In this episode of Public History with Justin, Jake, and Molly, Jake talks with author David Fleming about the Pottsville Maroons - coal miners turned football stars whose 1925 NFL championship was stripped away. It’s a story of early professional football that still resonates a century later. Listen to the episode.
A century ago, a professional football team from Pottsville, PA bulldozed its way to an NFL title - only to have the championship yanked away in one of the NFL's first great scandals. In this piece, I look back at the 1925 Pottsville Maroons and share a new 100th-anniversary excerpt from David Fleming’s Breaker Boys, the book that brought their story roaring back to life. Read the full story.
On December 6, 1925, Schuylkill County football fans gathered at Pottsville’s Hippodrome Theatre to “watch” the Pottsville Maroons claim the NFL Championship, decades before the Super Bowl was born. A private telegraph line provided real-time updates from Chicago’s Comiskey Park, allowing fans to experience the historic game as it happened. Discover how Coal Region football fans celebrated their team’s victory. Read the full story.
The game ended in a scoreless tie. But that doesn't mean the circumstances surrounding this game aren't fascinating.
Private Joe Cooper died in combat on January 4, 1945 near the village of Flamierge, Belgium.