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

by Chris Willis

  "It wasn't high-class, but it was a well-run place, it was very strict. No women allowed," Art Rooney would tell writer Myron Cope. "It was a great section, a wonderful section. It had a reputation as a rough and tumble section, but it [had] wonderful people."" The Rooney's tavern was located just a block-and-a-half east of Exposition Park, the ball field for the Pittsburgh Pirates (until 1909), so Rooney's Saloon was a popular place for sports discussion and information. Young Art just like Carrfell in love with the athletic life from a very early age.

  "I played all sports. You went to the playground when the sun came up, and you didn't leave till the sun went down," recalled Art Rooney. "My father grew up strong and tough and streetwise. A natural athlete, he loved to compete. Baseball, football, boxing, you name it, he played it. And he played to win," says Dan Rooney. Growing up in an Irish family church was a big part of Art Rooney's life. He would be guided by the "holy trinity": faith, family, and friends. Carr could see himself in Art Rooney 14

  In high school Rooney would become a good student and a great athlete, lettering in football, basketball, and baseball. As a halfback on the football team the local paper described his play as standing "head and shoulders above his companions. Broken field running is his chief forte." Who would have known that decades later he would gain the nickname "the Chief.""

  After high school Rooney attended several universities-Indiana Normal of Indiana, Pennsylvania; Georgetown University; and Duquesne University-but each time he would be distracted by sports and return to the Ward. Whether it was playing semipro baseball or boxing, Rooney established himself as one of the best athletes in the area. "Boxing, football, baseball-he loved them all. But he was more than an athlete. He was a skilled organizer and a great promoter," says Dan Rooney."

  In 1921 (at the age of nineteen) he formed his own semipro football team called the Hope-Harvey. "The team was called Hope-Harvey because Hope was the name of the fire-engine house in The Ward and [Walter] Harvey was the doctor in The Ward. For home games we dressed and got showers at the engine house, and Harvey took care of anybody who got hurt," recalled Art Rooney. Not only did Rooney run the team but he also played (as quarterback) and coached. Recruiting players from the neighborhood as well as former college players from local universities Rooney built one of the best semipro teams in the Midwest."

  A couple of years after forming his team, he got a sponsor for his squad, the Loeffler Electric Store, an appliance store that wanted the team named after one of its best-selling items-the Majestic Radio. At the same time Rooney became a successful boxing promoter in the city and around the country. In 1931 Rooney married Kathleen McNulty and the two would go on to have five sons-the eldest being Dan Rooney, who would eventually follow his father's footsteps right into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Both father and son shared the same ability to be able to communicate with anybody and show compassion for their fellow man. "Dad had the Irish gift of gab, but he wasn't just a smooth talker-he genuinely loved people and they loved him," says Dan Rooney."

  Rooney's affiliation with Loeffler 's Electric Store ended with the coming of the 1931 season, as he renamed his team the "J. P. Rooney's" to help his brother's campaign for state legislature. Jimmy Rooney easily won his race. The J. P. Rooney's continued to play winning football, and at this time Rooney was looking to get his team into the NFL. "Our teams were as good as the teams in professional football. We were as good as the teams in the National Football League," recalled Art Rooney. The confident sports promoter might have overestimated his semipro team's talent, but Carr liked what Rooney could bring to the NFL. He was a well-connected, successful sports promoter who could finance a league franchise in a city that, according to the 1930 Census, had a population of 669,817.19

  Carr felt positive about Rooney and gave him his word that he should prepare his team to be in the NFL. "In 1933 I paid $2,500 for a National Football League franchise, which I named the Pirates, because the Pittsburgh baseball team was called the Pirates. It wasn't until 1940, when we held a contest for a new name, that we became the Steelers," remembered Art Rooney. "I bought the franchise ... because I figured that it would be good to have a league schedule and that eventually professional football would be good. 1120

  How Art came up with the $2,500 to buy the team has been debated for the past seventy years. Besides being an athlete, sports promoter, politician, and owner, Rooney was also known as probably the best horse handicapper in the country. "He studied the sport, knew the animals, the trainers, the jockeys, the owners. Dad always told me that betting on horses wasn't just a game of chance-he wouldn't have done it if it were-it required knowledge and skill. Some people say he was the best thoroughbred handicapper in the country," wrote Dan Rooney in his autobiography.21

  Rooney made a good living playing the horses-this is where he met Tim Mara-and most historians have claimed that this is how he paid for the NFL franchise. The myth was based on a hot streak at the track where Rooney supposedly netted anywhere from $250,000 (the consensus figure) to $380,000 at the Saratoga and Empire City racetracks. "It's been rumored that a big $250,000 payday at Saratoga enabled him to purchase the team. That's nonsense," wrote Dan Rooney in his autobiography. "Dad's legendary day at the racetrack occurred in the summer of 1937, a memorable opening day at Saratoga. [It was] the biggest payday Dad ever had at the racetrack-but it had nothing to do with buying the team. He made the deal with the NFL four years earlier."22

