The Man Who Built the National Football League: Joe F. Carr

by Chris Willis

  Chamberlin began his two-year run in Canton by building a very talented team. He started with tackle Pete "Fats" Henry, who was already on the roster, and he paired him up with another future Hall of Fame tackle, Roy "Link" Lyman. The tandem of Lyman and Henry-along with Duke Osborn, Dutch Speck, and ends Chamberlin and Bird Carroll-gave the Bulldogs the best line in the league. The Canton backfield looked weak at the start of the season but would take advantage of the great line play and become very dominant throughout the 1922 season. Wooky Roberts, Tex Grigg, Lou "the Hammer" Smyth, Harry Robb, and Doc Elliott rotated to give the offense a balance and versatility that would give their opponents big headaches.

  After the craziness that happened off the field, Carr's league was now ready to play, and after those two lackluster seasons the Bulldogs would rise to the top of the standings. After five games in October the Bulldogs were 4-0-1 including a big 7-6 win over the Bears in front of 10,000 fans at Cubs Park, which actually made George Halas very happy. "The sight of 10,000 fans in the stands softened the loss," Halas remembered. The Bulldogs defense gave up only 6 points all month. The following week the Bulldogs played a scoreless tie with the Toledo Maroons, leaving the Canton team with a 4-0-2 record, but that would be the last time they were challenged 27

  On the same day the Bulldogs tied the Maroons, Joe F. Carr traveled with his Panhandles to play the Green Bay Packers and see Curly Lambeau's small-town team in person. The Panhandles brought just one Nesser brother (Frank) and were in the middle of another horrible year with an 0-4 record, but they played a very competitive game on this Sunday. Playing during a steady downpour, the Packers pulled out a 3-0 victory on a thirty-four-yard field goal by Cub Buck. After the game while at the Beaumont Hotel Joe F. Carr had plenty to say to the sportswriters about his first visit to Green Bay.

  Seeing is believing and I take my hat off to Green Bay. I've heard a lot about Green Bay as a football community and to my estimation it has more than lived up to all the nice things which have been said about it. I think it is the greatest football town in the country for its size.

  This is sure a great football town. The spirit which at times is sadly missing in post-graduate football is on tap here. It seems to me as if everybody from the urchin on the streets to the gray haired retired business man thinks, eats and sleeps football. I've been in the game twenty years but never in my football career saw a better display of football spirit and community pride than was on tap Sunday afternoon at the ball park. Think of all those people who flocked to the park in the driving rain to see the game. To me it was wonderful.

  Your Green Bay town, in my opinion, right now is equal to any club in our organization, it is a credit to your city and is making the 'Bay what you call nationally famous in the football world. Your management has worked harder than some other teams, due to a limited field to draw from but they are going ahead splendidly against much bigger odds than one can imagine and all I can say is to back them to the limit and even farther if necessary because post graduate football in Green Bay is too big a proposition to be passed up.

  And I am going to tell all that Green Bay is the best little football city in the country.28

  It looked like Carr had a school boy "crush" on the city of Green Bay, as he could see the potential the town had with its passionate fan base, despite the limited population. As for the Panhandles the rest of the season would not get any better as they finished the season winless in the NFL with an 0-8 record. As for the Canton Bulldogs, the rest of the season would be a breeze. They won their next five games by outscoring their opponents 84-9 to set up a rematch with the Toledo Maroons. On December 10, Canton (9-0-2 record) and the Maroons (5-1-2) played before 5,000 fans in Toledo. This time the Bulldogs got their revenge for the tie earlier in the season by pounding the Maroons 19-0. The fairly large crowd (between two of the league's best teams) paled in comparison to the Chicago Cardinals-Chicago Bears game played on the same day in the Windy City, as 15,000 fans came out to see Paddy Driscoll kick three field goals to give the Cards a 9-0 win.

  Carr was torn seeing these attendance figures-he was happy to see 5,000 fans come out to see the league's best play in a small town like Toledo, but hearing 15,000 spectators in Chicago to see two teams battle for second place put an even bigger smile on his face. But he knew that could only be done in the big cities. Which way to go? Restrict teams to big cities or let small towns play? Carr was definitely pleased with the "clean" ending to the season, and there was no debate as to who was champion. The Bulldogs were now 10-0-2 and kings of the NFL.

