This is a clip from an older interview that Darin did with Chris Willis of NFL Films and the Pro Football HOF.
It may appear to cut off abruptly, as it had been a lengthy interview focused on Grange himself, Darin posted this excerpt that dealt with the Giants for this series. It's a worthwhile listen.
Two asides.
Where this interview ends (the Giants home last game of the 1925 season where over 70,000 people attended) is where I have actually been doing extensive research for my next BBI article, which will be on the 1926 season and the war between not only the NFL and first ever AFL, but between the AFL's marquee team the NY Yankees and their star attraction grange. the irony is while Grange saved the Giants from bankruptcy in December 1925 he then nearly torpedoed them right back into it the during the 1926 season.
It's a fascinating journey with an abundance of twists, turns, back room machinations, double-dealings and intrigue.
Long story short (and I'm not giving anything away you don't already know) the NFL came out of it in decent shape (after contracting) and the Giants were able to bolster their roster with out of work players from folded teams from both leagues and won the NFL title in 1927 with one of strongest teams to play in that era.
Darin has more videos on the Giants coming up soon as well. I'll post them as soon as they're up.
The other thing I want to mention is that I did research for Chris Willis back in 2019-2020 when he was doing evolutions for all time players in the pre WWII era. I was assigned Giants linemen, and that is how I discovered Len Grant had his #3 retired in 1938 following his sudden death prior to training camp opening. That was a fact that had become forgotten after #3 was requested by Pete Gogolak in 1966, which has remained in service since.
It's funny how these things tend to come around full circle over time.
Red Grange and the 1925 Giants - (
New Window )
I think that mentality came from the old timers who survived the hardships of rising from obscurity in the 1920s, the Great Depression in the 1930s, WWII in the 1940s and the numerous rival leagues who cropped up every 5 or 6 years (there were three AFL's and also the AAFC). For the NFL owners it was truly all-for-one-and-one-for-all as a matter of survival.
Growing up as a kid in the late 50's and into the 60's, the NFL was pretty much a minor league sport.
Baseball ruled the landscape, even more than the NFL does today. Every sports section was 90% Baseball, with the NFL even behind College Football in fans attention. As a kid, you would save up to get a copy of The Sporting News...which was pages and pages of MLB stats. Cable didn't exist, so you'd watch the game of the week on one of the three channels you'd get, while listening to others on your transistor radio.
That changed after the Curt Flood decision and the NFL-AFL merger. Still, before that, NFL teams were always on the edge of shutting down or moving. There weren't full stadiums , 24x7 NFL Channel coverage or multi million dollar TV contracts. The draft was not on TV, but in smoke filled rooms like Philadelphia’s Ritz-Carlton Hotel.
Things are different now. Better or worst, that can be debated, but there's no denying it's different.
Tell me about it. I'm in newspaper archives all the time, literally going on electronic archeology missions just searching for the littlest scrap of pro football data I can find. Around 1935 or so there was an uptick in pro coverage, then it grew more in the mid forties as the war drew toward an end. But finding anything between 1920 and 1934 is not easy, and requires a 50/50 blend of persistence and patience.
It wasn't only baseball and college football dominating the scene. Boxing and horse racing were also big in the 1920s and commanded a large amount of copy space.
Thanks for all this great history True Blue