The Rochester Tigers were a professional

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

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 Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical locations. Travel can be done by foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, bus, airplane, ship or other means, with or without luggage, and can be one way or round trip. Travel c ...

, 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 section of Brooklyn, New York. It is mainly known for having been the home of the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team of the National League (1913–1957). It was also home to five pr ...

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, 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 ...

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 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 ...

. As the two teams played to a 3-3 tie, another AFL team (the former Syracuse Braves) 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 19 ...

departed for 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 ...

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 club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The club's home ...

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 ...

, 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 The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on un ...

American football teams established in 1936 American football teams disestablished in 1937 1936 establishments in New York (state) 1937 disestablishments in New York (state)