Pottsville Republican & Evening Herald
October 31, 2003

NFL Owners Sack Maroons' Title Hopes

BY DAN ROMAN

The National Football League has thrown the Pottsville Maroons for a loss - again.

NFL owners voted 30-2 Thursday against reinstating the 1925 NFL championship, thwarting a push by the city of Pottsville, Gov. Edward G. Rendell and a legion of supporters across Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania and the nation.

Instead, the league opted to recognize those efforts to restore championship glory by awarding the city with the Daniel Reeves Pioneer Award, named after the former owner of the Cleveland/Los Angeles Rams, in recognition of Pottsville's role as one of the NFL's Pioneer communities.

The city will receive the award next August in Canton, Ohio.

"The award is just something to keep us quiet," said Nicholas A. Barbetta, Schuylkill Haven, chairman of the Pottsville Maroons Memorial Committee, who has championed the Maroons' cause for 78 years.

"It's like winning a brand new car, then they turn around and give you a broken down bicycle," Barbetta said.

A resolution issued by NFL owners stated that "the membership recognizes that the 1925 Pottsville Maroons were a championship caliber NFL team, appreciates the city of Pottsville's pioneer support of the NFL since the earliest days of professional football, and understands the continuing belief of Pottsville's citizens that the city be recognized as the home of the 1925 champions."

At their fall meeting in Chicago, NFL owners struck down a motion to reopen the 1925 files and re-examine, perhaps awarding, the NFL title to the Maroons.

"It was a championship caliber team that ran into an unfortunate conflict with the league's rules," NFL commissioner Paul A. Tagliabue said. "At this late date, it was impossible to overturn."

The Maroons were disqualified from championship consideration by league president Joe Carr for playing an unauthorized exhibition game against a non-NFL team in Philadelphia.

The Chicago Cardinals were awarded the title, even though they lost to the Maroons in a game that was billed as the championship.

Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney and Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie cast the lone votes in favor of the Maroons' request.

Local leaders of the quest to claim the title for Pottsville expressed disappointment mixed with defiance.

"We thought that the NFL would embrace the opportunity to right such a grievous injustice. It's a sad day for a community that has waited long enough to claim its place in the annals of football history," said Ian H. Lipton, chairman of the Pottsville Bicentennial Committee.

The committee's goal was to get the title back in time for the city's bicentennial in 2006.

Lipton has worked closely with Rendell in that quest.

Lipton said that Rendell was "upset" and in "disbelief" that the league treated the city with such disregard.

"Even though we always felt that the NFL is an old boys' network, we thought they would at least open the files and reexamine the issue," Lipton said.

Lipton praised the efforts of all those involved in the effort to restore the title, especially Rendell.

"Words can't express the appreciation for a governor who went out to slay the giant," he said. "He is truly the David in our attempt to topple Goliath."

City Administrator Thomas A. Palamar said the cause was "worth every ounce of effort that went into it" and Mayor John D.W. Reiley expressed his disappointment with the NFL's decision while vacationing in Florida with Dave J. Holley, head of the Maroons committee.

Although the NFL has denied the city the title twice before, in 1963 and 1967, the Barbetta-led memorial committee has been instrumental in perpetuating the legacy of Pottsville's only NFL franchise.

Barbetta is one of the few remaining county residents who saw the Maroons play at Minersville Field during their four-year stint from 1925-28.

Another resident who can remember watching the Maroons from the highway overlooking Minersville Field is John Farro, New Philadelphia.

"I knew it would turn out this way," Farro said. "They had a chance to right one of the greatest injustices in football history and they blew it."

The course of events that led to Thursday's action began in May, when Rendell presented a proposal at the spring NFL meeting in Philadelphia.

He suggested that the city pay a $10,000 fine in exchange for a share of title, which was awarded to Chicago after the Maroons were disqualified for violating the territorial rights of the Frankford Yellow Jackets.

Kate Phillips, Rendell's press secretary, said the governor had done some last-minute lobbying on behalf of the Maroons late Wednesday night.

"It was disheartening for the governor because he believed the Maroons deserve the recognition for their championship season," she said. "He will do all he can to help any future action to get the title back to Pottsville."

In defiance of the NFL's decision, Lipton said that the effort will continue and community leaders will discuss the next step.

NFL spokesman Vince Casey, however, had a different take on the matter.

"The case for the Pottsville Maroons was looked at closely in the past couple months," he said. "In sports, you never say never, but...."

Holley said that local leaders have been fighting to restore the title for 78 years and would not stop now.

"In Pottsville we never say never either," he said.

The Philadelphia Inquirer
October 31, 2003

NFL Owners Say No to Pottsville Inquiry

The NFL owners voted, 30-2, yesterday against reopening the league's files from 1925 and perhaps awarding the NFL title that year to the Pottsville Maroons.

The Maroons were disqualified from championship consideration by league president Joe Carr for playing an unauthorized exhibition game against a non-NFL team in Philadelphia.

The Chicago Cardinals were awarded the title, even though they lost to the Maroons in what was billed as the championship game. Pennsylvania officials, including Gov. Rendell, have stated their case on behalf of the Maroons.

The NFL and the Hall of Fame did give Pottsville some recognition, naming the city the winner of the Daniel Reeves Pioneer Award, which will be presented to community representatives in August at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie and Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney voted for opening the 1925 files.

"It was a championship-caliber team that ran into an unfortunate conflict with the league's rules," commissioner Paul Tagliabue said. "At this late date, it was impossible to overturn."