Louisville Brecks Louisville , Kentucky had two professional American football teams in the National Football League : the Breckenridges ( or Brecks for short ) from 1921 to 1923 and the Colonels in 1926 . The NFL intended for the Brecks to be a traveling team , however the team played a series of " home " games . All Brecks home games were played at Eclipse Park , until the stadium caught fire and burned to the ground on November 20 , 1922 . Meanwhile , the Colonels played all of their games on the road . While the Colonels were really a traveling team out of Chicago they are usually accepted as a continuation of the Brecks franchise . Louisville Brecks . The Brecks dated their beginnings back to 1899 . Officially the name of the team was the Louisville Breckenridge Club . The club was located in Louisville at corner of Fifth and St . Catherine Streets at what was then the city ' s perimeter . The " Louisville Courier - Journal " reported in 1922 that the Brecks dated " back fifteen years , springing from a boys neighborhood team , the Floyds and Brecks , that has kept itself intact probably longer than any independent team in the country . " At first the team was considered an amateur team , made up of mostly neighborhood boys . However by 1919 , the team was considered professional , although evidently still made up of local players . The team ' s first ever professional football game was held on November 16 , 1919 . The game resulted in a 17 - 0 Brecks victory over the New Albany Calumets . Thst win allowed the Brecks to claim the mythical " Falls Cities " title . While a champion was declared , no " league " existed at this time . The NFL . Brecks owner , Aaron Hertzman , sent a $ 25 franchise fee to the NFL on February 21 , 1921 . The Official NFL Encyclopedia confirms that although officials from Louisville failed to attend the April 1921 league meeting , the NFL did receive a letter requesting a franchise from the Breckenridges . As a result , Hertzman beat out many of the other professional and semi - pro football team in the Louisville area . In 1920 , there were at least nine independent teams in the area , including the Brecks and the Evansville Ex - Collegians . NFL President Joseph Carr liked the idea of having professional football in cities with strong baseball traditions . This may answer why he granted Hertzman and the Brecks their franchise in 1921 . Unlike today , the announcement of Louisville being granted an NFL franchise , was widely ignored by the Louisville press . However in 1920 , only a little attention had been paid the league . The Brecks were one of eight teams that joined the NFL ( then called the American Professional Football Association ) in 1921 . Carr had intended to use the Brecks a traveling team to fill in open dates in the schedules of the more " established " teams . However the Brecks did not operate like one . The team played only two league games in 1921 , one at home and one on the road , hardly justify the Brecks as a road team . But they were all Louisville born or raised in Louisville . And unlike most road teams , the Brecks ' two league games were not with established teams but with the struggling Evansville Crimson Giants and the Columbus Panhandles , another road team . Hertzman managed the Brecks . The team played split schedules between league games and local , independent games . 1921 season . They lost their first league game at to the Evansville Crimson Giants on October 2 , 1921 . Reports estimated that the game drew more than 2 , 000 spectators . The games proceeds went to a fund to erect a memorial to the first Indiana soldier to die in World War I . The Brecks next six games were played at Eclipse Park against independent teams . During those six games , the Brecks finished with a 4 - 2 record . A November 6 , 1920 a game with the Cincinnati Celts was canceled , because the Celts could not fulfill the contract . The Brecks didn ' t play another APFA team until December 4 . That game resulted in a 6 - 0 loss to the Columbus Panhandles in Louisville , due to a late game touchdown pass . The Brecks lost their only two league games in 1921 , however they did manage to finish with an overall record of 4 - 4 - 1 . 1922 season . The Brecks home schedule included only games with other road teams . However the Brecks played a series of tough opponents on the road . The team lost on the road to the eventual 1922 NFL Champion Canton Bulldogs 38 - 0 and the Toledo Maroons 39 - 0 . The very next game featured the worst loss in franchise history as the Brecks were defeated by the Racine Legion 59 - 0 . Louisville ' s first NFL victory didn ' t come until November 22 , 1922 . During that game , the Brecks defeated the Crimson Giants , 13 - 6 . This game also proved to be the only game in which the Brecks scored . However the Brecks experienced tragedy a few days later , when Elipse Park caught fire and burned to the ground . The teams remaining two games ere then cancelled . Had Eclipse Park not burned down , forcing cancellation of the final two games , the team would probably have financially broken even . 1923 season . After the destruction of Eclipse Park , the Brecks decided to play their home games of the 1923 season at the newly constructed Parkway Field . In order for the team to bring the Akron Pros , Columbus Panhandles , or Oorang Indians to Louisville , the Brecks announced the sale of season tickets . However the 1923 season began in the same manner as the previous year , with a 37 - 0 loss to Canton . The following week saw a 34 - 0 loss at Columbus . Meanwhile the Brecks home opener against Akron was cancelled due to poor ticket sales . The Breck did manage to play the Oorang Indians in Louisville , for the team ' s very last NFL game . The Indians were and all - Native American football team , created by , owner Walter Lingo to promote the sale of his airedale s . The provided pre - game entertainment and the very first halftime show s . The Indians roster also included Jim Thorpe . The Brecks would lose their final NFL game 12 - 0 . 1924 season . The Brecks finished their last season of football in 1924 as members of the Fall Cities Football Federation and compiled a 2 - 3 record . The Brecks felt Alumni Field was " more suitable " to their schedule and moved their home games to the field in 1924 . Meanwhile Aaron Hertzman , the owner of the now defunct Brecks , was elected the NFL ' s Sergeant of Arms . Louisville Colonels . The Louisville Colonels were created in 1926 to fill the schedules of the expanded NFL , but they were a traveling team that operated out of Chicago . That season , the NFL added several semi - pro teams to their ranks , mostly to keep them out of the rival American Football League . While the Colonels were really a traveling team out of Chicago , they are usually accepted as a continuation of the Brecks franchise . Bill Harley , the former owner of the Toldeo Maroons , was granted the right to manage the Louisville Colonel operation out of Chicago , while Hertman still owned the team . The Colonels failed to register an NFL victory during the 1926 season . The team ' s first game resulted in a 13 - 0 loss to the Canton Bulldogs , while their second game resulted in a 47 - 0 loss to the Detroit Panthers . Louisville ' s final two NFL games came on November 7 , 1926 ( Chicago Bears 34 , Louisville Colonels 0 ) and November 14 , 1926 ( Green Bay Packers 14 , Louisville Colonels 0 ) . The Brecks - Colonels franchise is the last team from the four currently extant major professional sports leagues of North America to play its home games in Kentucky , although the Kentucky Colonels played in the American Basketball Association from 1967 until the ABA - NBA merger brought the ABA into the National Basketball Association after the 1975 - 76 season . Only five of 38 different players played NFL football outside of Louisville . The Breckenridge Name . The Breckenridge ' s were named for former Vice President from Kentucky , John C . Breckenridge .