Boston Bulldogs ( NFL ) The Pottsville Maroons were an American football team based in Pottsville , Pennsylvania . Founded in 1920 , they went on to play in the National Football League ( NFL ) for four seasons , from 1925 – 1928 . In 1929 they relocated to Boston , where they played one season as the Boston Bulldogs . Originally known as the Pottsville Eleven , the team was initially an independent team playing in the local eastern Pennsylvania circuit . Home games were played at Minersville Park , a high school stadium in nearby Minersville . They joined the local Anthracite League in 1924 , the same year they adopted the " Maroons " nickname , and clinched the league title . The next season they joined the NFL under owner John G . Streigel . Though dominant on the field , a controversial suspension cost them the 1925 NFL Championship . They were reinstated the following year , but after two successive losing seasons in 1927 and 1928 , Streigel sold the Maroons to a group in Boston , where they played one season before folding . 1925 was their best season . The 1928 roster included three future Pro Football Hall of Fame members - Johnny " Blood " McNally , Walt Kiesling , and coach Wilbur " Pete " Henry - but posted the worst record in franchise history . Writer John O ' Hara , who would go on to become a world - famous novelist with " Appointment in Samarra " , covered the team for the local newspaper . History . Origins . Like other coal towns in eastern Pennsylvania , Pottsville had been fielding football teams from at least the 1910s . The team that became the Maroons was established in 1920 as the Pottsville Eleven , and had a roster mostly made up of firemen from the Yorkville Hose Company . The team was initially unaffiliated with any league , playing on the independent circuit against other teams from the coal mining towns of eastern Pennsylvania . In 1922 the team attracted the sponsorship of area businessmen Harold Kingsbury , Irvin Heinz and Frank Schoeneman , who brought in talented professional players such as Carl Beck , Benny Boynton and Stan Cofall . Still , the team maintained a strong local presence by recruiting many Pottsville natives to its roster . The result was a team with consistent winning records and strong crowds . Anthracite League . In 1924 local surgeon John G . " Doc " Striegel purchased the Pottsville Eleven for $ 1 , 500 . That year teams in the local circuit decided to form an official league , which became known as the Anthracite League . This was also the year the team adopted the Maroons name ; according to legend , the team placed an order for new football jerseys with local sporting goods supplier Joe Zacko , telling him that the color was not important . Zacko sent them twenty - five maroon jerseys , giving birth to the name . During the 1924 Anthracite League season , the Maroons added three members of the NFL ' s 1923 Canton Bulldogs championship team to their roster . These players were Larry Conover , Harry Robb and future Hall of Fame inductee Wilbur " Pete " Henry . NFL President Joseph Carr was not pleased to see stars like Henry deserting the league to play for an independent coal region team , but there was little he could do about it unless Pottsville joined the league . A suit filed by Henry ' s former NFL team was thrown out on a technicality by a Pennsylvania judge . The Maroons then posted a 6 - 0 - 1 record against Anthracite League teams and clinched the league title that November with a victory over Coaldale . Immediately after winning the Anthracite League title , the Maroons issued challenges to both the NFL champion Cleveland Bulldogs and the Frankford Yellow Jackets , who claimed the Eastern professional championship . When neither team accepted , Striegel scheduled a game with the NFL ' s Rochester Jeffersons , who had not beaten an NFL opponent since 1921 . These two teams met in a season finale on the last Sunday of November . Rochester managed to defeat Pottsville 10 - 7 , giving the Maroons their only loss of the season . However Pottsville ended its 1924 season with an overall record of 12 - 1 - 1 , scoring 288 points and allowing only 17 while capturing the Anthracite League title . NFL . The Anthracite League collapsed after the season , but Striegel and the Maroons were undeterred . They applied for , and received , a franchise in the NFL . This was somewhat unusual , as the team ' s Minersville Park was a relatively small high school field ; the league administration may have been attracted by the favorable logistics of a second team near the Frankford Yellow Jackets in Philadelphia . Pennsylvania ' s blue laws , which prohibited football on Sundays in Philadelphia , were simply not followed in Pottsville , allowing traveling teams to play the Yellowjackets on a Saturday and then head to Pottsville on Sunday . Since many Maroons players moved back to their NFL teams in 1925 , the Maroons recruited several talented players to replace them . These included former Army great Walter French and Jack Ernst , a quarterback from Lafayette College . Another Army recruit , end Eddie Doyle , later served in World War II and was the first American killed in the landings in North Africa . Topping this collection of stars was Charlie Berry , possibly the best athlete on the team ; after a spectacular athletic career at Lafayette College , he signed both pro baseball and pro football contracts . However , this strong talent was expensive , and difficult to make up even with sellout crowds at little Minersville Park . During this time the Maroons insisted that their players live in the Pottsville area . During the 1920s most players had to travel great distances from their homes and only joined their teams on game day . By having the players live in Pottsville , coach and former Colgate University assistant Dick Rauch instituted regular practices for his players . This helped the Maroons to a 28 - 0 win over the Buffalo Bisons in their first NFL game . When not practicing , the Maroons spent their days hanging around the fire house , drinking Yuengling , playing cards and tossing footballs in the street . The Maroons then jumped out to a 9 - 1 - 1 record . However some believe that having visiting teams play Frankford the day before the Maroons benefited the team . Pottsville was 5 - 1 - 0 in their six games against teams that played the Yellow Jackets the previous day . On the first snap of the game against the Chicago Bears , the Pottsville players knocked football legend Red Grange out cold . Grange soon recovered from the hit , only to be knocked out again . Immediately Grange said " The hell with ( the $ 500 owed to him for the one game ) , it ain ' t worth it . " He then proceeded to walk off the field . < ref name = " insider . espn . go . com " >