Evansville Ex - Collegians The Evansville Crimson Giants were a professional American football team based in Evansville , Indiana and were a part of the National Football League in 1921 and 1922 . The Giants home games were played at Bosse Field . According to the " Evansville Courier and Press " in 1921 , ' they surprised local fans in developing a winning team ' and ' the Giants ' one - sided victories over inferior non - league teams has had good fan reaction . ' However the team did not succeed mostly due to scheduling mistakes , and management problems . Evansville ' s local sporting enthusiasts also failed to respond favorably and attend the home games . History . Ex - Collegians . The Crimson Giants history is rooted in Evansville ' s first significant semi - pro team , the Evansville Ex - Collegians , who began play in 1920 . The Ex - Collegians played and followed the typical semi - professional template of the era . The team employed mostly local players almost exclusively . They paid those players a small sum based on gate receipts and on a game - by - game basis . The team also operated without any real management oversight , meaning that the players looked after the team ' s finances , and scheduled games haphazardly . In 1920 , group of local businessmen tried to purchase the Ex - Collegians , however the investors and the players failed reached a compromise . After the initial two victories over modest opponents , the Ex - Collegians bragged of possibly playing , the most celebrated pro football team in the nation , the Canton Bulldogs on Christmas Day 1920 . While the chances of the game taking place between Evansville and Canton were slim , the rumour of a Canton game was really a marketing scheme to draw attention to the newly established Ex - Collegians . The team would finish their 1920 season with a 7 - 1 record . Formation of the Crimson Giants . In 1921 the same unnamed businessmen who failed to takeover the Ex - Collegians in 1920 decided to form their own team . Frank Fausch , Fullback for the Ex - Collegians and Mark Ingle , an offensive lineman with the team , left the Ex - Collegians to create a new corporation known as the " American Football Association " , which would own a new professional team soon nicknamed the Crimson Giants . Fausch served as team ' s president and general manager , while Ingle served as vice - president . The two men put together an ownership group that included Evansville ' s leading businessmen and professionals . Evansville ' s mayor , Benjamin Bosse , and the vice - president of City National Bank were included in this group . The city ' s Chamber of Commerce was also heavily involved in promoting the Crimson Giants . Merger of the Ex - Collegians and Crimson Giants . The remaining Ex - Collegians , led by their quarterback and captain , Menz Lindsey , at first refused to join Fausch and Ingle . The Ex - Collegians wanted instead to continue playing independently . However Fausch need many of those Ex - Collegian players , in order to creat his new team . He came to an agreement with Guy Morrison , a popular baseball pitcher with the Evansville Evas of the Illinois - Indiana - Iowa League . With Morrison , Fausch arranged for a benefit game that would provide funds for the construction of a World War I veterans ' memorial . By doing this the Crimson Giants secured the exclusive use of the only suitable stadium in Evansville , Bosse Field . Lindsey tried to challenged the Giants to a contest in the benefit game , however Fausch refused to respond . Many professional football players soon flooded to the Crimson Giants . Bourbon Bondurant , an insurance agent with prior pro football experience with the Fort Wayne Friars ; Joe Windbiel , a local high school coach who played professionally with the Detroit Heralds ; architect Earl Warweg , who had played semi - pro football for five years in Indianapolis ; cigar company traffic manager Clarence Specht ; and June Talley , an insurance adjuster also with college football experience , soon joined the team . After finding no other venue to play in Evansville , many of the Ex - Collegians joined the Crimson Giants . Soon Doc Gorman joined the Crimson Giants , becoming the first Ex - Collegian , other than Fausch and Ingle , to defect . Within a week , Lindsey and Clarence Spiegel , two main pillars of the Ex - Collegians ' organization , jumped to the Crimson Giants . The NFL . On August 27 , 1921 , Fausch traveled to Chicago to secure an American Professional Football Association ( renamed the National Football League in 1922 ) franchise for Evansville . It was then that Evansville was awarded an AFPA franchise , that was scheduled to begin play in 1921 . 1921 season . The Crimson Giants won five of their first seven games . The team ' s first ever league win came at home on October 2 , 1921 , as the Crimson Giants defeated the Louisville Brecks , 21 - 0 . The team ' s second league win can a week later against the Muncie Flyers , 14 - 0 . However the Crimson Giants lost to the Hammond Pros 3 - 0 the very next week . That win was Hammond ' s first win in the league . During that game , Herb Henderson , later stated that the Hammond players met with him during the game and asked if he could tone down his hits , because the Hammond players still needed to be healthy for work on Monday . Henderson , a high school football coach , refused and stated that he needed to show his players , who were sitting in the stands watching him , " how tackling was done " . However the team , lost a lot of money when it suffered through a series of scheduling mishaps in the second half of November . As a result of the eleven games originally scheduled , only five were actually played . Furthermore , only half of the ten games ultimately played by the Giants were against league opponents . In early November , the Crimson Giants travelled to Green Bay , Wisconsin , to face the APFA ' s Green Bay Packers at Hagemeister Park . Although Fausch intended to play every game in Evansville , he chose at this point to receive a guaranteed sum from the Packers ' organization rather than risk losing more money at Bosse Field , where attendance had been disappointing . With several players unable to leave Evansville for the weekend , Fausch found replacements , but the revamped Crimson Giants were defeated in Green Bay , 43 - 6 . Fausch then scheduled a pair of non - league opponents to the schedule . The first game which was to take place in Chicago was cancelled due to heavy snow , while the other game was cancelled by the opposing team . Fausch quickly added a game against the Cincinnati Celts . However when faced