Pacific Coast Professional Football League

History of professional football in California before 1937

The Los Angeles Bulldogs and the formation of the Pacific Coast Professional Football League

1940

1941

1942

1943

1944

1945

1946

1947

1948 and the demise of the PCPFL

1944 PCPFL Standings

Northern Division

Southern Division


Sport	American Professional Football American football American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
Founded	1940 1940 in sports 1940 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.Note — many sporting events did not take place because of World War II-American football:NFL championship* Chicago Bears 73–0 Washington Redskins in the NFL championship game...
First Season	1940 1940 in sports 1940 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.Note — many sporting events did not take place because of World War II-American football:NFL championship* Chicago Bears 73–0 Washington Redskins in the NFL championship game...
Last Season	1948 1948 in sports -American football:* University of Michigan wins college football national championship.* Cleveland Browns 49–7 Buffalo Bills in the All-America Football Conference championship game....
Claim to Fame	top level football league on US west coast prior to 1946
No. of teams	varied from 4 (1941, 1942, 1948) to 9 (1946) - -
Disbanded	1948

The Pacific Coast Professional Football League (PCPFL), also known as the Pacific Coast Football League (PCFL) and Pacific Coast League (PCL) was a professional American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

league based in California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, USA, and competed from 1940

1940 in sports

1940 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.Note — many sporting events did not take place because of World War II-American football:NFL championship* Chicago Bears 73–0 Washington Redskins in the NFL championship game...

through 1948 in sports

1948 in sports

-American football:* University of Michigan wins college football national championship.* Cleveland Browns 49–7 Buffalo Bills in the All-America Football Conference championship game....

. One of the few American professional sports leagues that competed in the years of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, the PCPFL was regarded as a minor league

Minor league

Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities. This term is used in North America with regard to several organizations competing in...

of the highest level, particularly in 1940-1945, at a time in which the major

Major professional sports leagues of the United States and Canada

The major professional sports leagues, or simply major leagues, in the United States and Canada are the highest professional competitions in team sports...

National Football League

The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

did not extend further west than Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

and Green Bay

Green Bay, Wisconsin

Green Bay is a city in and the county seat of Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, located at the head of Green Bay, a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It has an elevation of above sea level and is located north of Milwaukee. As of the 2010 United States Census,...

. It was also the first professional football league to have a team based in Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

(the Hawaiian Warriors).

Formed from the wreckage of a failed California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

Pro Football League, the PCPFL showcased the Los Angeles Bulldogs

Los Angeles Bulldogs

The Los Angeles Bulldogs were a professional American football team that competed from 1936 to 1948...

and the Hollywood Bears. The league became the “home” of African American

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

football stars (including Kenny Washington

Kenny Washington (American football)

Kenneth S. "Kingfish" Washington was a professional football player who was the first African-American to sign a contract with a National Football League team in the modern era.-UCLA Bruins:...

, Woody Strode

Woody Strode

Woodrow Wilson Woolwine "Woody" Strode was a decathlete and football star who went on to become a pioneering black American film actor. He was nominated for a Golden Globe award for best supporting actor for his role in Spartacus in 1960...

, and, briefly, Jackie Robinson

Jackie Robinson

Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson was the first black Major League Baseball player of the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947...

) as the NFL had developed and enforced a color barrier in 1934 and extended until 1946.

After reaching a peak in 1945, the importance and popularity of the PCPFL declined rapidly in the post-World War years as the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams and the All-America Football Conference

All-America Football Conference

The All-America Football Conference was a professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many of the nation's best players, and introduced many lasting innovations...

’s Los Angeles Dons

Los Angeles Dons

The Los Angeles Dons were an American football team in the now defunct All-America Football Conference from 1946 to 1949 that played in the Los Angeles Coliseum....

established a major league presence with games in the Coliseum

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is a large outdoor sports stadium in the University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, at Exposition Park, that is home to the Pacific-12 Conference's University of Southern California Trojans football team...

. The resulting competition was devastating to the PCPFL: teams averaging over 10,000 spectators per game in 1944 and 1945 were having difficulty drawing 1000 fans in 1946.

In December 1948, the PCPFL folded. The Los Angeles Bulldogs, the only league member to have participated in every season of the league’s existence, was in such financial straits that they didn’t play the last two scheduled games in 1948, and the Hollywood Bears had become a traveling team

Traveling team

In professional team sports, a traveling team is a member of a professional league that never or rarely competes in its home arena or stadium. This differs from a barnstorming team in that the latter does not compete within a league or association framework...

in 1948.

