New York Lions

New York owner Peter Stuyvesant brought a small group of reporters outside the Hotel Statler in New York City to announce the intentions of the New York Dutch Lions football team. In what was a surprise to pretty much everyone, he stated that the team will be going as the New York Lions going forth. His reasoning was to differentiate themselves from the Dutch Lions baseball team also based in Manhattan, and to “carve out a new identity for a truly New York team”. This change was understandable to some and baffling to the rest, as the Dutch Lions baseball team (nicknamed the “Dutchies” within the city) were significantly more successful than their football counterparts, appearing in 7 World Series within the past 10 years and winning 4 of them. “We want to represent New York as the king of sports, a city heralded with champions,” Stuyvesant told reporters. “We are more than just a team of Manhattan, we are a team for the city of New York.” It was clear that Stuyvesant wanted to distance the football team and the baseball club from each other, even though the teams were once owned by the same person up until about a decade ago when Stuyvesant bought the Dutch Lions football team from the baseball club’s owner X in 1941 before the Dutchies went on their historic 10 year run. Whether this move will distinguish themselves from the Dutchies will be reliant on how well the Lions do in the AFL.

Stuyvesant believed that making New York a relevant football city meant that he wanted to emulate the success of the Hogs and Shamrocks by focusing on the run and the defense. RB Bernard Parks was far and away the best player in the final seasons of the NYPL, and hopes to continue his dominance into the AFL. While pretty much everyone agrees that the quality of play in the AFL is significantly better than in the NYPL, Parks should still put up quality numbers in the AFL. QB Gary Byrne has improve significantly since his first season 4 years ago, and has found his #1 target in 3rd year WR Dale Godfrey, though their impact is lessened with Parks running the ball more often than not. Their defense needs significant improvements, though they have a few young players to build around, such as 22 year old LB Gordon Duffy, 22 year old DL Arnold Davis, and 26 year old DB Leslie Mayer, though they will definitely look to improve that side of the ball in the two drafts. Stuyvesant does act as the general manager for the team, though he does not coach the team, instead handing control over to former Brooklyn College head coach Jacob Crowe, who had coached the Terriers in the 40’s before joining the Lions in 1945 after Stuyvesant stepped down to focus on running the team and gaining traction within the NYPL to adapt to the changing football climate. 

The Lions will be slightly altering their colors coming from the NYPL. In their past life, they were a primarily navy team with orange accents, similar to the Dutchies. To better separate themselves as a team wanting to forge their own identity, the Lions darkened the blue to a mix between navy and purple and kept the orange, though still using the same logos as the baseball team they share the 56,000 seat Metropolitan Stadium with. The uniforms will also remain the same as their NYPL days, with blue changed out for purple while keeping the striping on the helmets, jerseys, and socks. The team’s most unique “aspect” is the use of gray pants, which had been used since the team was first founded, as original owner Jacob Auth didn’t like the shade of navy that was produced for the pants and as a result used gray for the away set only. Once Stuyvesant took over in ‘45, he changed the home pants to gray because he thought it paired better than the white they were using then. It has stayed that way ever since.

 

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1955-present