Category: History and More

A hundred years ago professional football was still in its infancy, with the National Football League (known as the American Professional Football Association until 1922) entering just its fourth season of operation.

But 1923 was also the final year of the Canton Bulldogs “dynasty” – one that crumbled when the two-time champions were bought out and redistributed to Cleveland before the future Hall of Fame City had a chance at a three-peat.

The Bulldogs were already well-established, having won championships in the Ohio Football League before professional football consolidated into one major league.

Their first season in the APFA – 1920 – ended with a 4-4 record, and they improved to 5-2-3 in 2021, good enough for fourth place.

In 1922 the NFL started with 18 teams. Along with the Bulldogs, there were the Akron Indians, Buffalo Bisons, Chicago Bears, Chicago Cardinals, Columbus Tigers, Dayton Triangles, Evansville Crimson Giants, Green Bay Packers, Hammond Pros, Kenosha Maroons, Louisville Colonels, Milwaukee Badgers, Minneapolis Red Jackets, Oorang Indians, Racine Tornadoes, Rochester Jeffersons and Rock Island Independents.

Guy Chamberlin took over as head coach, player and part-owner of the Bulldogs in 1922. The former Nebraska All-American had played for the unbeaten Ohio League Bulldogs (coached by Jim Thorpe) in 1919, and returned in multiple roles after starring for the Decatur/Chicago Staleys for two seasons.

Chamberlin made quite an impact in his first season at the Canton helm, leading the team to a 10-0-2 record that included nine shutouts.

Chamberlin – an end and wingback – led the team with seven touchdowns and the Bulldogs outscored their opposition, 184-15.

There was no playoff system then, but Canton was declared champion by virtue of having the best record in the league.

A year later, with Chamberlin still running the show, the Bulldogs did it again – even better than before.

Going 11-0-1, they were an offensive juggernaut, tallying 246 points. Chamberlin was still a solid contributor on the field with three touchdowns, but tailback Lou Smith set the pace with seven scores while fullbacks Doc Elliott and Ben Jones each had six TDs.

The defense gave up just 19 points in registering eight shutouts.

Once again there were no playoffs, but Canton took a pair of victory laps after retaining the crown.

First it traveled to Philadelphia on December 15 and defeated the Frankford Yellow Jackets, 3-0, on the strength of Pud Henry’s 11-yard field goal. The exhibition game came against a team that would join the NFL a year later.

The Bulldogs then blanked Melrose Athletic Club, 27-0, in another exhibition contest played a day later in Atlantic City.

The report in The Morning Call newspaper on December 17 called Canton “the greatest collection of football stars ever assembled on any gridiron here.”

The Bulldogs’ 25-game unbeaten streak from 1921-23 is still an NFL best, and they are the only team to go undefeated in consecutive seasons.

A chance to continue their dynasty appeared on track as the calendar turned to 1924.

In April Chamberlin was reappointed Canton head coach, and signed most of the stars from the previous two seasons. And in July, the Bulldogs had already mapped out their schedule for the upcoming season.

But everything changed on August 3, 1924.

“The greatest deal in the history of professional football was consummated here Saturday when Sam Deutsch, backer and manger of the Cleveland professional eleven, purchased the Canton Bulldogs, professional champion of America for two years, buying franchise, players and even uniforms,” the Dayton Herald reported in its August 4 edition. “Deutsch has also retained Guy Chamberlin, who successfully coached the Canton eleven, to coach the team, which will now be known as the Cleveland Bulldogs.”

Adding insult to injury for Canton fans, the article also noted that, “Deutsch expects to sell the Canton franchise to another Canton syndicate, which will try to keep Canton on the football map with a cheaper team, some of which possibly will be the players Deutsch and Chamberlin will not need on the Bulldogs.”

Cleveland’s Bulldogs did, in fact, win the 1924 league championship with a 7-1-1 record (although they were trounced by the Bears, 23-0, in a postseason exhibition game on December 7).

The Canton franchise sat out the year and reformed for 1925.

In a sense, the first year the franchise spent in Cleveland was, in fact, a three-peat; they were basically the same Bulldogs, just housed in a kennel 60 miles away. The NFL, however, officially considers it a completely different team.