  "I broke the books at Saratoga and [the rumor] kept growing, growing, and growing. That's how it came out that I won the money at the racetrack to buy the football team, which wasn't so," said Art Rooney in a 1984 NFL Films interview. "My father talked about Joe Carr a lot. He said that he was a great commissioner [president] and really did well. He was very friendly. He said that he was really a good guy," says Dan Rooney. "My father felt that the NFL was so important and having a team in Pittsburgh was important."23

  Nobody knows how Carr felt about Rooney's horse betting but you must remember the times. "Carr persistently watched for any attempt by gamblers to move in on football. He let all managers know that if he caught any owner or manager betting on the result of a League game he would ban the individual from the League forever. The warning sufficed," recalled George Halas. "Joe hated gambling. He said it could lead only to dishonesty, and dishonesty would ruin professional football. All of us early owners were deeply appreciative of his firm stand."24

  Although Carr hated anything to do with gambling and routinely expressed his opinion on the subject to his owners, his philosophy on horse betting was different. It was natural for any man (even if you were an NFL owner) to attend the track and put down a bet. At this time horse racing was just as popular as, if not even more than, professional football. Owners like Tim Mara, Art Rooney, George Preston Marshall (who eventually quit betting on horses), and later Charlie Bidwill all had connections with racetracks. Carr lived during a period when these men (although involved in horse racing) had prestige and creditability, because of their involvement with the ponies.

  Carr retuned home after the special Pittsburgh meeting with the new rules in place for the league to improve its product. He also found a new owner for his league. The reaction to the NFL's dramatic changes in separating itself from the college game was positive, with rave reviews from the public and press:

  Joe F. Carr and his associates in the National Professional Football League are to be congratulated for recent actions in endeavoring to pep up the gridiron game for next season. It seems that the Carr-bossed organization is one that looks out for the spectator, the one who pays the freight.-Robert Hooey, Ohio State Journal

  Joe F. Carr, president of the league, predicted these changes will make the game more spectacular and put the "foot" back in football by encouraging kicking.-Nezv York Times25

  The positive press was met with some negativity. Ed Pollock of the Philadelphia Public Ledger wrote a gloomier outlook for the NFL.

  Although football fans have
never caught up with all the changes in one rules book, there will be two codes published this year to multiply the confusion and misunderstanding of the spectators. In addition to the rules which will govern the college games, the professional will have their own code through which the field will be laid out and decisions rendered accordingly. ... The decision of the pros to break away from the college game is in my opinion the worst mistake the league has made since the outlawed practice of raiding college squads for material. Football is distinctly a college game. The collegians get the crowds and have the better opportunity to educate the spectators to their rules. Disagreements in the professional code will merely lead to louder outcries against the lawmakers and the officials who must enforce the rules.

  It makes no difference whether the changes made by the professionals are good or poor. For the sake of uniformity, understanding and progress they should not have been made.26

  The bottom line for Carr and his owners was they needed to make a break from the collegiate game. In due time, it would be the professional game at the forefront in establishing how the sport was played on the field. As Carr returned to his Columbus office, he heard some good news coming out of Portsmouth. The financially strapped Spartans started their fund-raising drive earlier and sold over 600 season tickets, securing their spot in the league. But the Spartans' roster was about to take a big hit. Dutch Clark decided to quit professional football to be the athletic director at Colorado School of Mines, to go along with his coaching duties. The Spartans wouldn't contend for the NFL title as in the previous two seasons.

  In early May, President Carr began to draft the league schedule, and he asked Spartans executive Harry Snyder to help him with the task. The two men sat in Carr's Columbus office putting together the season's matchups, hoping at the summer session the owners would be pleased. After pounding his brain Carr took a break from league matters to celebrate a milestone in his son's life .27

  On the evening of June 6, the whole Carr family watched Joe Carr Jr. graduate with honors from Holy Rosary High School. Papa Carr and his wife, Josie, were extremely proud of their son, and the family now had two high school graduates. "Buddy" was president (just like his father) of his graduating class and was so popular that the Columbus Dispatch wrote about his recent achievement, along with a photo that showed off the handsome student's good looks.

  Graduate Honored By Holy Rosary School

  President of his class and honored with the title of Rosarian, Joseph F. Carr, Jr., of 1863 Bryden Road, graduated last week from Holy Rosary High School.

  The honor of being Rosarian is conferred yearly on students for excellence in their four years of high school work and for outstanding service to the school in extra-curricular activities.28

  Young Carr was following in his father's footsteps. After leaving high school, "Buddy" enrolled at the Ohio State University and studied law, making his father very proud. Carr's lack of education, or rather, his lack of opportunity to extend his education, made him want to give his son-as well as his daughter-all the means to further theirs. In just a few years, Joe and Josie would have two college graduates on their hands.

