogs The New York Yanks were an American football team that played in the National Football League under that name in the 1950 and 1951 seasons. Season by season overview 1949 The team began in 1944 as the Boston Yanks, owned by Kate Smith's manage ...

. However, like many of this franchise's moves, the NFL considers them to have folded, while the players and assets simply moved, ultimately keeping the Dayton Triangles' legacy alive as the last remaining

Ohio League The Ohio League was an informal and loose association of American football clubs active between 1902 and 1919 that competed for the Ohio Independent Championship (OIC). As the name implied, its teams were mostly based in Ohio. It is the direct pr ...

member.HOW TO GET FROM DAYTON TO INDIANAPOLIS BY WAY OF BROOKLYN, BOSTON, NEW YORK, DALLAS, HERSHEY AND BALTIMORE By Bob Carroll, THE COFFIN CORNER: Vol. 17, No. 5 (1995), Originally published in Ragtyme Sports
/ref> Despite the franchise's assets moving to a new city and carrying on the team's legacy, the Boston Yanks are the only officially defunct NFL team ever to have the first overall NFL draft pick. They had it twice, in 1944 and 1946, selecting quarterbacks from Notre Dame,

Angelo Bertelli Angelo Bortolo Bertelli (June 18, 1921 – June 26, 1999) was an American football player. He won the Heisman Trophy in 1943 playing as a quarterback for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Early life Bertelli was born in West Springfield, Mass ...

and

Frank Dancewicz Francis Joseph "Boley" Dancewicz ( ; October 3, 1924 – June 26, 1985) was an American football quarterback who played professionally in the National Football League. He was the first overall pick in the 1946 NFL Draft by the Boston Yanks. He ...

, both

natives.

First round draft selections

Pro Football Hall of Fame

Season-by-season

References

{{Defunct NFL teams Defunct National Football League teams 1944 establishments in Massachusetts 1948 disestablishments in Massachusetts American football teams established in 1944 American football teams disestablished in 1948 American football teams in Boston