By Chris Willis, NFL Films
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| Game Program for Chicago Bears at Frankford Yellow Jackets, Dec. 5, 1925 |
After leaving St. Louis the Grange-Bears barnstorming tour arrived at the Broad Street Station in Philadelphia on Friday (Dec. 4th) morning. After getting settled at the Robert Morris Hotel the team went out to Shibe Park for an hour walk-thru, as Halas wanted “to get the boys acquainted with the mud.” A steady rain would continue through the night and into Saturday. Later that evening Red was invited to attend a show at the Earle Theatre. He brought the entire Bears team with him. As he entered the theatre he was “given a rousing reception.”
Because of the Sunday blue laws in
Pennsylvania the Frankford Yellow Jackets played most of their home games on
Saturdays, then would travel to play a road game on Sunday. Because of the
potential of a large crowd the Frankford Athletic Association, who operated the
team, moved the contest from their home field of Frankford Stadium to the
larger Shibe Park- home of the American League’s Philadelphia A’s- with a
capacity of nearly 35,000. Led by their player-coach Guy Chamberlin the Yellow
Jackets were 11-5 and one of the best teams in the NFL. Tickets were sold at
Gimbel’s Department Store, National Ticket Agency, Robin’s Cigar Store and the
Capitol Theatre box office. Ads for the game appeared in the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin:
SEATS AT $2.50 and $3.50
Red Grange with Chicago Bears
Vs. Frankford Yellow Jackets
NATIONAL TICKET AGENCY
225 So. Broad St. Xmas Card Store
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| Bears-Yellow Jackets football ad in Philly newspaper |
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| Game Ticket, Dec. 5, 1925 |
Prices ranged from $5.00-$4.00 (field seats); $3.50 (reserved box); and $2.50 (general admission).) The press reported a crowd between 35-36,000, which more than doubled the Yellow Jackets previous high of 15,000 fans. Several hundred “outlaw” spectators sat on rooftops on the northside of Twentieth Street that went along the park. The sold-out crowd was nearly another record for a pro football game matching Red’s debut just nine days earlier. It was here on the east coast that several of the country’s greatest sportswriters joined the barnstorming tour. Chicago beat writers Pegler and MacNamara now sat in the Shibe Park press box with the likes of Richard Vidmer of the New York Times, Marshall Hunt of the New York Daily News, Damon Runyon of Universal Service, and local writers Perry Lewis of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Ross Kaufman of the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin. Lewis’s preview of the game in the Inquirer stated that “this is the morning of professional football’s greatest day in Philadelphia…In those crowded stands will be thousands who never saw a professional football game before, and they will judge the sport in its entirely by what they see today.”
Before the game Red jogged out to midfield to greet Frankford captain Guy Chamberlin. The two shook hands. The duo then shook hands with Philadelphia mayor W. Freeland Kendrick as photographers and newsreel cameras shot the moment. Red was also presented a phonograph and a few records including one album that had songs of the University of Illinois (“Hail to the Orange” and “Illinois Loyalty”). “Grange, who is very fond of music, appeared delighted with the gift,” wrote the Daily Illini.
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| During pre-game Red Grange receives ball from Philly Mayor Kendrick, next to him is Frankford player-coach Guy Chamberlin. |
Just as the game started the rain came down throughout the contest making the field a “waterlogged gridiron.” Neither team got off to a fast start on the muddy gridiron. After nine punts the Bears finally mounted a drive. On the first play of the second quarter Red capped a 8-play, 47-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown run. Joey Sternaman’s extra point gave the Bears a 7-0 lead. The Yellow Jackets would continue to struggle on offense throwing three interceptions in the first half as the game stayed 7-0 at halftime.
In the second half the stadium lights were turned on so the wet crowd could get a better look at the action as the Yellow Jackets gave the hometown fans more to cheer than seeing the Galloping Ghost. Midway through the third quarter Hust Stockton completed a pass to Ben Jones who weaved for a 40-yard touchdown. The extra point tied the game up at 7-7. Red, who sat out the third quarter, returned to action in the fourth as the sold-out mob “stood up and bellowed,” for him. He would give the crowd more to cheer about. Late in the game Red completed a 17-yard pass to Johnny Mohardt to put the ball at the Yellow Jackets 36-yard line. Red sprinted for fourteen yards and Mohardt rushed for nineteen to put the ball at the three yard-line. Two plays later Red plowed over for the go ahead score. Leading 14-7 the Bears defense denied the Yellow Jackets on two straight drives forcing five consecutive incomplete passes. It was a hard-fought win for Red and his Bears.