  As the summer meeting approached, Carr made some final decisions on the league's franchise applications for 1933. He announced to the press that Pittsburgh (May 18) would be approved, as well as the city of Cincinnati (June 28). The Queen City's franchise would be operated by Dr. M. Scott Kearns, the coroner of Hamilton County, and William McCoy, the secretary of a local investment securities company. Carr might also have had Sid Weil, the owner of the Cincinnati Reds, involved in the ownership group because the team rented out Redland Field and would be called the Cincinnati Reds Football Club 29

  When talking to the local press, Kearns expressed excitement about being a part of the NFL. "Professional football has been growing by leaps and bounds all over the country and we want Cincinnati to be on the football map." He also said that he would "spare no expense" to field "the best team possible."" The only problem was that he and his partner didn't have that much money to spend. Kearns and McCoy weren't wealthy men and built a team that just couldn't compete with the other powerful NFL clubs. Also, because of the lack of funds, the Reds spent virtually no money on adverting for home games, which meant small crowds and smaller profits.

  But they were in and with the prospect of the Staten Island Stapletons folding, Carr moved on to the application of Philadelphia, which was submitted by Lud Wray, former head coach of the Boston Braves, and his partner, Bert Bell. Wray and Bell had played college football together at the University of Pennsylvania, and both wanted to get into the NFL. Wray wanted to coach again, and Bell wanted to be part of the sport he loved dearly. His purchase of an NFL franchise was the beginning of a quarter-century relationship with the National Football League.

  The thirty-eight-year-old Bell was born on February 25, 1895, with the birth name of de Benneville Bell given to him by his parents John and Fleurette Bell in honor of his French grandmother. Young de Benneville was born rich and reared in the lap of luxury among the aristocracy of Philadelphia's Main Line. But his given name was a different story. "If I can lick the name de Benneville, I can handle anything, " Bell frequently said. He decided to go by the name Bert for the rest of his life. His father was the attorney general of Pennsylvania, and his brother later became governor. But Bert had only one passion-football.31

  "Football was his life," says Bert Bell Jr., son of Bert Bell. "After high school one of my grandfather's friends asked him where Bert was going to college. He said Bert will go to Penn or he'll go to hell."32 Bert Bell did go to the University of Pennsylvania and played football as a quarterback. While at Penn he played alongside Lou Little (who went on to coach at Columbia), Heinie Miller (who played for the NFL's Frankford Yellow Jackets), and Lud Wray, one of his closest friends. After graduating from college in 1920, Bell coached at his alma mater (1920-1928) and Temple University (1930-1931) while staying in the city of Philadelphia.

  Besides football Bell had another passion in his life. He fell madly in love with Frances Upton, a former Ziegfeld Follies showgirl. She had brains to go with her beauty, and she told the wealthy football lifer that she could see no future happiness being married to a man who drank too much. "All right," said Bert, "I'll never take another drink." They got married, had three children (sons Upton and Bert Jr., and daughter Jane), and he never drank again. In 1933 Bell formed a small syndicate with Wray to purchase the Frankford Yellow Jackets franchise in the NFL. The price was $2,500. Bell immediately renamed the team the Philadelphia Eagles, in honor of the bald eagle, the symbol of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's National Recovery Act. Both Wray and Bell were now in the NFL.33

  On July 8-9 seven NFL teams and three new franchises gathered at the Blackstone Hotel in Chicago to prepare for the upcoming season. Once again the league was about to change the history of professional football. With a long agenda ahead of them, President Carr called the meeting together at 1:00 p.m. The first order of New Business was the accepting of the three new franchises. Each new member was introduced to the other owners and made short speeches on "their proposed plans of operations." None of what Art Rooney or Lud Wray (who was there representing Bert Bell) said was put into the minutes, just that they made brief statements .34

  Staten Island officially suspended operations and Carr announced that their players would become free agents after August 1. The Stapes had enjoyed a nice run of four years in the NFL, compiling an overall record of 14-22-9. But they never finished higher than sixth place in the standings, and the Depression hit the area hard as the team averaged just over 5,000 fans for the last four home games in 1932. The league now said good-bye to the Stapes.

  The NFL was now a ten-team organization and the owners made it perfectly clear what it would take to get more teams into the league. Tim Mara made a motion "that as long as the League membership remains at 10 clubs in good standing the application fee for a franchise shall be Ten Thousand ($10,000) Dollars."
35 The motion carried unanimously. In the future if anybody filed an application for an NFL franchise and were admitted it would cost ten grand to join, even before you signed a player or played a game. Carr and the owners were now serious about who could get a team into the league. It also showed to Carr that his League had come a long way from 1921 when he set the franchise fee at fifty bucks. Over the next couple of hours the moguls approved the following:

  1. The Spalding J-5 unlined ball without valve as the official ball of the NFL in 1933.

  2. That all clubs have two new balls ready for use before each game; second ball used if for whatever reason first one is taken out.

  3. Each team in League be required to register with the President, once the colors of its uniforms.

  4. Each club be compelled at all times to be properly attired and neatly attired & also visiting club will send home club at least one week in advance a copy of correct names & numbers of all players under contract at that time.

  5. Visiting clubs wear a jersey distinctly different from that of the home team; in any conflict the visiting team shall provide a change for its players.

  6. Each club have a football timing watch & pistol with blank cartridge for emergency use by the game officials at home games.36

  The end of the long first day concluded with the annual election of NFL officials, and Joe F. Carr and Carl L. Storck were reelected for the thirteenth straight year as president-secretary and vice president-treasurer. Carr packed up his notes, including getting each team's official team colors:

  Boston-red