Cincinnati Football Reds (original) (raw)

After the 1932 season, the eight team National Football League was looking to expand into new markets. The league's current teams were the Chicago Bears, Chicago Cardinals, New York Giants, Green Bay Packers, Brooklyn Dodgers (Colts), Portsmouth Spartans (Lions), Boston Redskins & the Staten Island Stapletons. The Stapletons would fold after the conclussion of the 1932 season. So the NFL would expand by three teams to make an even ten team circuit. New to the league were the Pittsburgh Pirates (Steelers), Philadelphia Eaglesand a team called the Cincinnati Reds. Believe it or not, the Eagles & Steelers ownership swapped franchise in 1941.

The NFL also decided to start having a championship game at the end of every season, so they created divisions. The division winners would play each other for the NFL championship. The Cincinnati Reds would be housed in the Western Divisions with the Chicago Bears, Portsmouth Spartans (Lions), Green Bay Packers & Chicago Cardinals.

The Cincinnati Reds started by hiring a head coach. They selected former Buffalo Bisons head coach Al Joley. While Joley had some experience as a player, he had little as a head coach. He only coached for one season and his Bisons team only won one game. His Bisons finished in 10th place (out of 12) in the 1926 NFL standings. During his playing days he played for the Akron Pros, Dayton Triangles (Colts), Oorang Indians, Buffalo Bisons, Brooklyn Dodgers (Colts) & Cleveland Indians. The Triangles moved to Brooklyn after the 1929 season.

As for Joley's Cincinnati Reds roster, the lineup was made up mostly of rookie players or players with very little NFL experience. The exceptions being Les Caywood, Algy Clark, Bill Senn, Cookie Tackwell & Ossie Wiberg. Cookie Tackwell played for the 1932 NFL Champion Chicago Bears team. While Les Caywood bounced around from various NFL teams. Running back Jim Bauschs only sports experience was winning the gold medal in the decathlon during the 1932 Olympics.

The Cincinnati Reds opened their season on September 17th on the road against the Portsmouth Spartans (Lions). Cincinnati was shut-out with a final score of 0-21. The Reds would go on to lose four of their next five games with the non-loss being a tie against the Pittsburgh Pirates (Steelers). The Reds only managed to score 3 points in their first six games. Cincinnati's only non-loss (against Pittsburgh) had a final score of 0-0.

The Reds played to sparse crowds at Redland Field, averaging less than 3,000 fans per game. With such a miserable start and only four games to go, the Reds management replaced head coach Al Jolley with the Reds defensive back Mike Palm. Palm rallied the club, winning three of its final four games, with victories over the Chicago Cardinals, Portsmouth Spartans (Lions) and Brooklyn Dodgers (Colts). The Reds finished the season with a record of 3-6-1. During the Brooklyn game, 5'6" 157 pound Gil LeFebvre, who was the smallest player in the league, returned a punt 98 yards for a touchdown. A record he now shares with former Jet Terance Mathis.

For the 1934 season, the NFL's divisions would remain the same as the previous year. However, the Portsmouth Spartans relocated to Detroit and were reborn as the Lions. As for the Reds, the success of the club in the final four weeks of the 1933 season brought many high hopes for at least a competive 1934 campaign. However, nothing could have been further from the truth.

Head coach Mike Palm was foolishly replaced by Algy Clark. Clark then replaced many of the Reds players from the previous year with even worse players. Most of the new acquisitions were rookies who never should have played a single NFL game.

The Reds second season began on the road on September 9th against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates went on to shut out the Reds 13-0. Not scoring points was a trend that the Reds could not escape. Clarks club managed to score only 10 points all season, while allowing an astonishing 243 points. The Cincinnati defense hung tough for the first few games, but the offense was practically impotent. By mid-October, the dispirited Reds were regularly being crushed by clubs using their substitutes.

The Reds attendance was already minimal and with the teams play being so atrocious, fan interest became non-existant. The NFL scheduled two of the Reds home games in Dayton & Portsmouth. Both towns being former having NFL teams. On November 5th the club announced that it was disbanding and that the final three games of the schedule would be picked up by a semi-pro team in St. Louis named the Gunners. The day after the announcment, the demoralized Reds lost 64-0 to the Philadelphia Eagles. The loss still stands as the worst regular season defeat by any NFL team in the league's long history.

With such a crummy track record, the team couldn't help but leave some kind of legacy. The Cincinnati Reds is ranked as one of the worse NFL teams of all time. Only linebackers Lee Mullenneaux and Red Corzine went on to play on other teams. Corzine played for the New York Giants who won the NFL East title in 1935. His Giants were beat in the NFL Championship game by the Detroit Lions. While Mullenneaux went on to play for the Green Bay Packers, who won the NFL West title in 1938. His Packers team was beat by the New York Giants in the NFL Championship.