Semi-Tough
Amateur football in Rhode Island goes way back to the early 1900s. Some of the longest playing teams included East Greenwich Athletic Association, Corona Club, Crescent Athletic Club and the Pawtucket Athletic Club. To whom lay claim to the state amateur football title caused a great deal of talk since all teams played an independent schedule. Boasting teams based their supremacy on their record and opposition played. Challenges were accepted to decide the champion. Common venues included the Cycledrome, Kinsley Park, Melrose Park, Crescent Park, Crompton Grounds and Palace Gardens. Games were rough and riots were not uncommon with unruly fans in attendance. The Providence Steam Roller era began in 1916 prior to joining the NFL in 1925.
Semi-pro teams grew in the 1920s with Apponaug, Brunwicks, Conimicut, Pawtuxet A.C. and the early Steam Roller leading the way until thriving in the 1930s with the Nickerson Tigers and Natick Sacred Heart winning multiple state titles. Some city and town teams competed for their own championship upon vying for the state semi-pro crown. In November 1931 four teams (Natick Sacred Hearts vs Nickerson Tigers and Rosewoods of Pawtucket vs Warren Town Team) met at the Cycledrome for the Knute Rocke Memorial Fund game. The fund was for a memorial field house on the campus of Notre Dame in honor of the former coach who was tragically killed in an airplane crash.
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Also in 1931 the professional Steam Roller eleven took on four semi-pro teams in one afternoon at the Cycledrome. The novel contest involved the Watchemoket All-Stars, East Providence Townies, Natick Sacret Hearts and Cranston Speedways against the big leaguers in one 15-minute period each. The semi-pros were victims 78-0 in the touchdown carnival in front of 2000 fans. The Steam Roller (NFL 1925-31) returned to action (after a year off in 1933) and continued to be a powerhouse independent eleven through the 1940s. Pearce Johnson, one of the Steam Roller original founders, put together the Providence Pros in 1935. The Pros, with several former Rhode Island schoolboy and college stars (Dixie Matthews, Andy Rotelli, Joe Buonnano and Cap Capasso), ended the Natick Sacred Hearts four year run as state semi-pro champions.
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Amateur football leagues finally began with the start of the Providence Amateur Football League in 1934 and the Pawtucket Amateur Football League in 1935. The Rhode Island Amateur Football League and Independent Amateur Football Leagues would follow. 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. In 1941 the Interstate Semi-Pro Football League began with Rhode Island and Massachusetts divisions.