Prior to 1936, the history of professional football in California was not a hopeful one. While there were two “major league Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

teams” in 1926 (the Buccaneers

Los Angeles Buccaneers

The Los Angeles Buccaneers were a traveling team in the National Football League during their one season 1926, ostensibly representing the city of Los Angeles, California. Like the Los Angeles Wildcats of the first American Football League, the team never actually played a league game in Los...

of the NFL and the Los Angeles Wildcats

Los Angeles Wildcats

The Los Angeles Wildcats was a traveling team of the first American Football League that was not based in its nominal home city but in Chicago, Illinois...

of the first American Football League

American Football League (1926)

The first American Football League , sometimes called AFL I, AFLG, or the Grange League, was a professional American football league that operated in 1926. It was the first major competitor to the National Football League. Founded by C. C...

), both were actually traveling team

Traveling team

s (the Buccaneers were based in Chicago

Chicago

, the Wildcats in Moline, Illinois

Moline, Illinois

Moline is a city located in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States, with a population of 45,792 in 2010. Moline is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring East Moline and Rock Island in Illinois and the cities of Davenport and Bettendorf in Iowa. The Quad Cities has a population of...

) that lasted only one season, but several NFL and AFL teams would also play exhibition contests in the West, sometimes with other NFL or AFL teams, but also against some of the local semi-pro

Semi-professional

A semi-professional athlete is one who is paid to play and thus is not an amateur, but for whom sport is not a full-time occupation, generally because the level of pay is too low to make a reasonable living based solely upon that source, thus making the athlete not a full professional...

teams in the region, in the following year or two. A league that formed in 1926 in the wake of an exhibition by Red Grange

Red Grange

Harold Edward "Red" Grange, nicknamed "The Galloping Ghost", was a college and professional American football halfback for the University of Illinois, the Chicago Bears, and for the short-lived New York Yankees. His signing with the Bears helped legitimize the National Football League...

was called the Pacific Coast League, but it failed to survive beyond the first year of competition.

In 1934, four teams from the Los Angeles area and two from San Francisco formed another Pacific Coast League; when the two San Francisco teams withdrew from the league after the 1934 season, the four L.A. teams continued to compete in 1935 as the American Legion League (some called it the American Legion Football League, or ALFL). It folded after one season under the new name.

The 1930s proved to be a boon for professional football leagues in the United States (the NFL grew in popularity even in light of competition of the second AFL in 1936 and 1937), but it was a “golden age” for minor league football. The year 1936 also marked the first year of the Dixie League

Dixie League (football)

The Dixie League was a professional American football league founded in 1936 as the South Atlantic Football Association, with six charter member teams in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D. C.. Like the American Association , its popularity rivaled that of the established National Football League...

of the American South (the DL lasted until the fall of 1947), the American Association

American Association (football)

The American Association was a professional American football league based in New York City. Founded in 1936 as a minor league with teams in New York and New Jersey, the AA extended its reach to Providence, Rhode Island prior to the onset of World War II...

(which changed its name to the American Football League in 1946 and lasted until 1950) … and a team that formed for the expressed purpose of joining the National Football League, but was passed over in favor of the Cleveland Rams

Cleveland Rams

The Cleveland Rams were a professional American football team based in Cleveland, Ohio.The Rams began playing in 1936 in Cleveland, Ohio. The NFL considers the franchise as a second incarnation of the previous Cleveland Rams team that was a charter member of the second American Football League...

: the Los Angeles Bulldogs

Los Angeles Bulldogs

The Los Angeles Bulldogs were a professional American football team that competed from 1936 to 1948...

Owned by the local chapter of the American Legion

American Legion

The American Legion is a mutual-aid organization of veterans of the United States armed forces chartered by the United States Congress. It was founded to benefit those veterans who served during a wartime period as defined by Congress...

, managed by Harry Myers

Harry Myers

Harry C. Myers , sometimes credited as Henry Myers, was an American film actor and director. He was born in New Haven, Connecticut, and died in Hollywood, California from pneumonia...

, and coached by Gus Henderson

Gus Henderson

Elmer Clinton "Gloomy Gus" Henderson was an American football coach. He served as the head coach at the University of Southern California , the University of Tulsa , and Occidental College , compiling a career college football record of 126–42–7...

, the fledgling Bulldogs played all the games in its inaugural season in Gilmore Stadium

Gilmore Stadium

Gilmore Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in Los Angeles, California. It was opened in May 1934 and demolished in 1952, when the land was used to build CBS Television City. The stadium held 18,000. It was located next to Gilmore Field...

, playing local teams like the Salinas Packers and the Hollywood Stars, but also the Philadelphia Eagles

Philadelphia Eagles

The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

(won, 10-7), Pittsburgh Pirates (won, 21-7), Chicago Cardinals (won, 13-10), Brooklyn Dodgers

Brooklyn Dodgers (NFL)

The Brooklyn Dodgers were an American football team that played in the National Football League from 1930 to 1943, and in 1944 as the Brooklyn Tigers. The team played its home games at Ebbets Field. In 1945, because of financial difficulties, the team was merged with the Boston Yanks...