But for Canton – which lost its NFL club for good following the 1926 season – 1923 was the last year the city was home to a championship team in football’s biggest league.

Earlier this year the Birmingham City Council approved $6 million in funding for Rickwood Field and Legion Field.

Two million bucks will go to the oldest professional ballpark in the United States, mainly to spruce it up, strengthen its bones and make sure the home to the Magic City’s only major league team – the Birmingham Black Barons – can live on for another century as a working museum as well as active stadium. It comes in especially handy since Major League Baseball will be staging a regular season game between the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals there on June 20, 2024.

And Legion Field?

The Football Capital of the South will use its capital for a new roof over the northeast end zone, restroom renovations and technological improvements.

This is welcome news, especially for somebody like me who will always have a deep love for both venues.

But when it comes to Legion Field, the part of the stadium I want preserved for posterity is Section 30.

To you, it might simply be a corner of the Old Gray Lady’s east side, next to the north end zone and across from the press box.

To me, it was where my Birmingham sports journey began – a journey that continues today.

September 19, 1970, was my first visit to Legion Field. In fact, it was my first visit to any field that wasn’t home to a high school or YMCA team.

A week after Alabama was blasted by Southern Cal, 42-21 (an historic game whose significance was lost on me at the time), my dad and brother took me to the Magic City’s gridiron cathedral to watch the Crimson Tide take on Virginia Tech.

Two weird things I’ve retained from that experience; instead of the Hokies, Tech was called the V.P.I. (Virginia Polytechnic Institute) Gobblers, and I was wearing a corduroy jacket.

An acronym represented by turkeys I won’t question, but why I would have on an extra layer of clothing in the middle of an Alabama September will remain a hot weather cold case that will likely never be solved. Maybe it was merely an accessory designed to accentuate my black, horn-rimmed glasses and Lucky Tiger Hair Tonic-soaked noggin.

I was quite the dandy for a nine-year old – a nine-year old known as “Professor Four Eyes” to my frenemies and foes.

But this was a grand occasion, and as I walked between my pop and my bub and we headed toward the nosebleed seats in Section 30, I was proud to be seen.

And even though the players looked small from my vantage point, man, did I ever feel big.

A damp hot dog pulled from an aluminum wrapper – washed down with a Coke in a sweaty cup – was a kingly feast. And with dinner came a show in the form of 51 Alabama points to just 18 for those big cluckers from Blacksburg.

The sights, the sounds, the smells … on that particular day, Legion Field was the happiest place on earth for me.

And for half a century, it’s remained an integral part of my life.

I’ve been there for the World Football League, American Football Association, United States Football League, World League of American Football, Canadian Football League, XFL and Alliance of American Football.

I was in the stands when Banks played Woodlawn in 1974, the state of Alabama’s high school “Game of the Century” and one witnessed by 42,000 fans.

And I was up close to the action every day for every match when the 1996 Olympic Games made it a glorious showcase for association football, as well as many other times when the United States Men’s and Women’s National Teams came there.

But there’s never been a visit to Legion Field – not a one – when I didn’t make a point to point out Section 30 and smile.

Nowadays, greater Birmingham has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to public sports facilities. Protective Stadium (UAB, Legion FC and Stallions), Regions Field (Barons), Legacy Arena at the BJCC (Squadron), the Pelham Civic Complex (Bulls and soon Magic City SC) – there are plenty of teams to cheer, and plenty of places to cheer them.

But I’m still drawn to Legion Field, and took great pleasure back in April when I got to stop in and watch the final few minutes of a scrimmage between the modern-era USFL Stallions and New Orleans Breakers. I didn’t need a corduroy jacket, but I still own a pair of horn-rimmed glasses and can buy Lucky Tiger Hair Tonic online for about 10 bucks. (And frankly, “Professor Four Eyes” isn’t a bad superhero name).

Sadly, it was a bit lonelier that time; I lost my dad nearly 30 years ago and my brother back in February.

But that’s the beautiful thing about beautiful memories. They stay with you forever … in Section 30 and beyond.