Football History
Rhode Island's rich history in football goes back to November 13, 1878. Brown University played its first game of intercollegiate football traveling to Amherst to do battle with the Lord Jeffs. Providence College's football team was fielded in 1921 through 1941 playing on Hendricken Field and the Cycledrome. Schoolboy teams would not only play other schools but play inter-class (i.e. sophomores vs juniors) games until the formation of the R.I. Interscholastic League in 1899. In October 1899 East Providence High beat Cranston High 5-0 in the very first game. Some of the leading early (late 1800s and early 1900s) independent amateur elevens included East Greenwich A.A., Crescent A.C., Apponaug, Pawtuket A.C., Corona Club, Nickerson House Tigers and the Sacred Hearts. The question to whom the state amateur championship belongs was often controversial. Often times more than one team would lay claim to the title based on their record and opposition played. The Providence Steam Roller were a power house independent/semi-pro squad (1916-24) playing their games at Kinsley Park and the Cycledrome in Providence. During halftime between his team and the Providence Pros, co-owner Charles Coppen who was getting a hot dog, heard a remark that the opposing team was "getting steam-rolled". Coppen loved the remark so much he named his team the Steam Roller. The team soon became a regional power and by the mid-1920s was known as the best independent team in the country. Providence joined the NFL (1925-31) and were 1928 NFL Champions. The Providence Huskies, led by Curley Oden (Classical and Brown), played during the 1933 season in the Eastern Professional Football League. The Huskies earned the only season in the professional or semi-professional record books to have not allowed their opponents to score a single point over an entire season. The Steam Roller continue to play independent and minor league football through the 1949 season. They won three straight New England Pro Football championships in 1947, 1948 and 1949 before disbanding till 1960 and 1961 in the New England Pro Football League and 1962-64 in the Atlantic Coast Football League. Amateur football continued to strive in the state afterwards with the Providence Amateur Football League, Pawtucket Amateur Football League, R.I. Amateur Football League and Independent Amateur Football League. After a wartime lapse in 1946 the Colonial Football League formed promoting "the amateur league with the scholastic atmosphere" with many former local high school gridiron stars.
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College Football
Brown University (1879)
University of Rhode Island (1899) Providence College (1921-41) |
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