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NY Giants-NE’s original home team... but there was another

RELICDOA : 1/27/2021 5:54 pm
I am a 3rd generation American (Half Italian/Half Portuguese) both of my grandfathers emigrated to Providence RI. My lineage as a Giants fan begins with them, it was then passed on to my father and uncles then my brother and I. But would I be a Giants fan had the Providence franchise been financially successful? Would there ever been a New England Patriots franchise?

Here’s some NFL History - Providence RI Edition
The Providence Steam Rollers were the first New England NFL franchise to win an NFL Championship (1928)

From 1916 - 1933 the Providence Steam Rollers were a regional powerhouse. In the mid-1920s the Steam Rolllers were known as the best independent team in the country. In 1925 the Steam Rollers joined the NFL and won the Championship 3 years later.
During their championship season the Steam Rollers posted a 8-1-2 record with notable wins over the NY Giants 16-0 and tied the GB Packers 7-7.

A "victory banquet" at the Biltmore Hotel took place a week later. At the banquet, each player was rewarded with a gold watch. It was also at this event that Steam Roller QB/Coach Conzelman was given a trophy and named the team's "Most Valuable Player". Five of the Steam Roller players gained All-NFL honors that year.

The Steam Rollers home stadium was the Cycledrome which was located off of North Main Street, near the Providence-Pawtucket line. In its later years, the Cycledrome was the location of the E.M. Loewe's drive-in theater and is now home to an Ocean State Job Lot/Peter Pan Bus Terminal.

Notable Facts:
*First team to ever host an NFL night game. We all know SNF, MNF, and TNF but it all began in Providence RI In 1930 when floodlights were installed at the stadium for night games.

*2 Providence Steam Roller players are in the NFL Hall of Fame
- Jimmy Conzleman inducted 1964
- Fritz Pollard inducted 2005
Cool story. Seriously. Thanks for the info.  
90.Cal : 1/27/2021 6:11 pm : link
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Alot of people forget NYG home games were played in New England  
90.Cal : 1/27/2021 6:20 pm : link
Homes games at the Yale Bowl in New Haven, Connecticut. As a Giants fan and CT native I do get a little offended when the Giants often are all about NJ/NY and not the whole tri-state. I don't have all the facts but my Grandpa told me he went to every game at the Yale Bowl and the Giants never won, not once, but we stuck with the team for generations to follow! Rant over. Lol
...  
SFGFNCGiantsFan : 1/27/2021 6:21 pm : link
Didn't know that. I know there a ton of Giants fans in New England because the Pats weren't founded until '59 or '60 so a lot of lineage up there. And throw in southern CT, which is in the NYC media market. Then again, is CT even in New England? Haha. I kid.
My entire family are Giants fans living in NE  
RELICDOA : 1/27/2021 6:26 pm : link
You have to remember before the Patriots came into existence the Giants were the locally televised team here in NE. Also with the Patriots being so putrid up until the Brady/Belichick era the Giants were covered even on local news etc. Every Giants game is televised up until recently now we are trumped by the Bucs!!! Never in my life have the Giants not been featured on Fox in Providence.
NH Giants fan  
Chip : 1/27/2021 6:38 pm : link
Got stuck with Tampa this year. I hope the hell the NFL pull the Sunday ticket from Directv. They then can sell it to everyone not just people with Directv.
RE: ...  
mfsd : 1/27/2021 7:03 pm : link
In comment 15136378 SFGFNCGiantsFan said:
Quote:
Didn't know that. I know there a ton of Giants fans in New England because the Pats weren't founded until '59 or '60 so a lot of lineage up there. And throw in southern CT, which is in the NYC media market. Then again, is CT even in New England? Haha. I kid.


