Providence Steam Roller The Providence Steam Roller ( also referred to as the Providence Steam Rollers , the Providence Steamroller and the Providence Steamrollers ) was a professional American football team based in Providence , Rhode Island in the National Football League from 1925 to 1931 . Providence was the first New England team to win an NFL championship . The Steam Roller won the league ' s championship in 1928 . They are the last team to win a championship and no longer be in the league . Most of their home games were played in a 10 , 000 - seat stadium that was built for bicycle races called the Cyclodome . History . Pre - NFL . The Steam Roller was established in 1916 by members of the " Providence Journal " ; sports - editor Charles Coppen and part - time sports - writer Pearce Johnson . Three men shared in the ownership and management of the team : Coppen , James Dooley , and Peter Laudati . Meanwhile Johnson stayed on as the team ' s manager for each year of its existence . The team soon became a regional power and by the mid - 1920s was known as the best independent team in the country . By 1919 the team was drawing in more spectators than Brown University by a margin of 2 - 1 , due to newspaper reports at the time . However it seemed unlikely since the Steam Roller crowd was on average 3 , 000 spectators a game . The players ' wages were lower than those of Indiana and Ohio , so it was harder for the Steam Roller to bring in " ringers " . Several college football players did play for the Steam Roller , but under aliases , so as to not jeapardize their amateur status . In 1924 , Providence ' s schedule featured several NFL teams . The Steam Roller posted a 3 - 2 - 1 record against those teams , defeating the Rochester Jeffersons ( 3 - 0 ) , Minneapolis Marines ( 49 - 0 ) and Dayton Triangles ( 10 - 7 ) . Both of their two losses came against the Frankford Yellow Jackets ( 21 - 10 ) and ( 16 - 3 ) . The team also posted a scoreless tie against the Columbus Tigers . The 1924 Steam Roller then went on to win the mythical " undisputed championship of the Northeast " . The team ' s success that season was enough to make Steam Roller management and fans start thinking about playing in the NFL . NFL years . Providence joined the NFL in time for the 1925 season . By that time only three players from the 1924 team were still in the line - up when the team ' s first practice of 1925 was held on September 17 . In fact , only about a dozen of them wore Steam Roller colors for the team ' s debut in the NFL . The Steam Roller had played mediocre football in their first two NFL seasons , but posted a strong 8 - 5 - 1 record in 1927 with Jimmy Conzelman as the team ' s head coach . For his per game salary of $ 292 , Conzelman not only coached the team but also played quarterback in the single - wing formation . The star player for Providence was halfback George " Wildcat " Wilson , a 1925 All - American from the University of Washington who had spent the 1926 season as the head of the traveling Los Angeles Wildcats of the AFL . 1928 championship season . Providence opened its 1928 season against Red Grange and the New York Yankees , Wilson ' s rival from the AFL . The Steam Roller led the Yankees 20 - 7 at halftime and held that score throughout the second half . However the team ' s next game resulted in a 10 - 6 loss to the Frankford Yellow Jackets . However the team soon rebounded with a four game winning streak over the Dayton Triangles ( 28 - 0 ) , Yankees ( 12 - 6 ) , Pottsville Maroons ( 13 - 6 ) and Detroit Wolverines ( 7 - 0 ) . The Steam Roller faced the Yellow Jackets again at Frankford Stadium on November 17 , which resulted in a scoreless tie . However a week later , at the Cyclodome , Providence finally avenged its only loss of the season with a 6 - 0 victory over the Yellow Jackets . The team would then post wins over the New York Giants ( 16 - 0 ) and Pottsville ( 7 - 0 ) , before ending its season with a 7 - 7 tie , against the Green Bay Packers . Providence was named the 1928 NFL Champions . Prior to the 1932 season , the NFL team with the best winning percentage was named the NFL Champions . Despite the Yellow Jackets winning 3 more games than the Steam Roller and posting an 11 - 3 - 2 record , Providence was awarded the title due to having a better winning percentage . A " victory banquet " at the Biltmore Hotel took place a week later . At the banquet , each player was rewarded with a gold watch . It was also