The Canton Bulldogs–Massillon Tigers betting scandal was the first major scandal in professional football in the United States. It refers to a series of allegations made by a Massillon, Ohio newspaper charging the Canton Bulldogs coach, Blondy Wallace, and Massillon Tigers end, Walter East, of conspiring to fix a two-game series between the two clubs. One account of the scandal called for Canton to win the first game and Massillon to win the second, forcing a third game—with the biggest gate—to be played legitimately, with the 1906 Ohio League championship at stake. Another account accused Wallace and East of bribing Massillon players to throw a game in the series. Canton denied the charges, maintaining that Massillon only wanted to damage the club's reputation. Although Massillon could not prove that Canton had indeed thrown the second game and it remains unknown if there was ever a match-fixing agreement, the scandal tarnished the Bulldogs name and reportedly helped ruin professional football in Ohio until the mid-1910s.
Rivalry
From 1905 until 1906, the Bulldogs and Tigers were arguably the best two teams in the country. Located just 15 miles apart in Stark County, both teams were constantly fighting to recruit the best players in football. In fact the Bulldogs, or Canton Athletic Club as they were called at the time, formed their football team in 1905 with the sole objective of beating the Tigers, who had won every Ohio League championship since 1903.
Both teams spent lavish amounts of money to bring in ringers from out-of-town. The very first Canton-Massillon game was played on November 30, 1905. The game was the season finale for both clubs. Up until that finale game, Massillon had posted an 8–0 record, while Canton posted an 8–1 record, with only a 6–0 loss against the Latrobe Athletic Association from Pennsylvania. Massillon went on to win the game 14–4. The victory brought the Tigers the Ohio League championship for the third consecutive season.
1905–06 off-season
Financial charges In the off-season prior to the 1906 season, a news story in The Plain Dealer alleged that the Canton Athletic Club was financially broke and could not pay its players for the final game of 1905. The club denied the allegation and insisted that every dollar promised had indeed been delivered. Many Canton followers believed the story had originated in Massillon as a trick to discredit their team and make it tougher for Canton to recruit players for 1906. Massillon coach, Ed Stewart, who had newspaper connections, was believed by Canton to have planted the story. However, while Canton was in fact losing money in 1905, a group of area businessmen shouldered the losses.
In a counter-charge, Canton insisted that the Tigers were also deeply in debt. However, a statement by the Tigers showed $16,037.90 in receipts and only $16,015.65 in expenditures. The only problem with Massillon's figures was that they only listed salaries, including railroad fare, at $6,740.95, which means the players were getting only about $50 per game. However, it is believed, like with Canton, that Massillon's area boosters picked up whatever losses the Tigers incurred during 1905.
Recruitment For the 1906 season, Canton's coach Blondy Wallace signed the entire 1905 Massillon Tigers' backfield to play for Canton. While in Massillion, Ed Stewart was promoted from head coach to manager, replacing J.J. Wise. Meanwhile, Sherburn Wightman, who played under Amos Alonzo Stagg while attending the University of Chicago, was named the team's new coach.
The series
Scheduling
An earlier agreement between the two clubs called for each home team to receive 60 percent of the gate admission and reserved seating rights. However, Massillon disliked the deal because Canton would receive more money for the games, since their stadium was larger, and the game at Canton would be played in October, instead of the November weather to be seen in Massillon. This led the Tigers to ask that the game, to be held in Massillon, be played on Thanksgiving Day, when every football fan would attend regardless of the weather. In October, Wallace traveled to Pennsylvania to recruit players for the upcoming game against Massillon. There he scheduled a Thanksgiving Day game against the Latrobe Athletic Association, who was the top team in Pennsylvania, and one of the toughest squads in the country. The Latrobe squad featured star quarterback John Brallier, and dealt Canton a defeat in 1905.
Finally, the teams agreed to play two games of football against other in November and share equally the gate receipts. The Canton home game was slated for Friday, November 16; while the Massillon home game come on Saturday, November 24, the weekend before Thanksgiving. However, many Tigers followers felt that the scheduling of the Canton-Latrobe game was only a ploy to get Massillon to agree to lesser terms. Therefore, language was added to the agreement that if Massillon did anything to disrupt the Canton-Latrobe game, they would lose all of their gate money from their first game at Canton to the Bulldogs. The money from the November 16 was held in escrow in a Canton bank. To ensure that the Thanksgiving Day game between Latrobe and Canton was legitimate, the gate money from the second Bulldogs-Tigers was also kept on hold, this time at Merchants' National Bank in Massillon. If the Canton-Latrobe game never occurred, then Massillon would be entitled to all of Canton's gate money from the second Canton-Massillon game. Each team was also required to put up a $3,000 bond, as insurance that each team would show on the game days.
