The Goodyear Silents were a semi-professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team based in

Akron, Ohio Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Ohio, fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Akron metr ...

, composed of deaf players. Most, if not all, of the team worked for the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. During World Wars I and II, many industrial companies hired deaf people, including Goodyear and Firestone in Akron. In existence from 1915–1927, the team played against local and regional semi-pro teams, and compiled an all-time record of 68–35–11. In the process, they won several league championships. The most disappointing moments the successful team experienced was their failure to defeat cross-town archrivals

Akron Pros The Akron Pros were a professional American football, football team that played in Akron, Ohio, Akron, Ohio from 1908 to 1926. The team originated in 1908 as a semi-professional, semi-pro team named the Akron Indians, but later became Akron Pros ...

, losing all four games to this team. The Akron Pros was one of the pioneering teams in the fledgling

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 ...

(NFL). The four losing scores were: 9–0, 20–7, 6–0 and 14–0.Barry Strassler
"Deaf Jews in Sports: Louis Seinensohn; The Goodyear Silents Championship Football Team Had A Jewish Fullback"
Los Angeles Jewish Deaf Community Center newsletter, September/October 1998. Joe Allen, one of the Goodyear Silents players, was the only one to continue his career in semi pro football after the team went out of business.

References

External links

* . From the

Gallaudet University Gallaudet University ( ) is a private federally chartered university in Washington, D.C., for the education of the deaf and hard of hearing. It was founded in 1864 as a grammar school for both deaf and blind children. It was the first school ...

website
1923
an

season records at profootballarchives.com. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company Sports in Akron, Ohio {{Ohio-sport-team-stub