The Wide World of American Football: 1958-59 Edition

A RIFT IN PROGRESS?
The PAFC suffered its first tragedy not of its own accord, as New Orleans Pirates owner Rudolph Branthwaite Sr. died just before the beginning of the season. His son, Rudy, took over ownership of the team, and immediately became a thorn in the side of the “old guard” of PAFC owners. He saw the obvious signs that the league was in a tailspin and sought out any way to get the league out of it. While the league was in talks of expansion, Branthwaite lobbied for a team in either Milwaukee or Minneapolis/St. Paul, as he knew that the AFL would pounce on either of the options if the PAFC had left them idle. The AFL had done the same with the St Louis market, where the Stallions became one of the league’s most attended teams within just a few years. A few owners had supported this plan, but President Bradshaw refused to expand to either market after both of their former team’s involvement in the game-fixing scandal just a few years prior. An expansion team in Oakland had already been approved by the owners for the 1960 season to compete with the AFL’s upcoming San Francisco team, but the expansion in Dallas has been shifted away after the AFL confirmed they would be putting a team there. There were no other suitors for another team in the PAFC, and Bradshaw unceremoniously put expansion on hold while they shopped around for anyone who would own a team in a floundering league. Branthwaite, furious that this proposal had essentially fallen on deaf ears, convinced the Baltimore and Omaha owners to privately help search for expansion teams. Even if he were to convince someone that owning a team in the PAFC is worth it, the countless number of scandals and the man running the show openly picking and choosing who gets in proves to be a massive deterrent. 

Despite continuing to endure controversy off of the field nearly every season, there was actually little on-field drama for the 1958 season. The Omaha Bulls proved that last season was not a fluke, putting together a competitive team once and stayed in the top half of the standings for the entire season. Even though they finished in 4th, it was still considered a success for a team that regularly frequented the crowded basement that is the PAFC. The new expansion teams took up that place in the basement, with Jacksonville only managing 3 wins and Oklahoma City failing to win a single game all season. Out of all of the recent expansion teams, only New Orleans could put together a record over .500 in any of their seasons, with Houston also finishing near the bottom. The championship would be a three-horse race between Chicago, Indianapolis, and Richmond, each taking turns at the top. Chicago and Indianapolis played in the final game of the year as a de facto playoff game, with the winner taking on Richmond in the title game. Out for revenge from last year, the Stars dominated the Flames and were heavy favorites to win their 14th World Series of Football title over the Patriots. Thankfully for the few people that were able to watch the game outside of Chicago, the game was a lot closer for a majority of the game. Richmond, however, was able to capitalize on the few mistakes Chicago made in the second half to take a two possession lead that they managed to keep for the rest of the game, completing the upset and winning their second PAFC title. After the game, Stars Owner/Coach Virgil Bradshaw was furious that his so-called “best team ever assembled” was unable to steamroll their way to another championship, and vowed that the Stars would win next year’s title “no matter what”. 

FAILED NETWORK DEAL FORCES VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE FOR BRADSHAW
Part of Branthwaite’s plan to get the PAFC out from its inevitable collapse was to secure a television deal with any network willing to negotiate. He figured that the massive audience that saw the 1958 AFL championship game could draw in fans to watch the older league instead of the new kid on the block that had already managed to surpass them. Branthwaite had found a network that was willing to broadcast the struggling league, Sports Network Incorporated (SNI), that already was broadcasting several NBL games over the radio and television in just its first few years of operation. The deal would share revenue with all clubs equally, which could allow teams to not rely on Bradshaw just to stay afloat. When the proposal was brought to his desk, Bradshaw refused the potential deal, stating that he (and only he) would lose money on the deal and used his power as league president to turn single-handedly down the SNI contract, even though it would most likely be approved by all of the other owners if brought to a vote. That move already angered some of the owners, but further angered when Bradshaw came back with his alternative plan. The PAFC would expand to Las Vegas with the help of real estate and casino developer Dominick Capps. Las Vegas hadn’t even been considered as an expansion city, and now owners were concerned over Capps’s connections to the mob within the city, as he was summoned to the Kefauver Committee hearing several years prior, where he was questioned under oath over his connections to the Chicago Outfit, which he denied any involvement in. Infuriated with how Bradshaw had been operating the league over the past few years and now potentially being implicated with mob, Branthwaite  opened a vote of no confidence to oust Bradshaw as president and force a new vote. Branthwaite had been lobbying behind the scenes with other owners to get Bradshaw out due to his age and questionable decision-making, but the “old guard” of owners were reluctant to change. A majority of them relied on the money that Bradshaw gave to them to keep their teams afloat, and feared retaliation if they voted no. Branthwaite was successful in convincing both Jacksonville and Oklahoma City to the “no” side, but the league’s voting process prevented him from gaining enough votes to out Bradshaw. Because Bradshaw had appointed his son, Julian, as the owner of his team and gave the president the tiebreaking vote, the motion failed. Branthwaite was seen storming out of the meeting room when all of the “old guard” owners and all other teams Bradshaw directly funded all voted “yes”, effectively ending any chance of change in the PAFC. The fact the vote was this close was a massive surprise, and could spell the beginning of the end for the league if Bradshaw takes any retaliatory action to any of the teams that voted for his removal. 

