Jackie Robinson and the football Dodgers

Bringing football leagues back from the dead – at least in name – has become a popular trend in alternative football.

The United States Football League (1983-85) and XFL (2001) were born again in the roaring 20s, with the USFL reviving old nicknames and colors in 2022, and the XFL starting anew twice, in 2020 and 2023.

Those two have morphed into the United Football League, which had a couple of previous iterations (1961-64 and 2009-12).

Now another circuit will pay homage to minor league football history when the new Continental Football League begins play in 2026.

The original COFL – born of the old UFL and Atlantic Coast Football League – grew into a quality feeder circuit for the NFL. During its five-year run it showcased many future NFL stars (one was Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Ken Stabler, who played for the Spokane Shockers in 1968).

The reboot has more modest goals, and will be a step below the current UFL.

I’ve always been fascinated with the OG Continental League, and one of its stories that intrigued me the most is that of Jackie Robinson and the Brooklyn Dodgers.

No, not those Brooklyn Dodgers, but a gridiron club that tried – and failed – to win the hearts of football fans in the Big Apple. (Incidentally, New York was previously home to the Brooklyn Dodgers of the NFL, who played from 1930-43, and an All-America Football Conference team of the same name that competed from 1946-48.)

Robinson, of course, made history when he broke the Major League Baseball color line in 1947, playing first base for the baseball Dodgers.

By 1956 Robinson – a first ballot selection for the National Baseball Hall of Fame – had retired as a player, and two years later the Dodgers moved cross country to Los Angeles.

But Robinson had history as a football player, too, earning All-America honors as a running back at UCLA. He also played pro ball in the Pacific Coast League with the Los Angeles Bulldogs and Honolulu Bears.

So when the Providence Indians, a first year COFL club, moved to Brooklyn for the 1966 season, Robinson’s name recognition made him a logical choice as general manager and face of the franchise.

Club president Jerry Jacobs told the New York Times there were three reasons he hired Robinson.

“First, because he is decisive,” Jacobs said. “Second, because he is representative of the Brooklyn Dodger image. Third, because he is a fighter.”

Robinson officially became part of the Brooklyn football Dodgers on May 2, 1966. He was already a successful businessman and civil rights icon, and had spent the previous year working on ABC baseball broadcasts.

The GM gig involved mostly public relations work, but the job still came with several obstacles.

First, the Dodgers would have to figure out a way to compete for fans with the NFL Giants and AFL Jets. Hardly an easy task for a circuit that was not major league.

“We are not kidding ourselves as to our problems,” Robinson said in an Associated Press interview. “I know we won’t be equal to the New York Giants and possibly at the start to the New York Jets, but we are going to play interesting football.”

But where?

“We don’t have a stadium yet,” Robinson said. “We have been turned down by the Yankees (for Yankee Stadium) and we know that the Jets have exclusive rights to Shea Stadium, but we believe this can be broken. We may even have to go to Randall’s Island (Downing Stadium).”

Ultimately, Robinson hoped the Dodgers would build a home of their own – one that would have room for a new MLB team.

“We want to build a stadium in Brooklyn for both football and baseball, and we want to bring back major league baseball in future expansion plans,” he said. “We hope we can build this with 30,000 capacity in 1967, and make it 55,000 if converted to baseball.”

The club hired Andy Robustelli, former Giants defensive end, as head coach in May; signed a one year lease for Downing Stadium in July; and stocked its roster with solid players such as flanker Bobby Reed, minor league QB vet Tom Kennedy, safety Jerry Roberts and defensive tackle Dick Herzing.

The only thing left to do was garner fan support and win games.

Unfortunately, they were unsuccessful on both fronts.

After drawing just over 30,000 for four home dates, the Dodgers moved one late season game to Hartford, Connecticut, and another to Mt. Vernon, New York.

The game in Mt. Vernon, considered their final home contest, was attended by just 4,116 paying customers.

Oh, and a 5-9 record – bad enough for last place in the COFL Eastern Division  – didn’t exactly make people forget the Giants and Jets.

The Brooklyn Dodgers were a bust by every standard of measure.

Robustelli considered buying the franchise, but on March 29, 1967, the Dodgers were purchased by a Midwestern ownership group led by Frank Hurn.

The team was moved to Akron, Ohio, and renamed the Vulcans.

Thus, Brooklyn’s run in the Continental Football League ended after one season, and Robinson moved on to become an assistant to New York governor Nelson Rockefeller. In 1971, he was appointed to the New York State Athletic Commission.

As for the rebooted COFL, Brooklyn isn’t in line for a franchise (the league is targeting smaller cities) and to the best of my knowledge, there are no baseball legends expected to be part of the venture. For the sake of nostalgia, though, I sincerely hope it gets off the ground.