| Founded | 1919 (Original) 1921 |
|---|---|
| Folded | 1922 |
| Based in | New York City,New York |
| League | APFA (National Football League) |
| Team history | New York Giants (1921) |
| Team colors | Black, orange, gold, cream [citation needed] |
| Nickname(s) | Brickley's Giants |
| Head coaches | Charles Brickley |
| Owner(s) | New York Giants (1919) Billy Gibson (1921) |
| Named for | Charles Brickley, New York Giants baseball club |
| Home field(s) | Commercial Field(2 games) Ebbets Field(1 game) Polo Grounds(1 game) |
TheNew York Giants (informally known asBrickley's Giants andBrickley's New York Giants) were a professionalAmerican football team with the American Professional Football Association (now theNational Football League) whose only season played was in1921. The team has also been referred to as theBrooklyn Giants andBrickley's Brooklyn Giants. The Brickley's Giants were the first of 17 professional football teams to represent New York City at one time or another. The team was founded in 1919 byCharles Brickley, who receivedAll-American honors while atHarvard. Brickley's Giants played two games in their only season, losing to theBuffalo All-Americans, 55–0, and theCleveland Tigers, 17–0.[1] It was the second-shortest-lived franchise in APFA/NFL history, behind only another former New York APFA team, theTonawanda Kardex, who played only one game in the same 1921 season.
The team was sponsored by theNew York Giants professionalbaseball team, and coached by Brickley, ahalfback who was generally considered the finest kicker of his day. Home games were to be played at the baseball Giants' home field, thePolo Grounds.
The team was formed with the intent of competing in 1919.[2] However, after the team's first practice, the 1919 schedule, that began with an opening day game against theMassillon Tigers, was scratched because of conflict with New York'sblue laws. In 1919 the city allowed professional baseball on Sunday and the Giants thought the law would also apply to football. However, it was ruled that professional football was still outlawed on Sundays, so the team disbanded.[3]
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The APFA had played a showcase game between theCanton Bulldogs and theBuffalo All-Americans at the Polo Grounds in December 1920; 20,000 spectators witnessed the contest, a strong crowd for the nascent league.
The success of that game prompted the league to seek a New York City-based team for the 1921 season. The Giants thus reformed with the financial backing from boxing promoter,Billy Gibson. Aside from Brickley, the team had no college stars. Joining Charles with the Giants was his brotherGeorge Brickley, who played baseball as anoutfielder with thePhiladelphia Athletics. The 1921 version of the team played several exhibition games, but only two league games, losing to the Buffalo All-Americans in October, and again to the Cleveland Tigers that December.The New York Times reported that the game againstJim Thorpe and his Cleveland Tigers, "was lopsided and had little to excite even the most rabid of rooters."[4] In between games between APFA clubs, the Giants played a number of non-league games against lesser teams. The franchise played two seasons as an independent and folded after the 1923 season. Duringtheir 1921 season, the Giants played their home games atCommercial Field andEbbets Field, both located inBrooklyn, and the Polo Grounds, located inManhattan.[3]
In 1925, with the NFL in need of a franchise in a large-city market that could be used to showcase the league,NFL PresidentJoseph Carr traveled to New York City to offer Billy Gibson, the owner of the Brickley Giants, a new franchise.
Gibson declined Carr's offer for a new franchise, but instead referred Carr to a long-time friend of his,Tim Mara: Mara accepted the offer, and established the modern-dayNew York Giants franchise.
Other than the name, there is no relation between the Brickley Giants and the modern New York Giants franchise.[5]
| Year | W | L | T | Finish | Coach |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1921 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 18th | Charles Brickley |