at this event that Conzelman was given a trophy and named the team ' s " Most Valuable Player " . Five of the Steam Roller players gained All - NFL honors when the league issued its official honor roll on December 23 . Wildcat Wilson and Clyde Smith were named to the first team , while Curly Oden , Milt Rehnquist , and Gus Sonnenberg were placed on the second team . NFL firsts . Over the course of the next seven years , the team not only won an NFL championship but also established three league " firsts . " In 1925 , Providence was the first NFL team to play its home games in a bicycle racing stadium . In 1929 , the Steam Roller established two NFL " firsts . " In the six - day period between November 5 and November 10 , 1929 , Providence played four games . The marathon string began against the Staten Island Stapletons , the Chicago Cardinals and concluded with a two - game series against the Frankford Yellow Jackets . Although the Steam Roller made history , their 0 - 3 - 1 record during that six - day stretch proved to be a scheduling disaster . During the second game of that four game series , Providence hosted the Cardinals on November 6 . The game was played at night at nearby Kinsley Park , where floodlights recently had been installed . The teams had originally been scheduled to play on Sunday , November 3 , but heavy rains made the Cyclodome field unplayable . Since neither team wanted to lose a payday , the historic night game was hastily scheduled . Because of this , Providence made history again by being the first team to host an NFL game at night under floodlights . Although the Steam Roller lost 16 - 0 , the game was declared a success because 6 , 000 fans attended . Decline . Despite their 1928 championship , the team experienced troubles in 1929 . On January 4 , 1929 , Sonnenberg defeated Strangler Lewis in two straight falls to capture the world heavyweight championship in professional wrestling . This caused Sonnenberg to stay out of football , as he could make better money defending his title . Meanwhile Oden quit pro football to take a job with an insurance company in Boston , and Smith decided to return to his native Missouri and coach football . Conzelman also didn ' t fully recover from a knee injury sustained in 1928 . Rehnquist missed the first half of the season due of illness , and Wildcat Wilson became complacent and turned into an ordinary back . The 1929 Steam Roller struggled to a 4 - 6 - 2 record , resulting in a 7th place league finish . This caused the fans , who attended each game during the championship season , to stay home . The team posted a 6 - 4 - 1 record in 1930 and a 4 - 4 - 3 record in 1931 . The lack of interest , coupled with the Great Depression in 1930 , caused Dooley , Coppen and Laudati to suspend operations after the 1931 season . The three owners then gave up and turned the franchise back over to the NFL in 1933 . Name origin . During halftime against a game between the Steam Roller and the Providence Pros , Charles Coppen who was getting a hot dog , heard a remark that the opposing team was " getting steam - rolled " . Coppen loved the remark so much named his team the Steam Roller . Other Steam Roller teams . The Steam Roller name was revived by Pearce Johnson , one of the original team ' s founders . The subsequent Steamrollers played on a near - continuous basis since that point as a semi - pro , minor league , and independent team until 1942 , when it moved to Springfield and became the " Springfield Steamroller " for 1943 , and suspended operations shortly thereafter . The last three seasons of a " Providence Steam Roller " team were as a member of the Atlantic Coast Football League ; in 1962 , the Steamroller team was the league ' s runner - up , losing in the championship to the Paterson Miners in a double - overtime decision . The assets of the ACFL Steam Roller were bought and taken to the Continental Football League as the Rhode Island Indians , where the team played one last season in 1965 . After the 1965 season , the team ' s franchise rights were turned over to famed baseball player Jackie Robinson and became the " Brooklyn Dodgers , " which lasted one season . The name was revived again in 1988 for an Arena Football League team , the New England Steamrollers . A rare home movie showing the Providence Steam Rollers playing the Framingham Lion Tamers was recently discovered and preserved by Northeast Historic Film , a regional moving image archive in New England .