Brooklyn Lions
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The Brooklyn Lions were a
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 ...
team that played in the 1926 NFL season. The team was formed as the league's counter-move to the first American Football League, which enfranchised a team called the Brooklyn Horsemen, a professional football team that competed in the 1926 AFL season. In the months before the regular season began, both leagues battled with each other for fan support and the right to play at Ebbets Field. The NFL emerged as the winner, as the Lions signed the lease to use the stadium on July 20.David S. Neft, Richard M. Cohen, and Rick Korch, ''The Football Encyclopedia: The Complete History of Professional Football, From 1892 to the Present'' (St. Martin’s Press 1994), On November 12, 1926, the Horsemen withdrew from the AFL and merged with Lions. The new team created by the merger was initially called the Brooklyn Lions and competed in the NFL from November 22, 1926. For the last three games of the 1926, the team used the Horsemen name to finish the season. After three consecutive losses by shutout, the merged team winked out of existence.


Brooklyn Lions (NFL)

On July 10, 1926, NFL owners gathered for their annual July scheduling meeting granted a franchise to Edward Butler for a new Brooklyn team — the Brooklyn Lions.L.H. Baker, ''Football: Facts and Figures.'' New York: Farrar and Rinehart, 1945, p. 657. Coached by Punk Berryman, the Lions featured Rex Thomas and Herm Bagby, two members of the backfield who could play either tailback or wingback. On defense, Thomas also snared four
interception In Ball game, ball-playing Competitive sport, competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for ...
s. Notably, the team signed 32-year old former Pitt offensive lineman Jim Bond, who hadn't played in organized sports in six years and was even offered his own one-man Broadway show on his way to sign his contract with the Lions. Unfortunately, the team was only slightly more consistent in its play than the Horsemen, and after the November 7 game against the Kansas City Cowboys (a 10–9 loss at Ebbets Field), the Lions merged with the Horsemen. At the time of the merger, the Lions had compiled a 2–5 win–loss record. NOTE: Final NFL standings: official franchise won–lost record combines the wins and losses of the Lions with the results of the games played by the merged team, originally named the Brooklyn Lions and later the Brooklyn Horsemen.


Brooklyn Horsemen (AFL)

The Horsemen of the first AFL were owned by boxing promoter Humbert Fugazy and played their home games in
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
's Commercial Field."A.F.L. Fields Nine Teams", ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', July 17, 1926
Coached by Eddie McNeely, the Horsemen got the team name after McNeely's signing of Elmer Layden and Harry Stuhldreher, two of Notre Dame's Four Horsemen. While the team's first game was decided by a 60-yard touchdown pass from Stuldreher to Ed Harrison, the team had trouble maintaining a steady offense (and, ultimately maintaining a fan base). After losses to the Los Angeles Wildcats and Boston Bulldogs in front of decreasing crowds, a scheduled game at Ebbets Field against league leader (and eventual champion) Philadelphia Quakers was cancelled due to inclement weather. On November 7, 1926, the Horsemen played their last AFL game, a 21–13 loss to 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 ...
, and then merged with their NFL cousins, the Brooklyn Lions, to complete the season in the NFL.


"Horse-Lions": The Brooklyn Horsemen (NFL)

The result of the merger was derisively dubbed the Horse-Lions by the local media, but initially (November 14, 1926) the merged team played under the Brooklyn Lions banner. The new team, with eight members of the now-defunct AFL team, trounced the Canton Bulldogs 19–0 in front of a small crowd in Ebbets Field. In a last-ditch effort to attract paying fans, the Lions then adopted the Horsemen nickname of the old AFL team and lost the last three games of their existence by shutout.


Horsemen who were also Lions

Eight men played for both the Horsemen in the AFL and the Lions/Horsemen in the NFL: *Fullback Earl Britton *End Ted Drews *End Ed Harrison *Guard Red Howard *Center Ted Plumridge *Tailback Harry Stuhldreher *Guard Tarzan Taylor In addition, guard Hec Garvey was on the rosters of no fewer than four teams in the AFL or NFL in 1926: the Hartford Blues (NFL), the Horsemen (AFL), the Lions (NFL), and 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 ...
.


References

{{AFL I Defunct NFL teams Defunct American football teams in New York City American Football League (1926) teams American football teams established in 1926 American football teams disestablished in 1926
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
Sports in Brooklyn 1926 establishments in New York City 1926 disestablishments in New York (state)