with poor field conditions and two days of heavy rain , Fausch made a last - minute cancellation . Rather than play before another small crowd and lose more money , he decided not to play at all . The Crimson Giants had now cancelled their last three games , one of which was to be played on Thanksgiving Day , the biggest football day of the year . As a result , the players received no money , and Fausch had to pay rent for an unused Bosse Field . Fausch made sure the next game would be played . The Cincinnati Celts were re - scheduled and Fausch informed the press that the game would be played " rain or shine . " He then stated that three more games , two against AFPA opponents , would be played in Evansville . The Celts game was played on Bosse Field , which was damaged due to heavy rains . The Crimson Giants won their sixth game of the season , 48 - 0 , however the team still took a financial loss due to poor attendance . A scoreless tie against a non - AFPA opponent , two weeks later , ended the 1921 season for the Crimson Giants . Committee of Five . Many of the Crimson Giants ' players became upset with management of the team under Fausch after the 1921 season . It was then that several members of the team took matters into their own hands . The " Committee of Five " , led by former Ex - Collegians Menz Lindsey and Clarence Spiegel , forced Fausch to surrender management of the team . The " Committee of Five " could not reverse the Crimson Giants ' financial fortunes . The Committee lost money in its only contests . Fausch and his American Football Association corporation , lost an estimated ten thousand dollars over the course of the season , despite playing a total of nine games at home and only one on the road . To combat the " Committee of Five " , Fausch asserted publicly that it was he who held the franchise rights in the American Professional Football Association , and thus owned the Crimson Giants . And to help improve the team ' s finances , he suggested that he would play every Crimson Giants game on the road . However Fausch lost his players . Several former Giants announced they would play for the local Knights of Columbus squad instead . Then Menz Lindsey re - formed the Ex - Collegians and named Herb Henderson the team ' s coach . Lindsey ' s club then secured the financial backing of the Evansville Baseball Fans ' Association . Johnny Nee , manager of the Evanston Evas , became the team ' s business manager . The team was then dubbed the Fans ' Association team . Fausch attended the APFA ' s meeting in Columbus , Ohio , and posted a $ 1 , 000 bond to secure his claim to the franchise . It was at this meeting that Chicago Bears owner , George Halas , suggested that the APFA be renamed the NFL . The Crimson Giants ' membership in the NFL , meant that the Fans ' Association team could not play league teams . Thus the team would be forced to play teams that were considered second - rate opponents . However the Fans ' Association team had secured an exclusive lease to Bosse Field for the entire football season , leaving the Crimson Giants with no park for the 1922 season . The Fans ' Association team also signed many key players from the 1921 Crimson Giants team . Around this time Johnny Nee renamed the Fans ' Association team the Evansville Pros and attempted to schedule games against the Hammond Pros , Dayton Triangles , and the Louisville Brecks . However a letter from NFL President Joseph Carr , stated that Johnny Nee ' s Evansville Pros were not members of the NFL and NFL league clubs would only be allowed to play Fausch ' s Crimson Giants . 1922 season . The Crimson Giants played their first three games of the season on the road . Fausch in the meantime had hoped that the Evansville Pros would fold in October , so that he could regain the rights to Bosse Field . Luckily for Fausch , the Pros folded after witnessing poor attendance and an 0 - 1 - 1 record . As a result Fausch entered into negotiations with Nee over the sakle of the lease for Bosse Field . However the negotiations between the two clubs broke down and the Crimson Giants cancelled their remaining home games . The team would only play three games in 1922 , all on the road . The Crimson Giants lost all three of those games to the Toledo Maroons , Rock Island Independents and Louisville Brecks . The wins by the Brecks and Maroons , became the first in Louisville and Toledo franchise history . Meanwhile the Rock Island Independents became only the second team with two 100 yard rushers in their 60 - 0 win over Evansville . Jimmy Conzelman ran for five touchdown s during that game , setting an NFL record that would remain in place until 1929 , when Ernie Nevers scored 40 points alone against the Chicago Bears . The Independents also became the first NFL team to rush for 300 yards in that Evansville game . The Independents almost made it to 400 , with 66 carries for 396 yards . The Crimson Giants had the ball for only 26 plays , and seven of those were punts . End of the Crimson Giants . Fausch talked briefly about re - organizing a new Crimson Giants club for the 1923 season , however he never made an effort to restart the team . Several of the Crimson Giants went on to play professional football for other NFL teams . While the Evansville Crimson Giants were the only league team to go under between the end of the 1922 season and the beginning of the 1923 season , few teams other than the Bears finished saw profits from football . Social make up of the Evansville teams . The Crimson Giants relied more on outside talent , that their predessors the Ex - Collegians . 17 of the Crimson Giants 30 players in 1921 were from Evansville . By 1922 only 5 of the team ' s 17 players were locals . In contrast , 22 of 23 players on the 1920 Ex - Collegians were from Evansville . When faced with competition from the Giants in 1921 , the Ex - Collegians brought in a few outsiders before folding , but generally semi - pro teams spent little effort on recruiting . Both the Ex - Collegians and the Crimson Giants relied almost exclusively on players with college experience . Both teams consisted overwhelmingly of players from middle class backgrounds . Only a few blue collar workers played professional football in Evansville in the early 1920s . Of every players whose occupation could be determined , almost all of them were white collar workers . The 1921 Crimson Giants even included three lawyers , one physician , and one dentist . It is believed that the blue collars workers were excluded from football in Evansville due to a lack of leisure time . 1920 Evansville Ex - Collegians season . See also . Sports in Evansville