(tied, 13-13), Chicago Bears

Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

(lost, 7-0), and Green Bay Packers

Green Bay Packers

The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...

(lost, 49-0). In their six games against the NFL, the Bulldogs compiled a 3-2-1 record while having a 6-3-1 season overall.

Myers was confident of receiving an NFL franchise in the 1937 league owners meeting, but after seeing presentations from Houston, Cleveland, and Los Angeles, the owners offered the franchise to Cleveland, then a member of the second American Football League. The Bulldogs were invited to replace the Rams in the fledgling league, and proceeded with the first perfect season in major league professional football: eight wins in AFL games (and the only AFL team with a winning record in the 1937 season), 18 wins including exhibition games, no losses, no ties. Not even the Miami Dolphins, who lost an exhibition game immediately prior to their "perfect" 1972 season, can make the claim. The Bulldogs’ complete dominance of the league exacerbated the financial difficulties of the AFL to the point that the league was forced to fold after the end of the 1937 season.

Another attempt at a league in California in 1936 barely got off the ground. One of the teams, the Hollywood Stars, was sold to Paul Schissler, who coached the Chicago Cardinals (1933-34) and Brooklyn Dodgers

Brooklyn Dodgers (NFL)

(1935-36) of the NFL. Schissler planned yet another league, this one to showcase the Bulldogs and his Stars. Myers declined the invitation to join the new California and opted for a season in which the Bulldogs were an independent team (as was the case for another “survivor” of the second AFL, the Cincinnati Bengals

Cincinnati Bengals (AFL)

Cincinnati Bengals was the name of a short-lived professional football team that played in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is unrelated to the current Cincinnati Bengals. Originated by Hal Pennington , the team was formed as a member of the second American Football League in the 1937 season...

). After a 7-2-2 record in 1938, the Bulldogs joined the Bengals in becoming members of yet another American Football League

American Football League (1938)

The Midwest Football League was a minor professional American football league that existed from 1935 to 1940. Originally comprising teams from Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois, the league eventually expanded its reach to include teams from Missouri, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and California to...

(which later changed its name to the American Professional Football Association) for the 1939 season. The Bulldogs won the 1939 league title (and had a new owner, Jerry Corcoran), and before the end of league play, had already given notice that they would be leaving at the end of the season to become a charter member of the Pacific Coast Professional Football League (the AFL/APFA would subsequently end after yet another AFL signed three APFA member clubs and split the older league).

Charter members of the 1940 edition of the PCPFL include the Bulldogs, the Hollywood Bears (which Paul Schissler had renamed in honor of his alma mater
Alma mater
Alma mater , pronounced ), was used in ancient Rome as a title for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele, and in Christianity for the Virgin Mary.-General term:...

, UCLA), the Phoenix Panthers, the Oakland Giants, and the San Diego Bombers

Team	W	L	T	Pct.	PF	PA
Los Angeles Bulldogs Los Angeles Bulldogs The Los Angeles Bulldogs were a professional American football team that competed from 1936 to 1948...	7	2	1	.778	212	142
Hollywood Bears	6	2	0	.750	145	84
Oakland Giants	1	3	2	.250	30	65
Phoenix Panthers	0	3	1	.000	67	97
San Diego Bombers	0	4	0	.000	26	92

The Bears’ and Bulldogs’ losses were to each other (two each). Kenny Washington

Kenny Washington (American football)

Kenneth S. "Kingfish" Washington was a professional football player who was the first African-American to sign a contract with a National Football League team in the modern era.-UCLA Bruins:...

and Woody Strode

Woody Strode

starred for the Bears after being denied entrance into the NFL due to their race. The Bears also had the leading scorer of the league, former New York Giant

New York Giants

The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

Kink Richards

Elvin C. "Kink" Richards was an American football running back in the National Football League for the New York Giants. He played college football at Des Moines University....

. Phoenix and Oakland dropped out at the end of the 1940 season; the San Francisco Bay Packers joined for 1941.

Team	W	L	Pct.	PF	PA
Hollywood Bears	8	0	1.000	167	151
Los Angeles Bulldogs	4	4	.500	156	119
San Diego Bombers	1	5	.167	78	147
San Francisco Bay Packers	1	5	.167	23	107

The season was cut short after the attack on Pearl Harbor

Attack on Pearl Harbor

The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...

