Edwin (Piggy) Simandl was the owner of the

Orange Tornadoes The Orange Tornadoes and Newark Tornadoes were two manifestations of a long-lived professional American football franchise that existed in some form from 1887 to 1941 and from 1958 to 1970, having played in the American Amateur Football Union fro ...

and

Newark Tornadoes The Orange Tornadoes and Newark Tornadoes were two manifestations of a long-lived professional American football franchise that existed in some form from 1887 to 1941 and from 1958 to 1970, having played in the American Amateur Football Union fro ...

of 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 ...

. He became the team's owner in 1929, when

Ole Haugsrud Oluf Roy Haugsrud (May 13, 1899 – March 13, 1976) was an American sports executive. Haugsrud was born in Superior, Wisconsin. Haugsrud was owner of the Duluth Eskimos of the National Football League (NFL) in the late-1920s. His signing of Ern ...

, the owner of

Duluth Eskimos The Duluth Eskimos were a professional football team from Duluth, Minnesota in the National Football League (NFL). After spending most of their time as a traveling team, they withdrew from the league after the 1927 season. A distinction of the ...

, sold his defunct franchise rights to Simandl. This allowed Simandl to place his Orange Tornadoes in the NFL. In addition to running his NFL franchise, Simandl was a wholesale meat salesman, which was why he was given the nickname "Piggy". In 1930, the team moved to Newark and played a dismal season that resulted in just 1 win. Afterward, Simandl sold his franchise rights back to the NFL. However, after a 2-year hiatus, he reorganized his team in Orange. The Tornadoes then defeated the

Staten Island Stapletons The Staten Island Stapletons, also known as the Staten Island Stapes, were a professional American football team. Founded in 1915, they played in the National Football League (NFL) from 1929 in sports, 1929 to 1932 in sports, 1932. The team was ...

7-0 in their first game back.

Ernest Cuneo

However, according to one of his former players,

Ernest Cuneo Ernest L. Cuneo (May 27, 1905 – March 1, 1988)
''The New York Times'', March ...

, Simandl also resembled a pig. Cuneo wrote: "He was also short and fat, with puffy, red-veined jowls, a low forehead and close-set eyes. People in his hometown of Orange, New Jersey, would have given him the same monicker if he'd sold shoes." According to Cuneo, "He was usually officious and always bursting with his own importance, but he was flamboyantly agreeable, and everyone, including the team, liked him." However, it was also reported that the team's payroll was usually late due to the lack of money in the team treasury, which was blamed on poor attendance.

Rivalry with Staten Island

Prior to Orange becoming a member of the NFL, the team enjoyed a rivalry with another future NFL franchise, the Staten Island Stapletons. In 1927, Simandl canceled a game against the Stapletons in a dispute over the distribution of gate receipts. A few weeks later before the final Stapletons game of the season that was to be played in

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is the southernmost of the boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York (state), New York. The borough is separated from the ad ...

, Simandl demanded that the Stapes game be played in

Orange, New Jersey The City of Orange (known simply as Orange) is a Township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 34,447, an increase o ...

. To avoid losing the game, Stapletons manager Dan Blaine agreed to play in Orange.

American Association

In June 1936, the American Association was formed in response to a proposal by Simandl for the need of a minor league system for pro football. Simandl's Tornadoes were a charter member of the league. He moved the team back to Newark in 1938, then sold his team to

George Halas George Stanley Halas Sr. (February 2, 1895 – October 31, 1983), nicknamed "Papa Bear", was an American professional football end, coach, and executive. He was the founder and owner of the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL), ...

in 1939.

References

In the Same LeagueJust Staten Out on the IslandNothing Minor About itThe Team That Time Forgot
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simandl, Piggy Orange/Newark Tornadoes NFL franchise owners