Did you know that Evansville was once home to an NFL team?  It's true!

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NFL in Evansville

I always heard stories that there was once an NFL team in Evansville, but I never really heard much else besides there was a team in Evansville, and they played at Bosse Field.  I decided to do some digging, and I've learned some pretty cool stuff about the Evansville Crimson Giants. While it is true that historic Bosse Field was once home to the Evansville Crimson Giants, unfortunately, a century ago the team folded.

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What Could Have Been

It does make you wonder what would Evansville be like if we still had an NFL team?   I feel like Evansville would look quite a bit different if our city housed an NFL stadium today.  It is kind of sad to think about what could have been.  On the flip side though, maybe it is kind of a blessing in disguise that the NFL team didn't work out, because what if historic Bosse Field was changed and wasn't what it is today?  So with everything, there is some give and take here.

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So what happened with the Evansville Crimson Giants?

Unfortunately, the team didn't have a very long run, the team was only around from October 1921 to November 1922, and the NFL in the early 1900s was not quite the mammoth that it is today.

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According to SportsEcyclopedia.com. In 1921 the American Professional Football Association was playing its first season and Evansville was home to a semi-pro team that went on to have a 7-1 record that season, which is not too shabby! Local businessmen thought so too, and they ended up investing in their own team, which turned into the Evansville Crimson Giants.

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The Pros and the Crimson Giants Duke it Out for Evansville

Unfortunately, many players on the Crimson Giants were unhappy with the team finances so a group of players looked to start their own team, The Pros. The Pros secured the rights to play at Bosse Field, which made the Crimson Giants have to start their season on the road. This was the beginning of the end for the Evansville Crimson Giants.

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The NFL ruled that any team that wanted to play Evansville could only play the Giants in an attempt to freeze out The Pros, but ultimately this lead to their downfall.  SportsEcyclopedia.com goes on to explain:

 In the meantime the Evansville Pros unable to get big name opponents folded as the Giants attempted to regain the rights to Bosse Field. However after failing to get an agreement the Giants would play just one more game, losing to the Brecks 13-6 on November 12th. Following the season the Evansville Crimson Giants would fold.

You can read the full in-depth story of the Evansville Crimson Giants from SportsEcyclopedia.com, here.

The Legacy Lives On

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This is a pretty cool piece of Evansville's history from over a century ago, and the legacy of the Evansville Crimson Giants still lives on.   After doing some digging online I found some really cool vintage-inspired Evansville Crimson Giants merch, which I thought was pretty cool! You can check the Evansville Crimson Giants merch out here.

See How Downtown Evansville Has Changed Over the Years

I find looking back on the way things used to be fascinating. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I'm living through the current time period. The conveniences of answering any question we have in seconds, or ordering practically anything we want or need and having it delivered to our doorstep is pretty sweet. But, there is something fun about seeing how things around us have evolved. As an Evansville native, and spending quite a bit of my time in downtown Evansville (that's where the station is located), I've always appreciated the older architecture of the buildings around the area. So, I dug into the Willard Library Archives to see how a few of those areas look now compared to then. Some have changed a little, others quite a bit, and a few don't even exist any more. Take a look.

 

 

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