Game 1
To prepare for their series against Massillon, Blondy Wallace took his team on the campus of Penn State University to conduct drills and practices. There Nittany Lions coach, Tom Fennell, gave Canton, now officially called the "Bulldogs", special instructions in the use of the forward pass. The much anticipated first Canton-Massillon game was finally held at Canton's Mahaffey Park. It was the biggest football game yet in Ohio, even bigger than the clubs' 1905 game. The Bell Telephone Company even had men stationed in the grounds observing. As fast as a play was made, it was telegraphed to every major city in the United States. The first game went to Canton by a score of 10–5.
Game 2
Big games, like these, always brought out accusations of a fix. However, Massillon's Ed Stewart stated that it would be impossible to fix the coming game, stating that an entire team, not just certain players would have to be involved. "Big Bill" Edwards, a former player from Princeton officiated the game, and kept both teams in check.
Things became more heated for second game. The Tigers vowed to defeat Canton with their same roster from November 16, while Bell Telephone again announced it would telegraph a play-by-play account of the second game. The only roster change occurred when the Bulldogs signed Eddie Wood, a regular end from the Latrobe Athletic Association, to play in the rematch for an injured player named Gilchrist. Meanwhile, Stewart announced that "Big Bill" Edwards would be unavailable to referee because he'd be officiating that year's Yale-Harvard game. Edward Whiting of Cornell University, who'd umpired the first game at Canton, agreed to bring a replacement referee with him.
Prior to the start of the game, a disagreement over which ball to use occurred. Massillon showed up with a ball, several ounces lighter than the Spalding brand ball Canton was used to. Blondy Wallace protested that ball made by Spalding was the norm, however, Massillon was adamant about keeping the lighter ball, which was provided to the Tigers by Ed Stewart. Wallace's protest fell on deaf ears, and was told by game's officials that he could either accept the lighter ball or forfeit both the game and the $3,000 guarantee. Historians believe that reason for Massillon's insistence for lighter ball was to help their kicking game. The Bulldogs, coming off of their 10–5 win a week ago, was favored to win the game. However, Massillon outplayed Canton and won the rematch 13–6 and was named the Ohio League's 1906 champions for the fourth straight year.
Scandal Once the game was over, Canton's coach, Blondy Wallace, in a show of sportsmanship, joined the Massillon celebration and congratulated the Tigers on their championship. However, the evening after the second game at the Courtland Hotel Bar, a brawl erupted among several of the Canton players and fans over allegations that the game had been fixed. Jack Cusack, who would become the owner and manager of the Canton Bulldogs from 1912 until 1915, wrote in his book Pioneer in Pro Football that the fight was started by Cusack's neighbor, Victor Kaufmann, a physician who suffered heavy betting losses on the disputed contest. Cusack stated that he went with Kaufmann to the Courtland Hotel Bar, where Kaufman loudly made allegations of a fix. A large bar fight started in the hotel's bar area and quickly spread onto the street. Police were then called to break-up the disturbance, but Cusack and Kaufmann reportedly avoided arrest.
Meanwhile, Massillon's Ed Stewart, through his newspaper Massillon Independent, charged that an actual attempt was made to bribe some of the Tiger players into throwing the game and that Blondy Wallace had been involved. One story suggested that Canton players had bet large amounts of money on themselves to win, while approaching the Massillon players and asking them to throw the game in exchange for a share of Canton's winnings.
Some Canton followers then wondered if Wallace threw the game to Massillon in order to collect on some of the game's wagers. At first the play-calling strategy of Wallace was the focus of suspicion, but as the scandal grew, a number of contradictory allegations came out. Canton denied the charges, maintaining that Massillon only wanted to ruin the club's reputation before their final game against the Latrobe Athletic Association on Thanksgiving Day. Canton's counter-charge was that the scandal was designed by the Tigers to cripple the Bulldogs financially by destroying the gate revenue for the Latrobe game. Massillon could not prove the charge, however, the stands were almost empty for the Thanksgiving Day Latrobe-Canton game, leaving Canton unable to pay their players.
Inaccuracies and outcomes
Harry March In 1934 Pro Football: Its Ups and Downs, a historically inaccurate book documenting early professional football, was published. The book documented the scandal and was used by sports historians for the next 70 years. The author of this book was Harry March, a former player at Mount Union College, an executive for the New York Giants from 1925 to 1936 and later an organizer of the second American Football League. However, March also practiced medicine in Canton in 1906 and was named one of the Bulldogs team doctors."Pro Football, Its Ups and Downs" Harry March, J. B. Lyon Company, Albany, NY 1934