The local press praised Red. Perry Lewis of the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote:
“He proved it. The ‘He’ we refer to is that Galloping Ghost of the gridiron, Red Grange…Red was in that game just about thirty minutes of the sixty minutes of actual play. But while he was there he enveloped his entire team with an atmosphere of quiet confidence. Without him the Bears played magnificent football, football that appeared to be mechanically perfect, against a machine equally as good. With him in there they DID things. His mere presence appeared to spur them to deeds that otherwise would have been beyond them.”
After the game Ross Kaufman of the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin interviewed Bill Crowell, referee of the game:
“Don’t think for a minute that those two teams were not in there fighting every minute. If anything, I think Frankford was keyed up higher than Grange’s team. They appeared to take the game more seriously in the pre-game drill, but once those two giant elevens swung into action you could tell they were both keen on winning…Whenever a play went wrong with Grange’s team, he did not hesitate in calling attention to it. ‘You should start quicker or do this, was impressed upon the Chicago Bears by the much discussed Grange.
Just because
Grange did not get loose for any runs of forty or fifty yards the same as when
he appeared against Penn on Franklin Field, does not mean that he is not a
great player.
I believe Grange might have made a long run in the third period when he started on his dash around right end, had the field been in better condition. As it was he got away for nine yards, his longest of the day. He ran beautifully then.”
Kaufman finished his article writing, “Red is now in the class with Babe Ruth and the rest of the high salaried professionals. When he delivers, he is a hero and when he fails he is a ‘bust.’” Shortly after the game the team sprinted to the train station wearing their muddy uniforms for their 6 o’clock train to New York. On the ride to the Big Apple, Pyle told Halas, “This tour will make you so wealthy Halas, that next year you’ll be able to afford two sets of uniforms.”
After a disappointing gate in St. Louis the trip to Philadelphia was much sweeter. The typed-up statement for the Frankford game revealed a paying crowd of 25,408 fans. The total gate was a remarkable $81,069. The breakdown was:
Total
Gate Receipts = $81,069.00
War
Tax (possible) = $7,424.10
20%
Park Rental = $16,213.80
Pyle
share (27.5%) = $17,835.18 (paid by
check #3084)
Expenses
of Bears = $2,000
Expenses of Frankford= $2,000
The Bears received nearly fifty percent of the gate (based on standard NFL Game Contract) while Red-Pyle took home $17,835.18. The pace was now picking up. Starting with the Frankford game the Grange-Bears squad would play five games over the next six days. Dr. Harry March, a front office executive for the New York Giants, was worried about Red’s schedule. “He played Wednesday in St. Louis; he plays Saturday in Philadelphia; he goes to a banquet Saturday night; he plays again Sunday in New York, Tuesday in Washington, and Wednesday in Boston. If he doesn’t slow up, he’ll blow up. This isn’t baseball.”
The main organizers of the tour- Pyle, Coolley and Moore- were looking out for Red. Or more likely themselves. As the tour marched on Westbrook Pegler started to notice the trio. He called Pyle “the manager” and Coolley “the deputy manager,” but no mention of what he called Moore. Pegler wrote, “Mr. Pyle is concerned with the big affairs of getting the money and Doc Coolley with seeing that none of it gets away from them at the turnstiles.” “It’s not true that we are cutting our share down the middle,” said Pyle to Pegler. “Red gets more than I do.” Which was true, Red got more than Pyle.
The Bears’ train arrived in New York on Saturday night
just in time for Red to attend the All-American Team Football Banquet sponsored
by the New York Sun. Red was selected
as one of the newspapers first team All-American backfield players along with
Benny Friedman of Michigan, Eddie Tryon of Colgate and Andy Oberlander of
Dartmouth. After a busy day of playing football in Philadelphia and seeing the
night life of New York, Red finally went to sleep in his bed at the Astor
Hotel. In a few hours he would have to play his best game in front of the
biggest crowd to ever see a pro football game in the entertainment capital of
the world. He had to be at his best.
NEXT:
Dec. 6th - Red Grange-Chicago Bears at New York Giants (Polo Grounds)
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