This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/nfl by /u/GeorgeHalasLover on 2025-07-04 19:44:05+00:00.


Yep, I didn’t post this to the wrong sub and even though these Yankees also played at Yankee Stadium, they are not the legendary baseball franchise. What better way to celebrate the 4th than to highlight the team named after the U.S. itself.

Funnily enough, this wasn’t even the first New York Yankees franchise that has existed as there were two franchises under the same name that played in the ‘40s one played from 1940-1941 in the second iteration of the AFL and the second one played in the AAFC from 1946-1949.

The founding of the Yankees is one of the more humorous ones as like I said in the title it started as a result of a contract dispute with Red Grange. When Grange entered the NFL in 1925 and joined the Bears, he changed the league forever as he was the largest college star of his time and his presence solidified the NFL as a legitimate league instead of some new gimmick.

After playing a 29-game barnstorming tour across the nation, Grange and his agent C.C. Pyle began negotiating his contract for future seasons. Pyle claimed that he owned Grange’s rights which infuriated Halas and Pyle asked for 1/3 ownership in the Bears to which Halas refused. Pyle went to the 1926 owners meeting and asked for an NFL franchise but was denied on the grounds of violating on Tim Mara’s Giants territory.

The NFL tried to compromise by allowing Pyle to start a franchise in Brooklyn, but he had already rented Yankee Stadium, and the stage was set for the first iteration of the AFL. The 9 teams who made up this new league were the Philadelphia Quakers, New York Yankees, Cleveland Panthers, Los Angeles Wildcats, Chicago Bulls, Boston Bulldogs, Rock Island Independents, Brooklyn Horsemen, and Newark Bears. This became especially problematic for the NFL as they now had a rival league which competed for fans in Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, New York, and Brooklyn.

This also marks the first inter-league rivalries as the Giants and Buccaneers both played games against AFL franchises that year.

The Rock Island Independents are the same franchise that was a founding member of the NFL.

Grange lived up to the hype as 22,000 fans came to Philadelphia against the quakers while their counterpart Frankford Yellow Jackets were only able to muster 10,000 the following week against the New York Giants.

Unfortunately for Pyle and the AFL the league was not financially stable, and the league folded after a single season. The Yankees and the Horsemen were the only two teams to survive as the Horsemen were bought by the Giants and absorbed while Pyle was given his New York franchise that he had long been waiting for.

This new arrangement limited the Yankees somewhat as they had to share a stadium with the Giants which made them a travelling team for most of the season. They finished their first NFL season with a 7-8-1 record which put them in a respectable 6th place in standings.

The 1928 season was a turn for the worse for the Yankees as Grange sat out the entire season due to a previous leg injury and they were only able to muster 4 wins. This ultimately led to their demise, and they folded when the season was over.

Grange went back to the Bears where he played with them until 1934. Even though the Yankees only lasted three seasons their idea to create a rival league was perfected by 1960 and the innovation helped grow the game into what it is today. The practice of borrowing baseball team names was a very common practice as there NFL franchises under the names Detroit Tigers, Washington Senators, Brooklyn Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds, and Cleveland Indians.

Aside from the legendary Jim Thorpe, Grange is probably the 2nd most recognizable name from the 1920s. Hailing from Wheaton, Illinois Grange was a three time All-American at the University of Illinois under legendary coach Bob Zuppke and led them to a national championship in 1923. In 1924, he was the first player to be a unanimous All-American and received the Big Ten’s first MVP award.

He gained his nickname the Galloping Ghost after rushing for 4 touchdowns in a game against Michigan in 1924.

Picking up where we left Grange last, he returned to the Bears in 1929 and was critical on their 1932 and 1933 Championship teams and was a first team All-Pro in 1930 and 1931. Despite his meteoric success, he remained extremely humble, and he simply followed his instincts when playing. Grange also starred in a few movies during his pro playing days. After retiring, he helped coach the Bears for a few years and also took up a career as a sportscaster and motivational speaker. In 2008, he was named the greatest college player of all time and was #48 on the NFL’s list two years later.

There is a statue of him outside of the University of Illinois’ arena and his #77 is retired by the Bears. He is also inducted into both the college and NFL’s Hall of Fame.

As a lifelong Bears fan and redhead, myself, I wish I had been born sooner so I could’ve met this NFL legend and class act off the field.

Thank you again for taking the time to read this and feel free to comment which defunct team I should cover next!

Red Grange - Wikipedia

New York Yankees (NFL) - Wikipedia

The Gridiron Uniform Database - Yankees Uniforms

Player Characteristics - Google Sheets - Spreadsheet I have made with rosters for defunct teams for a video game I am currently developing, the Yankees are in the middle between the Cleveland Bulldogs and the Detroit Wolverines