1916-1921 (6 seasons)
Tonawanda Kardex Team History
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Tonawanda Kardex
History 1916-1921 (6 seasons)
The Tonawanda Kardex (also known as the Tonawanda Lumbermen and, during its first season, the All-Tonawanda Lumberjacks) was an American football team active between 1916 and 1921. It played its games in Tonawanda, New York, a suburb of Buffalo with close ties to North Tonawanda, New York where American Kardex was founded. The team is most notable for its one game as a member of the National Football League in 1921, the shortest-lived team in the league's history.
Professional football was being played in Tonawanda by no later than 1913 (this terminus ad quem comes from records that show the team lost to the Lancaster Malleables in the region's showcase Thanksgiving game that year). They played their home games on the Tonawanda High School field, sometimes drawing up to 3,500 fans for a game. For the team's entire history, it was coached by Syracuse standout Walter "Tam" Rose. In 1917, it defeated the Rochester Jeffersons for the state championship. In 1919, it made the state playoffs, but lost in the semifinals to the Buffalo Prospects, who went on to win the title.
The 1920 All Tonawanda Lumberjacks were a very successful team, garnering a record of 7–1 against two local American Professional Football Association (the predecessor to the NFL) franchises and other independent teams, only allowing more than 6 points in one of their contests (the one loss, a 35–0 decision to Buffalo). Their last game of the season against the Rochester Jeffersons was among the first games in the traditional Thanksgiving Day series.