Orlando Panthers The Orange Tornadoes and Newark Tornadoes were two manifestations of a long - lived professional American football franchise that existed in some form from 1887 to 1971 , having played in the National Football League from 1929 to 1930 , the American Association from 1936 to 1941 , the Atlantic Coast Football League from 1963 to 1964 and 1970 to 1971 , and the Continental Football League from 1965 to 1969 . The team was based for most of its history in Orange , New Jersey , with many of its later years in Newark . Its last five years of existence were as the Orlando Panthers , when the team was based in Orlando , Florida . The franchise was sold back to the NFL in October 1930 . The team had four head coaches in its two years in the NFL - Jack Depler in Orange , and Jack Fish , Al McGall and Andy Salata in Newark . History . Early years . The Orange Tornadoes can trace their roots back to the Orange Athletic Club . The Orange A . C . was originally an amateur football team that began play in 1887 . The team ' s first ever game was a 36 - 0 loss to Seton Hall University football team . By the 1890s the Orange became a semi - pro team . In 1892 , the team practiced under electric lights at night to prepare for an October 8 game against Rutgers College . The Orange A . C . would go on to win that game 22 - 10 . In 1893 , the team went on to win the mythical American Football Union Championship , after posting an 8 - 2 record . In 1902 the Orange A . C . played against Philadelphia Phillies and the Philadelphia Athletics of the first National Football League . The team also played in World Series of Football in that year , at Madison Square Garden . These games were the first indoor football games . In 1902 Orange lost to All - Syracuse team , 36 - 0 . However the team returned to the World Series of Football in 1903 where the played the Watertown Red & Black and , the eventual champion , the Franklin Athletic Club . Orange lost to Watertown , 11 - 0 , and to Franklin , 12 - 0 . However they did manage to defeat the Oreo Athletic Club of Asbury Park , 22 - 0 , during the 1903 contest . Pre - NFL . The Orange team became an extablished independent pro team from 1919 until 1928 , under the nickname the Orange AC Golden Tornadoes . During this time , Orange defeated the New York Brickley Giants of the NFL . They also played pre - NFL versions of the Frankford Yellow Jackets and the Staten Island Stapletons . They also played against the Atlantic City Roses and the Millville Big Blue , two of the top independent teams of the 1920s . By 1928 , Orange held the New York Giants and Frankford Yellow Jackets to close scores . On September 16 , 1928 Orange held the 1927 NFL Champion New York Giants to just a 7 - 0 victory . While a week earlier the NFL ' s previous champions , the Frankford Yellow Jackets , were held to a 12 - 0 victory . Orange showed that their team could compete in the NFL . 1929 season . In 1929 Ole Haugsrud , the owner of Duluth Eskimos , sold his defunct franchise rights to Piggy Simandl , a wholesale meat salesman and sports promotor from Orange , who named his franchise the Orange Tornadoes . The Tornadoes played their home games at Knights of Columbus Stadium . The first game for the new team was a scoreless tie against the New York Giants on September 29 , 1929 . A week later the team recorded their first ever NFL win by defeating the Boston Bulldogs 7 - 0 . The victory can off a short George Pease pass to Paul Longua who ran 60 yards for a touchdown . However the following week , Orange experienced its first NFL loss during a 7 - 0 defeat to the , 1928 NFL Champions , the Providence Steamroller . The team regrouped on October 19 , 1929 , and the Tornandoes held the Frankford Yellow Jackets to a 6 - 6 tie at Frankford Stadium . A week later the team rallied from a 13 - 0 deficit to defeat the Boston Bulldogs , 19 - 13 . On October 29 , 1929 , the Bulldogs and Tornadoes met again to play . This time in Pottsville , Pennsylvania . Prior to 1929 , the Bulldogs played as the Pottsville Maroons and the teams played for their still loyal fans at the Maroons ' Minersville Park . This time however , the Tornadoes lost 6 - 0 by way of a 4 yard touchdown run from Boston ' s Tony Latone . On October 3 , the Tornadoes held the Staten Island Stapletons to a scoreless tie at Thompson Stadium . During that game the Stapletons were within scoring distance three times , but to no avail . Meanwhile the Tornadoes only penatrated the Staten Island 20 - yard line once . The Orange then lost a rematch against the New York Giants , 22 - 0 a week later . But after a scoreless tie against Frankford , the Orange defeated the Staten Island Stapletons 3 - 0 , due to a Felix McCormick field goal . However the next game , against the Chicago Cardinals resulted in a 26 - 0 Tornadoes loss . The Cardinals , led by Ernie Nevers put up 20 points in the second quarter of the game . The Tornadoes then ended their 1929 season with a 10 - 0 loss to Frankford . They finished with a 3 - 4 - 4 record , scoring 35 points , while giving up 80 . 