Haha yup true, I grew up in Southern CT with several friends who remain Giants fans and Red Sox fans to this day, due to similar family history, and we have several here too. Some of the most loyal Giants fans going, those who resisted the temptation to jump on the Pats bandwagon

I know a couple Patriots/Yankees fans too, bc yes, Connecticut is just weird
Grew up in the Hartford area  
Ike#88 : 1/27/2021 7:45 pm : link
and most fans were Giants fans. My Dad brought me to the first Giants/Jets game in the preseason at the Yale Bowl after the Jets won the Super Bowl. There was a section of cops in bleachers on the field to go up in the stands and break up fights. They were needed. A very high level intensity game even though the Giants were shooting cap guns like today. Namath against Tarkenton. Saw Snell and Boozer walk out of the tunnel postgame to board the bus. Tough dudes in the old days.
RE: ...  
Blue21 : 1/27/2021 7:46 pm : link
In comment 15136378 SFGFNCGiantsFan said:
Quote:
Didn't know that. I know there a ton of Giants fans in New England because the Pats weren't founded until '59 or '60 so a lot of lineage up there. And throw in southern CT, which is in the NYC media market. Then again, is CT even in New England? Haha. I kid.



Yep I'm one of those New England fans from that era before the Pats. Use to watch Giants games every Sunday with my Dad in the mid to late fifties when I was a young kid. Loved those Giants and stayed with them. Never strayed over to the Pats as many of the old timers did, especially when they started winning.
when I first moved to Massachusetts in the mid-90s there  
markky : 1/27/2021 7:52 pm : link
were lots of Giants fans (older guys). I even worked with a guy who had the NH license plate "GIANTS".

there are fewer and fewer as the years pass.

Cool story  
BigBlue2007 : 1/27/2021 10:56 pm : link
They have a plaque for the Steam Roller in the Dunkin Donuts Centre (formerly known as the Providence Civic Center) noting their 1928 win.

Also note the Redskins used to play in Boston at Fenway Park before they moved to Washington.

I am a Southeastern Massachusetts Giants fan too. The Giants games up until recently were always on WNAC/Fox 64.
nice post RELICDOA  
Victor in CT : 1/28/2021 7:42 am : link
There are many old school NE people who are Red Sox AND Giants fans. Goes back to pre national TV contract days. The Giants games were shown on local TV in the Northeast, Skins in the South.
The Giants did win a game in the Yale bowl  
gtt350 : 1/28/2021 9:19 am : link
beating the cardinals in 1974
Can't leave out VT  
jsuds : 1/28/2021 9:21 am : link
The Giants summer camps were held at St Michaels College in 1959 and 1960 in Colchester VT just north of Burlington VT. It must have rubbed off a little because they are televised on Fox out of Plattsburgh almost every week. We only miss out if playing an AFC team and Pats are on at same time. Lots of fans around here still. Also, I grew up in CT and went to Yale Bowl for all the games when they were burying Jimmy Hoffa. Once they were playing GB and winning by a point or two with 37 seconds remaining so we went out to the car early. They had lost by the time we got out to the parking lot.
Never heard of the Steam Rollers or their playe before, but as a BBIer  
Daniel in MI : 1/28/2021 3:39 pm : link
allow me to say with TOTAL confidence that Conzelman was overrated and the RISRs would have won 2 more championships if they gave the ball to George "Wildcat" Wilson more. Conzelman was all about those flashy statistics like the time he went 3 for 6 for 41 yards against the Yankees. Six passes? In one game? GTFO. Plus, if you're going to run the Delaware Wing T, you gotta feed the beast in Wilson there.

The Giants first scheduled games were in New England  
revmoran : 1/28/2021 3:43 pm : link
In 1925 the Giants played a pre-season scrimmage in Newark NJ but their first scheduled game was in New Britain, CT and their first NFL game was in Providence against the Steam Roller. See the article below.
Giants First Game 1925 - ( New Window )
RE: Alot of people forget NYG home games were played in New England  
Mad Mike : 1/28/2021 4:15 pm : link
In comment 15136376 90.Cal said:
Quote:
I don't have all the facts but my Grandpa told me he went to every game at the Yale Bowl and the Giants never won, not once,

They did win in the Yale Bowl, but I think just once in the two years there.
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