Professional Football Researchers Association Forum
PFRA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the history of professional football. Formed in 1979, PFRA members include many of the game's foremost historians and writers.
rhickok1109 wrote:Every so often, I see the Cardinals referred to as the NFL's oldest franchise.
But isn't the Bears' franchise just as old. Yes, of course they started as the Decatur Staleys, but was there any discontinuity in the franchise during or after the move to Chicago?
Oldest franchise? The Bears and Cards are the same age as it pertains to NFL franchises.
Oldest team? That's where the research begins. A lot of research among the folks who have already replied in this string. Great reads!
lastcat3 wrote:Here is a video that lists all of the defunct teams that played at least one season in the league and in what year that particular club originated.
Newark/Orange Tornadoes date back to 1887 (they actually operated for over fifty years).
Do any of you notice anything that this video may have gotten wrong? If everything in this video is correct the Newark/Orange Tornadoes very well may have been one of the very first professional teams put together. Colleges were playing the game prior to that but the professional game didn't really start becoming common until about the 1890's.
Rochester jeffersons go back to 1898 ... lasted in the NFL until 1925 ...
Was it continuous? I know when I was originally helping out Steffenhagen with his research, we did not have a continuous link. Hopefully you found it!!
