The American Association (AA) was a professional American football minor league based in New York City. Founded in 1936 with teams in New York and New Jersey, the AA extended its reach to Providence, Rhode Island prior to the onset of World War II. After a four-year hiatus, the league was renamed the American Football League as it expanded to include teams in Ohio and Pennsylvania. In 1947, the Richmond Rebels of the Dixie League purchased the assets of the defunct AFL Long Island Indians and jumped leagues (causing the demise of the DL).Bob Gill, "Nothing Minor About It: The American Association/AFL of 1936-50," The Coffin Corner, vol. 12, no. 2 (1990).
The American Association was the first minor football league with a working arrangement with the National Football League as a system of farm clubs, beginning with the purchase of the Stapleton Buffaloes (which played one game as the New York Tigers) by New York Giants owner Tim Mara in 1937.
In the late 1930s and 1940s, the league enjoyed popularity comparable to that of the more established National Football League (NFL) of 1920/1922, despite being in direct competition. In 1949 and 1950, the league was adversely affected by instability of membership. After starting its last season with six teams, only two league members survived to the end of the year.
The Atlantic Coast Football League originally established itself in several former American Association markets (reviving some of the team names as well) and hiring the same president, Joe Rosentover, when it began play in 1962.
Origin of league
The American Association was formed after a proposal by Edwin Simandl, manager of the Orange Tornadoes football team. Members of the defunct Eastern League (1932) and Interstate League (1933) became charter members of the new AA and Joe Rosentover, the owner of the Passaic Red Devils, became the league's president. The original lineup consisted of four teams from New York (Mt. Vernon Cardinals, Brooklyn Bay Parkways, New Rochelle Bulldogs, and White Plains Bears) and four from New Jersey (Orange Tornadoes, Paterson Panthers, Passaic Red Devils, and Stapleton Buffaloes, the last of which consisted mostly of the remains of the defunct Staten Island Stapletons). The formation of the league was announced in June 1936.
From 1936 to 1937, there was at least one "groupie" team that never joined the league, but played the bulk of its games against AA franchises: the Harlem Brown Bombers, a barnstorming/traveling team that consisted entirely of black players and was coached by Fritz Pollard, played seven games against AA teams over two years, compiling a 1-4-1 record.
American Association (1936–1941)
1936
While the league did not have official divisions, several sources show the membership divided into a “New York Division” (NY) and a “New Jersey Division” (NJ). Teams are ranked by win percentage.
TeamWLTPct.PFPA Paterson Panthers (NJ) 410.8005913 Brooklyn Bay Parkways (NY)422.6678632 New Rochelle Bulldogs (NY) 321.6003040 Mt. Vernon Cardinals (NY)320.6003742 Orange Tornadoes (NJ)440.5005455 Passaic Red Devils (NJ)350.3753376 White Plains Bears (NY)240.3332740 Stapleton Buffaloes (NJ) 141.2002654
Playoffs: Brooklyn 18, New Rochelle 0; Paterson 10, Orange 0 (Mt. Vernon declined to participate in playoffs)
Championship: Brooklyn wins title after Paterson withdraws (Paterson stays in the league)
In the first game of a series between the AA champion and the winners of the Dixie League, the Washington Pros (Dixie League) defeated the Brooklyn Bay Parkways (American Association) 13-6 in Richmond, Virginia, January 1, 1937. It was the last time that an American Association team lost to a team in the Dixie League in a football game.
1937
Passaic dropped out due to stadium issues and was replaced by the Brooklyn Bushwicks and the Danbury Trojans; the Brooklyn Bay Parkways were renamed the Brooklyn Eagles (remiscent of the iconic daily newspaper in the borough, the "Brooklyn Eagle"); the Orange Tornadoes moved to Newark, New Jersey; and the Stapleton Buffaloes officially "moved" to Manhattan to become the New York Tigers, a traveling team that lasted only one game. Although Passaic dropped out, owner Rosentover continued serving as A.A. president, a position he would hold for another 13 years, until the dissolution of the league.
While the league was "unofficially divided" into two divisions in its first year, the realigned American Association was put into two official divisions for 1937: a Northern and a Southern division. For the 1937 season only, standings were based on two points per win and one point per tie.
Point totals do not include 1-0 forfeit scores.
The 1937 championship game matched the Newark Tornadoes against the White Plains Bears, which ended in a 3-3 tie. Newark suggested an extra period to end the game, with the blessing of the league commissioner provided that White Plains agreed, but the Bears refused and the title was shared.
Northern Division
TeamWLTPct.PFPAPts. White Plains Bears321.60019497 Danbury Trojans310.7505806 New Rochelle Bulldogs360.33362656 Brooklyn Bushwicks141.20017743 Mt. Vernon Cardinals161.14314883
Southern Division
TeamWLTPct.PFPAPts. Newark Tornadoes613.857963115 Paterson Panthers411.8009579 Brooklyn Eagles431.57135629 New York Tigers010.0000200
Championship: Newark 3, Paterson 3 (co-champions declared when Paterson refused to play the suggested overtime period)
1938
Gone were Mt. Vernon, New Rochelle, and White Plains; the Clifton Wessingtons received the rights to White Plains' 1937 team and joined the AA for 1938; and the Brooklyn Bushwicks moved to Union City, New Jersey, and became the Rams. Tim Mara, New York Giants owner, purchased the Stapleton franchise, moved it to Jersey City, New Jersey, and made it the first farm team in professional football. Bill Owen, brother of Steve Owen, managed the team. A number of former New York Giant players were on the New Jersey team, including Ken Strong, who was barred from the NFL club until 1939 after defecting to the New York Yankees of the second American Football League in 1936.
