Calling Bob Gill and/or Tod Maher re:Outsiders

[Moran]

I've been working with the great-grandson of Dr. Harry March in researching Dr. March's life and contributions to pro football. He was reading “The League-How Five Rivals Created the NFL and Launched a Sports Empire,” by John Eisenberg and in passages about Tim Mara, Eisenberg covers the American Professional Football League which Dr. March started in 1935-1936. Eisenberg states that March started the new league as payback for being booted off the Giants and eventually out of the League (due to a kerfuffle with Marshall). Eisenberg writes, “"Seeking revenge, he [March] gained backing of Wall Street investors, solicited franchise bids from fifteen cities, and announced a new league with eight teams would kick off in 1936."
The question is, what was the source for claiming that this league was started for "revenge?" I looked in "The Outsiders" by Bob Gill and Tod Maher and they also ascribe the motivation for the league to "revenge" (see photo).
We were wondering if there were any contemporary letters, interviews, documents or sources for the idea that March was motivated by revenge - and revenge against who exactly? Mara? Marshall? All the owners? So far, I have found one clipping where March talks about the new league but would appreciate any other background information.

[TodMaher]

I don't remember where the Ed Danowski/George Preston Marshall bit came from. I don't think it's true - and it doesn't make much sense if you think about it - of course he's going to side with the Giants. That's the team he works for!
March was president of the Giants in the early stages of 1935. At some point during the year he was no longer the team president. The reason given later that year was that he had been on the "Executive Committee" of the NFL but in July it was decided that only team owners could serve on that committee. So I guess he quit over that and that was why he decided to start a rival league.

[Moran]

Thanks Tod - I'd be curious if Bob has any notes on source materials for this episode. Mike

[Bob Gill]

Nope. I remember reading it somewhere, but at this point I have no idea where that was.

[TodMaher]

Nope. I remember reading it somewhere, but at this point I have no idea where that was.

I found a newspaper article in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle (July 2, 1934) that explains the dispute over Danowski.
He had originally signed with Boston, but then Marshall "tore up" the contract when Danowski had a change of heart and decided not to play football. But then he changed his mind again and signed with Giants. The whole matter went to a vote of the executive committee and they voted for the Giants and Marshall stormed out of the room claiming to be the victim of "a horrible outrage."

[Moran]

Thanks for the reply. The great grandson has spent considerable time reading the minutes of league meetings and established that Dr. March proposed dividing the league into Eastern and Western Division as early as 1925. His experience with the Canton-Massillon rivalry, and his awareness of other sports rivalries, (e.g., Army vs Navy) taught him that rivalries are good for both teams, in terms of attendance and support. He truly believed that having a successful second pro football league would build interest in the game, culminating in a “World Series” atmosphere for a championship.

When Jack Mara graduated from law school he replaced Dr. March as President of the Giants - which was expected. In 1933 Jack began joining Tim to represent the Giants at the League meetings, but Dr. March attended representing Staten Island and GP Marshall moved to elect March to the Executive Committee.

At the June 30, 1934 meeting John Mara moved that Halas, Dr. March, and Bert Bell be elected to Executive Committee. They also authorized the League to buy 100 copies of Dr. March's book.

In a special meeting July 1, 1934 Marshall moved to abolish the Executive Committee and create in its place a Finance Committee. The Finance Committee would be composed of two representatives from the East Division and two from the West division, with the President to be the tie-breaking vote if necessary. The representatives could only be those who own controlling interest in a team or who is a substantial holder of stock who also presents proxies representative of a majority of the ownership. Marshall's proposal was referred to the Executive Committee for consideration. The Exec voted unanimously to present the proposal for a vote to the entire meeting - meaning Dr. March voted yes on a proposal that would result in his own exclusion.

So unless a person was particularly vengeful, this series of events doesn't offer much motivation for revenge. However, if a person admired the baseball model of two leagues and thought rivalry and competition were good for the promotion of the sport - that would be another motivation for the creation of an American League of Professional Football.