The Toledo Maroons 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 based in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Ohio, Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnat ...

in 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 ...

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

and 1923. Prior to joining the NFL, the Maroons played in the unofficial "

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 ...

" from 1902 until 1921.

History

Origins

The Maroons originated as a semi-pro football team known as the Toledo Athletic Association, in 1902. The Association formed the Toledo Maroons in 1906 as a

farm team In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

for teenagers who could later move up to playing for the Association's senior team. However, in 1908, the Association was forced to disband after the owners of Armory Park, where the team played, no longer wanted the field torn up by cleats. Despite the setback, the Maroons kept playing on other fields. By 1909, the former teenagers were adults, still playing organized football, and they began to play against numerous amateur and semi-pro opponents from outside the area. Beginning in 1915, the Maroons were playing some very strong opposition, including such future NFL teams as 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 ...

, the Dayton Gym Cadets (later known as the

Dayton Triangles The Dayton Triangles were an original franchise of the American Professional Football Association (now the National Football League (NFL)) in 1920. The Triangles were based in Dayton, Ohio, and took their nickname from their home field, Triangl ...

), and 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 ...

NFL

When the American Professional Football Association was organized in 1920, Toledo chose to remain an independent team. However, in 1922, the Maroons joined the league, now renamed the National Football League. The Maroons finished fourth with a 5–2–2 record that season, then dropped to 3–3–2 in 1923. Attendance was poor in Toledo, so the franchise moved to Kenosha, Wisconsin, and dropped out of the league after an 0–4–1 record in 1924. The Maroons ran up a 5–2–2 record in their initial 1922 season. However, the level of competition was suspect. Their opponents' combined mark was only 7–23–2. The Maroons scheduled easy opponents again in 1923 and finished this season at 3–3–2. However, when they were blasted 28–0 in the last game of the season by 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 ...

, the Toledo squad played its last game. After the 1923 season ended, the league ordered the team to either transfer or suspend operations. The team's players and personnel did eventually move to

Kenosha, Wisconsin Kenosha () is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the seat of Kenosha County. Per the 2020 census, the population was 99,986 which made it the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Situated on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, Kenos ...

to play as the

Kenosha Maroons The Kenosha Maroons were a National Football League American football, football team in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Officially, the club only played in the league during the 1924 NFL season, 1924 season, dissolving after posting no wins in five games. Hi ...

for the 1924 season. However no conclusive evidence exists that the Toledo franchise was officially transferred to Kenosha.

Season-by-season

References

Index to NFL Franchise Histories: Toledo MaroonsOhio History Central: Toledo Maroons
{{Ohio League 1902 establishments in Ohio 1923 disestablishments in Ohio Sports clubs established in 1902 Sports clubs disestablished in 1923