It's NFL Sunday...but...

[kresge1]

how has he proved me wrong? last i've checked he hasn't won anything win a SB or at least make it to one then come talk to me the guy sucks and everyone knows it, you like him cause he's part Mexican and i can understand jets fans cause they don't have a choice...but give me a break, even jets fans don't darft this guy in fantasy football that's how sorry he is

Wait..Hector is Mexican??? i am shocked...LOL

[Brad]

You all can argue all you want about pedigree. Get back to me when your favorite team is one of the NFL founding teams. I'll give you a hint, there are only two of them still operating in the NFL.



Last night's Raiders vs Broncos game was fun to watch! I saw the long field goal too. Dang Raiders nearly gave the game away with stupid penalties. I know they are usually the most penalized team but they really need to have better discipline.

[Adam West]

It's debatable as to whether the Bears are considered a founding NFL team since they were the Decatur Staleys before changing their name and town a few years after the NFL started, but seems like it is splitting hairs. The Cardinals take credit for being the oldest franchise since they have never changed their last name since the beginning. With that said, I would say the Bears probably are the 2nd most successful NFL franchise next to the Green Bay Packers (I only give the edge to Green Bay for Super Bowl plus NFL Championship wins). Even though the Bears haven't won many Super Bowls they were almost impossible to beat in the 1930's and 1940's. The Redskins went up against them 4 times (1937, 1938, 1940, 1942) and each won two. Of course most people who know old NFL know the Bears absolutely crushed the Redskins in the 1940 Championship 73-0 keep in mind that the Redskins had an excellent team that year....unbelievable.

[MIB41]

Ah! So good to see the NFL season started. I love the debates!

[Hector]

he can't even do that, just wait Until rivers lights up yours

We owned the Chargers last year...hell...we owned the entire division...too bad we didn't play that good outside the division...

[megoapesnut]

Ah! So good to see the NFL season started. I love the debates!

There is no debate. Dallas is going to be undefeated this year and off to the Super Bowl!!

er.... Ok, maybe they will lose ONE game!!!

[MIB41]

We owned the Chargers last year...hell...we owned the entire division...too bad we didn't play that good outside the division...

That should give you an 8-8 season then, right?

[toys2cool]

We owned the Chargers last year...hell...we owned the entire division...too bad we didn't play that good outside the division...

did you forget you lost a key player in the secondary this year? I'm sure River's has noticed

[MIB41]

There is no debate. Dallas is going to be undefeated this year and off to the Super Bowl!!

er.... Ok, maybe they will lose ONE game!!!

Yeah... I thought that once...back in '98 I think. I gave up after that.

[Hector]

That should give you an 8-8 season then, right?

[Hector]

did you forget you lost a key player in the secondary this year? I'm sure River's has noticed

I'm taking his spot...

[Brad]

It's debatable as to whether the Bears are considered a founding NFL team since they were the Decatur Staleys before changing their name and town a few years after the NFL started, but seems like it is splitting hairs. The Cardinals take credit for being the oldest franchise since they have never changed their last name since the beginning. With that said, I would say the Bears probably are the 2nd most successful NFL franchise next to the Green Bay Packers (I only give the edge to Green Bay for Super Bowl plus NFL Championship wins). Even though the Bears haven't won many Super Bowls they were almost impossible to beat in the 1930's and 1940's. The Redskins went up against them 4 times (1937, 1938, 1940, 1942) and each won two. Of course most people who know old NFL know the Bears absolutely crushed the Redskins in the 1940 Championship 73-0 keep in mind that the Redskins had an excellent team that year....unbelievable.

You and I have discussed that before. I think since the team is still owned by the same family that it keeps the lineage. They actually moved to Chicago in 1921 then changed the name the following year since part of the deal of giving the team to George Halas was keeping the Staley name for one year as advertising for the Staley Starch Company. Halas choose the name Bears in hopes of working off the success of the Cubs who actually won a game or two back then.


Halas also went to the University of Illinois which is where the Bears navy and orange colors came from. And as an FYI the Cardinals were actually the Racine Cardinals in 1920 when they joined the league. They officially became the Chicago cardinals in 1922 when they moved their home games to Comiskey Park.

[Adam West]

Most early NFL teams picked names from the local baseball teams. Chicago Bears/Cubs, Detroit Lions/Tigers, Boston Braves (now the Redskins)/Boston Braves, Pittsburgh Steelers (they were origninally called the Pirates). There has been some controversy as to whether the Redskins were an original team or not. They started off as the Duluth Eskimos, then became the Orange/Newark Tornadoes (they changed names but can't remember which one was first). George Preston Marshall bought the franchise and moved them to Boston as the Boston Braves, then moved to Fenway Park and changed their name to Boston Redskins (a combo of wanting to keep the Indian theme, associate themselves with the Boston Red Sox, and Boston being Beantown). The owner was fed up with poor attendance and moved them to Washington in 1937. I don't think they have been acknowledged as an original team because there was a one year break between the Tornadoes removing themselves from the NFL and the now Redskins buying the franchise one year later. Interesting stuff. I think the Green Packers joined the NFL in 1921 and are the oldest team of not changing their name or city. That old NFL stuff is pretty interesting.

[Brad]

I think the Green Packers joined the NFL in 1921 and are the oldest team of not changing their name or city. That old NFL stuff is pretty interesting.

You are correct. The Packer's also have an interesting history. They were first owned by the Indian Packing Company (hence the name) which was bought out by the Acme Packing Company, based in Illinois. The company was bought the same year the Pack joined the NFL which was 1921 so technically the Packers as far as the NFL goes were owned by an Illinois business and their plant was in Chicago. Lot's of irony there.


The Packers were caught using college players under assumed names. Back then college players were viewed as better players then the pros. The NFL pulled their franchise. I remember the name John Clair as the original owner of the team and the person the league took the team away from. I also read that George Halas was adamant about keeping the team in Green Bay as he already saw what the rivalry could be (he was a true visionist) and helped make sure that the league awarded the team to Curly Lambeau. The fee was $50 which Curly didn't have but they still awarded him the team and I believe he payed the fee at a later time possibly with help from some financial backers.

Then in the 1930s a fan fell at the original City Stadium and sued. He won $5000 which put the team into receivership. There were two prominent businessman who put up some of the money and rally(s) raised the rest to buy back the team. The team was then put into a trust held by the local American Legion group which is what made them into a community owned team. I also believe that the initial team colors were blue and gold taken from the colors of Notre Dame since that was where Curly went to college.

The funny thing is that some of this has been "whitewashed" if you try and read about the teams history. Some internet sites only mention that they "ran into financial trouble" rather then that they were caught cheating. I read most of this a long time ago in a book about the Packers that my good friend owned and let me read. He is a big Packer fan and it was a fan type of book with a lot of history. So my apologies if some of the info is incorrect but that is what I remember reading. Either way the history of the NFL is very interesting.

[Adam West]

I always see old football programs where the previous NFL World Champions would play an exhibition game against College All-Stars and think "Is this really a competitive game?" I guess so. The Redskins have their own embarassing past (forget about the name). For decades, they were the furthest South of any NFL team and basically had a fan base that stretched all the way down to Florida and across the entire South. The original owner refused to sign a black football player until he was forced to in the 1960's That's how the Redskins ended up with Bobby Mitchell who went on to become a HOF player. I have heard him talk about the way he was treated by fans when he first joined the team and it is an embarassing piece of NFL history that often gets buried but is the unfortunate truth.