  As Carr was preparing for the future, he was about to end one chapter of his life. His Columbus Panhandles were wrapping up the season, when he decided that this was to be the last season for his squad. On Thanksgiving Day Carr gave the city of Columbus one last treat as he scheduled a rare home game at Neil Park for the Panhandles to play the Oorang Indians with their star Jim Thorpe. It would be the first time Thorpe would play in the capital city, and Carr made sure everyone, especially the young boys of Columbus, would have a chance to see the legendary athlete. The Columbus Citizen's headline read "Youngsters Get Chance to See Big Game."

  It's not hard to imagine where most of the Columbus youngsters will be after they have done ample justice to the Thanksgiving turkey. They'll be at Neil Park in a body and they'll be there because Joe Carr, who is staging the professional football game between the Panhandles and the Oorang Indians, announced Monday morning that all boys under 12 years of age will be admitted to Thursday's game on the payment of the nominal fee of 25 cents. A section of the bleachers will be reserved for them.

  This is the only game of the Professional Football League scheduled for Columbus this season.29

  Over 3,000 fans came out and witnessed the Indians defeat the Panhandles 18-6. Thorpe's Indians would end the season with a 3-6 league record, but they did attract a few big crowds and provide some good promotion for Lingo's dog kennel. So the experiment seemed to work. After the Indians-Panhandles game, Carr scheduled two more local games for the Panhandles, with the railroaders beating the Columbus Wagner Pirates 13-0 and the West End Athletic Club 9-6.

  The Columbus Panhandles had played professional football nearly every year since 1901 (only missing 1905-1906) and had taken part in over 160 games during the sports' rag-tag days. But Carr's Panhandles had just suffered their sixth straight losing year and couldn't compete with the big-time pro teams who had the resources to pay top-flight college stars. So Carr knew it was time to let his team go. It was a great run, but now it was time to turn his full attention to building the NFL.

  With the league's strongest lineup and the championship won, Canton couldn't keep its payroll below the $1,200 per game limit. Whether Ralph Hay planned to sacrifice his own money for the honor of his city or really expected to pay the bills out of the gate receipts, the simple fact was the Bulldogs were winners on the field but losers off. Despite the big crowd in Chicago and a nice crowd in Milwaukee, the Bulldogs just couldn't get the crowds to pay the bills. Although Lakeside Park in Canton had plenty of enthusiastic fans, they just didn't have enough of them. Only 3,000 came out for the games against Dayton and Louisville, and 2,500 for the Chicago Cardinals contest. Once again, Hay's Bulldogs lost money. Would the Bulldogs be back in the league in 1923?

  Right before spending Christmas at home with his wife and family, Carr wrote a press release recapping the 1922 season that appeared in newspapers around the country, including his hometown Ohio State Journal.

  Canton Bulldogs Undisputed Champs of Professional Loop: League Has Wonderful Season, According to President Joe Carr-400,000 See Games

  The Canton Bull Dogs, managed by Ralph Hay and coached by Guy Chamberlin, former Nebraska star, won the undisputed championship of the National Professional Football League, whose 75 games this fall were watched by more than 400,000 spectators, Joe Carr, president of the league, announced yesterday.

  The two Chicago teams, the Bears and Cardinals, finished in second
and third places, each of them dropping three games, while the Bull Dogs were going through the season with-out a loss of a single battle, although they were twice tied, once by Toledo and once by Dayton.

  Until the middle of November Toledo, which finished in fourth place, was an undefeated eleven. Then the Maroons were trimmed by both Canton and the Chicago Bears.

  Dayton Surprised

  While for the most part scores were small, and all of the teams showed defensive ability, there were occasional upsets. Probably the most notable one of the entire season was the 42 to 0 defeat handed the strong Dayton eleven by Rock Island. That defeat prevented Dayton from finishing in a tie with Toledo for fourth place.

