Philadelphia Quakers ( AFL ) The Philadelphia Quakers were a professional American football team that competed in the first American Football League in 1926 and won the league ’ s only championship . Owned by L . S . Conway , the Quakers played their home games in Sesquicentennial Stadium on Saturdays because of Pennsylvania ’ s Blue law s prohibiting work or business on Sundays . Coached by Bob Folwell , the majority of the team played their college football in Pennsylvania . The Quakers had nine players ( including Century Milstead , Charlie Way , Butch Spagna , and Bull Behman ) who had previously played for various National Football League teams . The combined experience gave the team an edge in line play , particularly on defense ( the Quakers yielded only five points per game for the 1926 season ) . The addition of All - American Glenn Killinger merely added to the defensive riches : he intercepted four passes in his league debut ( November 4 , 1926 , in a 24 - 0 victory over the Rock Island Independents ) . Unlike half of their league opponents , the Quakers had no financial connection with league founders C . C . Pyle and Red Grange . In addition to having a championship team , the Quakers drew well in the stadium in the midst of the Sesquicentennial Exposition . When the fair ended ( early November ) , the audience in the soon - to - be renamed Municipal Stadium diminished , but still drew well when the Quakers defeated the New York Yankees 13 - 7 on a Bob Dinsmore punt return that decided the game - and the league championship ( November 27 , 1926 ) . At the time of the championship - clinching game , the AFL had only four active teams ( the Quakers , the Yankees , the Los Angeles Wildcats , and the Chicago Bulls ) , three of which were being subsidized by C . C . Pyle and Red Grange . The latter three teams played games in the last two weeks of the season while the Quakers started challenging National Football League teams for a “ pro football championship game . ” The NFL champions Frankford Yellow Jackets were the first to refuse , claiming that their postseason schedule had been already set . Additional challenges by the Quakers were unanswered until Tim Mara , owner of the seventh place New York Giants , accepted the challenge , scheduling a game for December 12 , 1926 , at the Polo Grounds . As the Yankees and the Bulls were playing the AFL ’ s last official game ( a 7 - 3 Yankees victory in Comiskey Park ) , the Quakers and the Giants were battling in front of 5000 fans in the middle of a driving snowstorm . While the score was only 3 - 0 at halftime , Quaker errors led to the Giants winning the game 31 - 0 . Both the Quakers and the AFL were no more . At the end of the season , Wilfred Smith of the " Chicago Tribune " presented a combined NFL - AFL All Pro team in his column . Three Quakers were named to the second team : George Tully , Bull Behman , and Al Kreuz . After the first AFL . Upon the completion of a New York Yankees 7 - 3 victory over the Chicago Bulls in Comiskey Park on December 12 , 1926 , the first AFL was officially dead . The simultaneous 31 - 0 drubbing of the Quakers by the New York Giants in the Polo Grounds left the AFL champions in a similar state . It was , however , not the end of the professional football career for five Philadelphia Quakers . The following men were on rosters of NFL teams in the 1927 season : Bob Beattie – 1927 New York Yankees , 1929 Orange Tornadoes , 1930 Newark Tornadoes < br > Bull Behman – 1927 - 31 Frankford Yellow Jackets ( player - coach 1930 - 31 ) < br > Adrian Ford – 1927 Pottsville Maroons , 1927 Frankford Yellow Jackets < br > Century Milstead – 1927 - 28 New York Giants < br > George Tully – 1927 Frankford Yellow Jackets < / br > On the other hand , the pro football careers of several former NFL players ended with the 1926 Quakers : Charlie Cartin – 1925 Frankford Yellow Jackets < br > Saville Crowther – 1925 Frankford Yellow Jackets < br > Doc Elliott – 1922 - 23 Canton Bulldogs , 1924 - 25 Cleveland Bulldogs < br > Glenn Killinger – 1921 Canton Bulldogs , 1926 New York Giants < br > Johnny Schott – 1920 - 23 Buffalo All - Americans < br > Butch Spagna – 1920 Cleveland Tigers , 1920 - 21 Buffalo All - Americans , 1924 - 25 Frankford Yellow Jackets < br > George Sullivan – 1924 - 25 Frankford Yellow Jackets < br > Whitey Thomas – 1924 Frankford Yellow Jackets < br > Charlie Way – 1921 Canton Bulldogs , 1924 Frankford Yellow Jackets < / br > NOTE : Doc Elliott came out of retirement in 1931 to play for the Cleveland Indians . Other Philadelphia Quakers teams . The Quakers name and history traces back to the Philadelphia Quakers , who were operated by the Union Athletic Association of Phoenixville and played one season under Conway ' s ownership in 1921 . The Quakers of that year , who had a perfect season and claimed the mythical national championship under the " Union AA " name in 1920 , took advantage of the Saturday game schedule required by Pennsylvania ' s blue laws and would often " moonlight " the next day as members of the Buffalo All - Americans . The National Football League caught wind of this scheme and forced the moonlighting players to choose one team or the other . That team was poised to join the National Football League in 1922 , but for reasons unexplained remained independent and instead merged into the Frankford Yellow Jackets that year .