CONCORD WILDCATS CLAIM FIRST ASPFL TITLE SINCE 1924
Once again, the Long Island Lancers seemed like they would be the favorites to win the ASPFL despite floundering the latter half of last season. They started out well again, going undefeated through the first 6 games but were only a few games ahead of the rest of the pack. Injuries derailed them yet again, losing 4 out of their last 6 to finish 3rd for another disappointing outcome. Once again, that left the top two spots wide open for any team that wished to get into the title game. Finishing in the second spot were the defending champion Newark Tigers, who weren’t as dominant as they were the year before, but they found a good replacement playcaller in QB Jehoshaphat Murphy and a solid secondary led by S Dale Neal. The team who finished first was a complete surprise, having not made a title game in over 30 years and not  having a winning season since the Second World War - the Concord Wildcats. The Wildcats had been acquiring essentially cast-offs with what little spending power they had, but these reinforcements from the Crows, including league MVP QB Christopher Wilke, shot them directly to the top of the league. Their rise to the top was reminiscent of Omaha’s dramatic title win in the PAFC just a year ago, with a team many had cast off and mired in the basement for what seemed like forever suddenly rising to the top with a well-meshed team and had the right timing. Concord would play their first postseason game in nearly 2 decades, and Newark would be playing their first postseason game in nearly 1 year. Despite their absence from postseason play, the Wildcats would dominate the entire game behind what may be the defensive unit the ASPFL has seen. The once high-flying Tigers were held scoreless through the first half while the Concord secondary forced three interceptions out of QB Jehoshaphat Murphy, one being returned for a touchdown. The game had essentially wrapped up by the 4th quarter, but Newark put some points on the board for the illusion of a close game. In a dominant 27-17 win, the Concord Wildcats would win their first professional title since 1924. Cleveland’s “hand-me-downs”, as they were frequently called, were now getting significant attention from AFL teams who would want to fill a roster slot, and the Crows’ rebuilding attempts seem to be off to the right start if these players can make it up to the AFL.

DOME FRENZY CAPTURING THE NATION?
The world’s first “domed stadium” is set to open its doors in Brooklyn in 1960 after years of relocation woes for the NBL’s Brooklyn Canaries. Their old stadium had been deteriorating for the past decade, and owner E. Joseph Brosnahan was looking for a way to move into a larger, more modern facility. He first looked out west for a place to go, but the NBL began negotiations for a partial merger with the PPL and essentially ended that plan. Brosnahan instead sought Buckminster Fuller to construct a new stadium in the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn, beating out a potential bid that would have moved them to Flushing Meadows in Queens. The completed dome, tentatively named the Brooklyn Sports Center, has inspired a few other projects across the country to both modernize baseball stadiums and potentially lure football teams to play in their shiny new domes. Houston is deep in the works in building a domed stadium of their own, with former mayor Roy Hofheinz backing a new stadium after the NBL approved expansion to Houston. Construction is already underway on the new stadium and is set to be completed a year or two after the Houston team joins the NBL in 1962. Hofheinz believes that his stadium could also possibly accommodate a football team, and was negotiating with the PAFC’s Houston Indians to see if they wanted to move from Buffalo Stadium to this state-of-the-art facility. The other prominent place should be expected at this point: Portland. After being denied entry into the NBL due to concerns with their current stadium and now effectively relegated to AAA ball with the restructuring of the PPL, the ownership behind the Portland Rosebuds petitioned the Oregon legislature for a new stadium. They had chosen the site of the destroyed Vanport City for a brand-new stadium for the Rosebuds and potentially even a pro football team. The measure was put to a vote for the approval of funds to build this domed stadium, and the vote narrowly passed with a 52% “yes” vote to approve construction of the site. Ground is expected to be broken on the site within the next year, with the “Delta Dome” project expected to be completed by 1964 if the plan stays on schedule. A dome frenzy has captured the country, and it will be a matter of time if any of these projects attract either a baseball franchise, a football franchise, or perhaps both.