Cleveland Bulldogs The Cleveland Bulldogs was a team that played in Cleveland , Ohio in the National Football League . They were originally called the Indians in 1923 , not to be confused with the Cleveland Indians NFL franchise in 1922 . However after team owner Samuel Deutsch purchased the Canton Bulldogs in 1924 , he merged the Canton team with his Indians and renamed his franchise the Cleveland Bulldogs . The Canton Bulldogs remained a part of team until 1925 , when they were sold back to Canton . The Cleveland Bulldogs played in the NFL until 1928 when they were relocated to Detroit and became the Detroit Wolverines . The team was later incorporated into the New York Giants in 1929 . The Cleveland Bulldogs won the 1924 NFL championship . History . Origins . Sam Deutsch , a Cleveland jeweler and boxing promoter who also owned a minor - league baseball team , bought an NFL franchise in 1923 and named the team the Indians . They played only seven games in that first season , but they had a shot at the championship , with a 3 - 0 - 3 record going into their final game against the Canton Bulldogs , who were also undefeated . The Indians were defeated 46 - 0 and posted a 3 - 1 - 3 league record , finishing fifth in the league , which comprised twenty teams at the time . Purchase of the Canton Bulldogs . However in August 1924 , Deutsch , bought the defending NFL champions Canton Bulldogs for $ 2 , 500 . The Bulldogs were experiencing heavy financial troubles at time and were sold to Deutsch without much of a struggle . Duestch combined the Cleveland Indians with the Canton Bulldogs , creating a new team , the Cleveland Bulldogs . Only seven of the Canton players actually joined the new Bulldogs , among them was player - coach Guy Chamberlin . The team played all of its home games at Dunn Field although Deutch returned the team to Canton for the Thanksgiving game that season . 1924 NFL champions and controversy . The Cleveland Bulldogs won the NFL championship that year with a 7 – 1 – 1 record . After winning their first six games , the Bulldogs lost to the Frankford Yellow Jackets and entered a virtual tie with the Chicago Bears for first place in the standings . The Bears played more games , but also had more ties , and their one loss had come in the season opener against the Bulldogs . The Bears attempted to have an after - season exhibition game counted toward the standings , however in 1924 this was against the NFL ' s rules . In July 1924 , NFL owners had agreed on a proposal that the 1924 NFL season would begin on September 27 and end on November 30 . Ironically , as it turned out , the proposal was made by Dutch Sternaman , co - owner of the Bears . On the official end date , Cleveland had a 7 - 1 - 1 record to Bears ' 6 - 1 - 4 . Ties didn ' t count at all in those days , so the Bulldogs were in first place with an . 875 winning percentage to Chicago ' s . 857 . However on December 7 , 1924 the Bulldogs went to Chicago for a challenge match . The Bears won the game , 23 – 0 , and claimed that they deserved the NFL championship ; they cited as precedent the 1921 championship decision ( which the Bears had won ) that declared there was no such thing as an exhibition game . However the issue wasn ' t settled until the owners ' meeting in January , when the owners voted for Cleveland to take the title . The owners also decided at that meeting that the 1925 season would run through December 20 . Decline . In 1925 , several Canton businessmen purchased the rights to the old Canton Bulldogs team from Deutsch for $ 3 , 000 . The Bulldogs , now known as the Canton Bulldogs , played in Canton during the 1925 and 1926 seasons . However Deutsch continued to call his Cleveland franchise the Bulldogs . He also sold his Cleveland Indians half of the club to Herb Brandt in August 1925 . That season the Cleveland Bulldogs fell to a dismal 5 - 8 - 1 record . The team performed poorly on the field and at the bank . By mid - November the organization was nearly bankrupt . In 1926 Brandt received authority from the league to suspend operations for a year . The Bulldogs then returned in 1927 , bolstered by players from the folded Kansas City Cowboys franchise . Deutsch returned as the principal owner of this new Cleveland Bulldogs club . He , along with fellow investors Max Rosenblum , Brandt , Harold Gould , and Clinton Winfrey , built the new Bulldogs around native Clevelander Benny Friedman , a star quarterback at the University of Michigan . The team finished fourth in the National Football League this season , with an 8 - 4 - 1 record . Ties to the New York Giants . At the end of the season , Elliott Fisher purchased the Bulldogs and moved the team to Detroit , remaining them the Detroit Wolverines . The 1928 Wolverines team consisted of 12 former Bulldogs players . Before the 1929 season , Tim Mara , owner of the New York Giants , purchased the entire Wolverines squad , including Benny Friedman , and absorbed the team into his New York Giants franchise . Eight former Bulldogs players , ended up playing for the Giants that season .