Tri-Cities Hawks

The Tri-Cities were a prime football market with local Tri-Cities College becoming a powerhouse on the collegiate level. Thus, the Tri-Cities Black Hawks were formed in 1919 as an inaugural team in the AA, playing their games across the river from Tri-Cities College in Davenport, Iowa. They survived through that catastrophe of a league and independent leagues for another 6 years with relatively poor play, and got invited to the MWFC as charter members. They struggled for a while, and were on the verge of folding when the Depression hit Davenport hard. The team was saved in 1934 by local real estate magnate Bert Hester, who bought the team at the behest of his old friend Donovan Hasenkamp. He made two large changes to the team, the first was the shortening of the name to just the Hawks, and the second was finally bringing the team some sort of success. He brought former Detroit Knights executives to help him scout talent the same way they did it back in the Motor City, and it instantly brought the team the success Hester (and to an extent Hasenkamp) wanted. Within 5 years of his arrival, they had already made it to 2 Bradshaw Cups and came away with 1, beating the heavily favored Hogs to win their first. They made 2 more Cups before leaving the MWFC, adding one more to the trophy case. They play out of LeClair Field, only seating 21,000 fans, making it the smallest stadium in the league.


The Hawks have the best bet to face and beat the Hogs to the title game. RB Herman Gibbons has been with the Hawks since their first Cup win, but his age may be starting to slow him down and lead the team. Lucky for him that the Hawks have one of the best passing attacks in the league, with QB Gilbert Clay leading the air raid with the best receiving core in the game, with the elder WR Stuart Kane bringing way to the younger duo of John McLean and Dale Riggs. TE Raymond Dougherty is also a decent option when none of the above are available to throw to. Their defense has a ton of top rated talent, with their front 4 led by the young DL Ralph Rogers and his mentor Robert Donaldson. Their linebacking core is also one of the best, with LB Wallace Avery and Herman Garner both in their primes, and James Craft rounding out one of the best groups in the league. Their secondary is their main weakness at the moment, even though they have the league’s best DB and S in Oscar Blankenship and Walter Carey, respectively. Both are reaching into their 30’s, but their depth at those positions aren’t that great, especially at DB. Head coach Vincent Merritt has been leading the team for a few years after Hester stepped down from the position in 1945. Merritt did lead the Hawks to their final Bradshaw Cup appearance the year prior, but failed to win his first Cup. He seems like a very capable coach, but only time will tell if he can lead this talented bunch to a title.


Tri-Cities used to be a primarily black team when they were known as the Black Hawks, but Hester changed them to focus more on red while still keeping some of the black elements of the former team.

 

Brand:

1950-1953


 
1954-1955 (TV Numbers added 1955)
 
1956-present
 

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