  It was the third season for the professional league. President Carr said play was notably clean. Only seven men were disciplined in the 75 games, he said.

  According to Carr, there were no infractions of the rule adopted prior to the start of the season, which prevented each club from making any offers or playing any men who were still eligible for college play.

  The innovation this year of the appointment of all officials by the league president proved to be a marked success, Carr declared. Competent officials were obtained for all of the games and the usual bickerings between rival clubs as to the officials was lacking, Carr points out. The annual meeting of the league will be held in Chicago in January.30

  According to newspaper accounts, attendance was more around 180,000, but that was for thirty-six of the sixty-six APFA games since most papers didn't always list actual attendance. In the end, the league had a new name-the National Football League-that would endure and gain in stature in 1922, but the league itself was far from a success. Despite the presence of the league's first great team, the money situation made pro football still a very shaky affair. But with no team to operate, Carr now had all the time in the world to think about the future of his eighteenteam loop, and he would pull out his boxing gloves because it was time to fight.

  uring the 1922 season, the Green Bay Packers saw themselves suffering major financial losses, and the rest of the season looked to be in jeopardy of not being played. They were only averaging about 2,000 fans at home and bad weather was contributing to the small crowds. Curly Lambeau wasn't a great businessman and saw the team slipping away from him. The team was in debt for $5,400, and when playing the remaining teams on the 1922 schedule, they needed $1,500 for the guarantee and franchise fee and another $1,200 to place a Green Bay team on the field; other expenses included traveling, printing tickets, security, and paying the officials. In total, they needed to take in approximately $3,600 to make ends meet.'

  George Calhoun and Lambeau even sought out the advice of Joe F. Carr when he visited Green Bay for the Packers-Panhandles game. He wrote a letter telling them,

  You have only one way out. Increase the admission prices. Your field here is limited. At the outset, you probably can't get over 3,500 in your park. Other cities in the league, remember Green Bay is the smallest, are drawing from 8,000 to 15,000 crowds every Sunday and what's more, with but three exceptions, their admission prices are higher than at Green Bay. It is an unfortunate situation here because I consider Green Bay the best 'little' football city in the country. However, I feel confident that if the matter is put before the public in a true light, the fans will rally at the club's support just as loyal as they did on Sunday when some 1,500 braved a driving rain storm to see their team meet my club. It isn't fair that a handful should be called on to carry the financial load for all. Play fair with your fans and they will meet you square.2

  The Packers were charging $1.65 and $1.10 for tickets with mostly the $1.10 ticket being sold, so if the Packers attracted only 2,000 fans, they would always come up short in paying expenses. Joe F. Carr recognized this bad business sense and so did Andy Turnbull, the business manager of the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Neither Lambeau or Calhoun were businessmen, and Turnbull wanted to help them, because he knew the Packers team was good for the city. He also knew that Lambeau and Calhoun were the heart and soul of the team. He asked a few friends for advice on how to save the Packers.'

  So Turnbull meet with three of his closest friends-Leland H. Joannes, a very successful wholesale grocer; W. Weber Kelly, a doctor; and Gerald F. Clifford, a local attorney. They all agreed that professional football in Green Bay was a good thing, and it should be preserved. Turnbull asked Calhoun to write an article about a town meeting on saving the Packers. Approximately 150 businessman and boosters showed up on December 7, 1922, at the Elks Club in the city; plans were made to sell stock; and the Green Bay Football Corporation was set up.

  Pledges were taken for five dollars a share and eventually a fifteen-man board of directors was established with a five-man executive committee heading the team. The "Hungry Five," as they were named by Milwaukee sportswriter Oliver Kuechle, was composed of Lambeau, Turnbull, Joannes, Kelly, and Clifford. Nobody (not even Kuechle) revealed how the term Hungry Five came about, nor what it meant exactly. There is no doubt, however, that the group was "hungry" to make the Packers a success, and these five men saw that Green Bay kept their team in the NFL through the leanest years. The Packers would now have the solid financial backing to survive, although the road would always be bumpy for the small-town franchise.'