In the lineup of the Brooklyn Eagles was a reserve guard who eventually made his mark as a head coach: Vince Lombardi. The Clifton Wessingtons featured tailback Joe Lillard, the last African American NFL player before the imposition of a color line in 1936.
Down to seven teams, the league decided to scrap the divisional alignment for 1938. In addition, there were no plans for championship playoffs: the championship was determined strictly by winning percentage (ignoring tie games).
TeamWLTPct.PFPA Jersey City Giants 710.8751337 Danbury Trojans411.8006726 Paterson Panthers 630.66711460 Brooklyn Eagles 351.3758170 Union City Rams251.28652121 Newark Tornadoes 250.28628119 Clifton Wessingtons151.16727199
No playoffs: Jersey City was declared league champions
1939
A year after Tim Mara bought the Jersey City Giants and used it as a farm team for his New York Giants NFL franchise, the AA underwent more change in 1939. Gone was Clifton, but the league returned to a two-division, eight team format as the Wilmington Clippers and the Providence Steamroller (independent teams in 1937 and 1938) joined the AA. Chicago Bears owner George Halas purchased the Newark Tornadoes and renamed them the Bears (Wilmington protested the Bears' use of Sid Luckman in a playoff game, which the Bears won, 13-6, to win the Southern Division title).
Northern Division
TeamWLTPct.PFPA Paterson Panthers750.583145115 Providence Steamroller340.4295389 Danbury Trojans051.00026114 Brooklyn Eagles071.00026140
Southern Division
TeamWLTPct.PFPA Newark Bears621.75012271 Wilmington Clippers931.75015866 Jersey City Giants731.70014852 Union City Rams252.28682113
Championship: Newark 27, Paterson 7
1940
Brooklyn, Danbury, and Union City dropped out in the offseason; the Long Island Indians join the league for the 1940 season... and was promptly raided by members of the new American Football League and lost four starters. The rest of the American Association was similarly hurt by defections to the new league (the Boston Shamrocks, champions of the AFL in both 1940 and 1941, got the bulk of its roster by raiding the Indians and the Steamroller).
Back to only six teams, the AA instituted a Shaughnessy playoff system, with the fourth-place team facing the first-place team and the second- and third-place teams meeting in semifinal matches, with the winners facing each other in a championship game.
TeamWLTPct.PFPA Jersey City Giants 631.66710446 Paterson Panthers640.600106133 Wilmington Clippers541.55613964 Newark Bears551.500136121 Long Island Indians551.50088123 Providence Steamroller280.20041127
Standings include two forfeits by Providence; the point totals do not. Providence dropped out of the league November 12, 1940, but was expected to return for the 1941 season.
Playoffs: Newark and Long Island tied for the last playoff spot. The two teams played to a 0-0 tie on December 1, 1940. A rematch scheduled for December 5 was cancelled due to snow; the league broke the tie with a best three-of-five coin toss, which Newark won to enter the playoffs.
Semifinal games: Jersey City 7, Newark 6; Wilmington 11, Paterson 8
Championship: Jersey City 17, Wilmington 7
1941
While Tim Mara sold the Jersey City Giants, the team was sold to the owners of the N.F.L.'s Cleveland Rams, setting off a sequence of arrangements that tied the membership of the AA (except Providence) with the NFL. The raiding of the AA by the AFL continued, with Wilmington and Providence being particularly hard hit. The Steamroller's loss of seven players forced the team to drop out of the league. The A.A. found a replacement team with a connection with the AFL: the New York Yankees.
The 1941 New York Yankees was not the same team as the 1940 Yankees. The latter was team of the AFL that was sold to Douglas Hertz in late 1940, but the AFL revoked the franchise in August 1941 in response to a financial controversy on the part of Hertz. The team was then sold to a group headed by William Cox (who later became the president of the AFL) as preparations for the new season had begun (under the new regime, the name of the team was changed to the New York Americans). Hertz then formed a new barnstorming team, called it the New York Yankees, and started playing independent teams in the American northeast before accepting the invitation to join the American Association. The team left the League after losing all six of its games and folded after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor ushered in the United States' participation in World War II, December 7th, 1941, and making a question in the future temporarily for all professional sports.
TeamWLTPct.PFPA Long Island Indians 820.80017645 Paterson Panthers622.75014272 Wilmington Clippers432.57112077 Jersey City Giants 442.5004799 Newark Bears360.33362105 Providence Steamroller 020.000724 New York Yankees 060.00013143
Playoffs: Wilmington 33, Paterson 0; Long Island 7, Jersey City 6
Championship: Wilmington 21, Long Island 13
1942
The Hartford Blues were expected to replace the New York Yankees for the 1942 season; the Churchill Pros (based in Springfield, Massachusetts) were enlisted to replace Providence when the team became the new Springfield Steamroller.
American Association president John Rosentover announced in August 1942, that the AA was following the lead of the third American Football League, in that the league was suspending operations due to World War II.