1930 . The team ' s fortune in the NFL changed for the worse after it moved to Newark in 1930 . During the team ' s time in Newark , they played their home games at Newark Schools Stadium . Head coach Jack Depler defected to buy the Dayton Triangles , moving that team to Brooklyn and transforming that team into the Brooklyn Dodgers . He took most of the members of the 1929 Tornadoes with him . Meanwhile , the Tornadoes went through three coaches during the 1930 season , and the team ' s only victory during the 1930 season was against the Frankford Yellow Jackets . The last game for the Newark Tornadoes was also against the New York Giants , a 34 - 7 loss on October 29 , 1930 . The franchise ended league play after the 1930 season and was sold back to the NFL . The league ordered the franchise sold to the highest bidder prior to the 1931 season , but there were no takers . In 1932 , a Boston - based group won a new NFL franchise and was awarded the remains of the failed Newark organization . The new team would be named the Boston Braves , now the Washington Redskins . However , the NFL does not consider the Redskins to be a continuation of the Tornadoes , just as it does not consider the Tornadoes to be a continuation of the Duluth Eskimoes . The Tornadoes and Bears in the American Association . Though the NFL franchise had moved to Newark , owner Edwin Simandl had kept a barebones organization back in Orange , just in case the NFL Tornadoes failed . When they did , he moved as many players as he could from the Newark squad back to Orange . The minor league Tornadoes played in various leagues , including the American Association , of which it was a charter member . The Orange Tornadoes moved back to Newark in 1937 and were eventually bought by the Chicago Bears . Playing under the name Newark Bears ( a name previously used by the Newark Bears of the 1926 American Football League ) , the team played in the AA through 1941 . The team did not return after World War II ; instead , George Halas took what was left of the team and split it into the " Newark Bombers " and the " Akron Bears " . The " Bloomfield Cardinals " replaced both teams in 1947 . The NFL severed ties with all minor league teams in 1948 . The Bears revived in the ACFL and Continental League . The Newark Bears would return in 1963 , when the Atlantic Coast Football League ( a revival of sorts of the AA ) revived the Newark Bears for two seasons . This version of the Bears was owned by Sol Rosen . In 1965 , the team applied to the American Football League to join that league , but were turned down ( as the New York metropolitan area already had both the Jets and NFL ' s Giants , both of which counted North Jersey as their market and would eventually move to New Jersey in later years ) , and instead joined the upstart Continental Football League , where it played one season in 1965 before moving to Orlando , Florida and becoming the Orlando Panthers . The Panthers played in the ContFL from 1966 to the league ' s dissolution in 1969 . As the Panthers , and led by quarterback Don Jonas , the team won two league titles and played in a third . In 1966 , the team lost the championship to the Philadelphia Bulldogs in sudden - death overtime , 20 - 17 . In 1967 , the Panthers won the title with a 38 - 14 win over the Orange County Ramblers . In 1968 , they repeated the feat by defeating the Ramblers 30 - 23 , though they had to enter the game by winning a playoff with the Indianapolis Capitols ( which Orlando won 28 - 14 ) . In 1969 , however , Orlando and Indianapolis rematched in the semifinals , with the Capitols prevailing 27 - 7 . When the Continental Football League folded , the Bears returned to the ACFL , playing two more seasons in 1970 and 1971 . During the 1970 season , the Panthers had on their roster a holder named Patricia Palinkas , the first woman to play on a men ' s professional football team . Palinkas originally served as holder for her husband , Steve Palinkas , but Steve Palinkas was cut prior to the regular season while Patricia made the team . The Panthers folded in 1971 along with most of the rest of the ACFL . Meanwhile , in New Jersey , the ACFL moved the former Charleston Rockets franchise to Newark in 1969 , becoming the " Jersey Jays . " The Jays played from 1969 to 1971 . Uniforms . In 1929 , Orange experimented with using letters instead of numbers on player jerseys . Orange Athletic Club seasons . 1887 • 1888 • 1889 • 1890 • 1891 • 1892 • 1893 • 1894 • 1895 • 1896 • 1897 • 1898 • 1900 • 1901 • 1902 • 1903 • 1904 • 1905 • 1906 • 1907