  As the 1922 calendar flipped over to 1923, most NFL teams were still losing money. One of the owners not in debt was George Halas, who in his autobiography revealed that the 1922 Chicago Bears actually made a profit of $1,476.92. He also said that he was "offered $35,000 for our franchise. We turned it down."5 But Halas was the exception. Nonetheless, Joe F. Carr had a personal crisis to handle before he could turn his attention to the financial state of the NFL.

  John S. Sullivan, Josephine's father, began to have health issues that limited his time working at the railroad, and his wife, Mary, had a tough time taking care of him by herself. So Joe and Josephine and the two Carr children moved out of their home on East Long Street and into the Sullivan house at 39 North 22nd Street. Carr made sure that Josie could help her mother take care of her father. "They were a very closeknit family and Josie had a pretty good relationship with her mother," says Martha Sullivan, niece of Joe F. Carr. "They had their ups and downs, just like any other family, but they were very close like your typical Irish family."6

  The Sullivan's two-story brick house was located just at the edge of the Irish neighborhood and became a place for the Carrs to enjoy the company of the entire Sullivan family. "My father Frank would take us over there often to see grandma Sullivan and it was a wonderful place to visit. In the summer we'd always be on the porch. The porch had a swing and when the adults were on the porch we'd be on the front yard playing," says Sullivan. Despite the circumstances, Carr felt this was the right move for his family and it made Josie very happy.'

  Carr announced that on January 20, the NFL would have its annual winter meeting in Chicago. Sixteen teams-with Carr representing the Canton Bulldogs and not his Panhandles-met in the afternoon on that day at the Sherman House. The first order of business was to award the 1922 NFL championship to the unbeaten Canton Bulldogs. The league also awarded the Bulldog players eighteen gold footballs and a championship pennant. George Halas made a motion to incorporate in the bylaws that the gold footballs be awarded each season to the champion, and it was carried. Then Carl Storck brought up a motion that NFL teams should allow that children under twelve be charged twenty-five cents to games. The motion failed, but they compromised by charging children under sixteen an admission of fifty cents.'

  The owners then discussed and approved that the president form a committee on how the colors of uniforms and socks be improved. There was much confusion among the teams that would wear the same color jerseys, so Carr named Dutch Sternaman (Chicago Bears), John Dunn (Minneapolis Marines), and chairman Babe Reutz (Racine) to come up with a way to identify teams better, something that probably was long overdue.

  The meeting ended with the owners approving the updated "Constitution and B
ylaws, " and adding that each club must play at least seven league games against seven different clubs. This figured to help the weaker teams, ones that seldom played more than a few games against league opponents, by forcing major teams like the Bears to schedule a few more games against the small fries and helping the weaker teams with one or more quality gates. Can ended the meeting at 10:00 p.m.9

  When Carr returned from Chicago he announced to the press that he would surrender management of the Columbus Panhandles and devote his time to administering the affairs of the league. He also said he would probably be drawing a regular salary to be the chief of the organization, although he never mentioned what that salary might be. The Panhandles were now gone, but Carr kept the city of Columbus in the NFL by setting up another franchise to be owned by a group of local businessman led by team president Mike O'Rourke and managed by his good friend Jerry Corcoran. The Columbus Tigers would join the NFL in the fall of 1923.

  After sixteen years as Panhandles manager, Carr was now ready to leave his team behind and move forward to guide the NFL. But Carr wasn't the only manager leaving professional football. As the summer began, Ralph Hay, who had owned the Canton Bulldogs since 1919, wanted out of the pro football business. He was losing too much money, and his asking price for the NFL's best team was $1,500, which after a great deal of wrangling among several Canton businessmen, was about $500 more than they wanted to pay. Things were still up in the air when Hay and Guy Chamberlin left Canton for Chicago to attend the NFL's summer meeting.10

  Carr knew there was a possibility that Canton might not play in 1923, so he investigated the other applications for new franchises. It looked like they were going to accept franchises in Duluth (Minnesota) and St. Louis, but it was the city of Cleveland he wanted the most. While visiting the city, Carr spoke to the local media of the potential of a new Cleveland team in the NFL.