Team – The Negro League Football

Negro League Football Teams

Virginia Negro Football League (Virginia)

In 1946, Virginia Black football made a pivotal step and formed an all-Black league called The Virginia Negro Football League. This league included teams in Richmond, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Newport News. The Richmond Rams won the title in 1946, beating out the Norfolk Brown Bombers.

Harrisburg Trojans (Pennsylvania)

The Harrisburg Trojans were an African American football team founded in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in 1938. The Trojans held the Negro World’s Championship three times, 1941, ’42 and ‘44, while holding championships of seven Pennsylvania counties and three states. In November 1941, the New York Brown Bombers, one of the best African American teams in the country, visited Harrisburg and played the Trojans for the mythical “World Negro Football Championship.” The Trojans beat the Brown Bombers 12 to 7 to claim the title. The following year, Harrisburg tied the Washington Lions 7-7 in a game for the “Negro Football Championship.” Through the guidance of Bill Simpson, Phil Mason and Lewis Carlton they were recognized as one of the most outstanding Negro professional football teams in the United States.

Detroit Wolverines (Michigan)

The ^[7]Detroit Wolverines, an all-Black semi-pro football team organized in 1919 by two notable Detroiters, John C. Dancy and Fred Hart Williams. Dancy was the longtime director of the Detroit Urban League and Williams, a descendant of runaway slaves who had escaped to Detroit via the Underground Railroad. In addition to playing football, the Wolverines team were seen as an opportunity to teach young men the value and benefit of teamwork in addition to showing the world that Black men could compete on equal footing with White men.

Brown Bombers (New York)

The Brown Bombers were founded in the summer of 1935 by Herschel “Rip” Day, a Black athletic promoter in Harlem. The team was named in honor of the rising young heavyweight boxing contender, Joe Louis. The Brown Bombers showcased talented, professional Black players including Howard “Dixie” Matthews. The Bombers developed innovative and unorthodox formations, such as the “aeroplane shift” to mystify their opponents while entertaining crowds.

Chicago Blackhawks (Illinois)

In 1928, ^[5]Fritz Pollard and Dr. Albert C. Johnson organized the Chicago Black Hawks, an all-star, all-Black professional team from Chicago’s South Side. The Black Hawks played against White teams around Chicago but enjoyed their greatest success playing exhibition games against White teams on the West Coast during the winter months and Black teams in the upper South.