(the military was fearing another West Coast attack). Kenny Washington led the Bears to a perfect season, having beaten Los Angeles three times to clinch the title. Washington's UCLA teammate Jackie Robinson

Jackie Robinson

Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson was the first black Major League Baseball player of the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947...

played briefly for the Bulldogs before moving to Honolulu. Steve Bagarus

Steve Bagarus

Stephen Michael Bagarus was an American football running back in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins and the Los Angeles Rams. He played college football at the University of Notre Dame....

of San Diego had a 100 yard interception return against the Bears. Kink Richards repeated as the league’s high scorer.

Unlike the American Football League of 1940

American Football League (1940)

American Football League, also known as the AFL III to distinguish it from earlier organizations of that name, was a major professional American football league that operated from 1940-1941...

and the American Association

American Association (football)

, both of which suspended operations after 1941, the PCPFL decided to continue play during World War II. Military service, nonetheless, wreaked havoc with the teams’ rosters. Bears owner/coach Paul Schlisser left for the war as Kenny Washington was injured most of the abbreviated season. The Bulldogs roster was depleted by the war effort. Members of the PCPFL also played games with two military teams, the March Field Flyers and the Santa Ana Flyers in response to increasing public interest. San Diego’s Steve Bagarus became a star with his versatility as his team won the league title and held its own against the March Field Flyers. The Santa Ana Flyers were 5-0 against the league and claimed the “extended PCL championship.”

Growing in influence, the PCPFL underwent several changes before the 1943 season. Temporarily gone were the Hollywood Bears as owner Paul Schlisser was still overseas; the Oakland Giants returned after a two year absence; the Alameda Mustangs, Richmond Boilermakers, and the Los Angeles Mustangs joined the league.

Controversy ensued when Los Angeles Mustangs owner Bill Freelove raided the roster of Jerry Corcoran’s crosstown Bulldogs. When all was said and done, virtually all the members of the 1942 Bulldogs became members of the 1943 Mustangs. While the controversy was raging, Hollywood got a “leave of absence” from the league until the return of Schlisser from World War II

World War II

. The former Bears (including former player-coach Kink Richards) became Bulldogs for the 1943 season. Ramifications from Freelove’s actions ensued over the next few years.

Team	W	L	Pct.	PF	PA
San Diego Bombers	7	1	.875	214	177
Los Angeles Mustangs	4	4	.500	167	124
Oakland Giants	4	4	.500	118	143
Richmond Boilermakers	2	2	.500	44	41
Los Angeles Bulldogs	3	4	.429	119	125
Alameda Mustangs	1	3	.250	53	72
San Francisco Bay Packers	1	4	.200	30	123

Richmond leaves the PCPFL at the end of the season.

The Alameda Mustangs moved to San Jose and became the San Jose Mustangs; the Hollywood Wolves entered the league for 1944; and the membership of the Los Angeles Mustangs was revoked by the team owners to protest owner Bill Freelove’s raiding of Jerry Corcoran’s Los Angeles Bulldogs roster. Freelove responded by forming a new league, the American Football League
American Football League (1944)
The Northwest War Industries League, later renamed the American Football League, was a professional football league based on the West Coast of the United States that played for two nonconsecutive seasons during World War II....

(with Jerry Giesler

Jerry Giesler

Jerry Giesler was an American criminal defense lawyer.For more than half a century, Jerry Giesler was a household name across the United States. He was the first president of the Criminal Courts Bar Association in Los Angeles.-Early career:Giesler was born in Iowa...

as president). In 1944, an unprecedented five Los Angeles area teams were competing in either of the rival leagues.

Team	W	L	Pct.	PF	PA
San Diego Bombers	9	0	1.000	335	54
San Francisco Bay Packers	4	3	.571	107	122
Oakland Giants	4	3	.571	46	86
San Jose Mustangs	2	4	.333	69	109
Los Angeles Bulldogs	2	5	.286	105	168
Hollywood Wolves	0	6	.000	46	169

Both leagues had undefeated champions (the PCPFL Bombers had won their third consecutive title).

On December 21, 1944, PCPFL league president J. Rufus Klawans announced a merger between the two leagues. Immediately afterward, the AFL champion Hollywood Rangers and PCPFL champion San Diego Bombers scheduled two games, one at each team’s home, to decide the “unified” Pacific Coast championship. Hollywood swept San Diego, winning 42-7 and 21-10, for the bragging rights.

The merger resulted in a “new 1945 PCL” looking remarkably similar to the previous year’s edition. The Seattle and Portland AFL teams did not participate in the new league; the AFL champion Hollywood Rangers refused to merge with the Hollywood Bears, which returned after a two-season absence (the Rangers became an independent team in 1945 instead… and then folded after six games). Bill Freelove’s Los Angeles Mustangs were refused admittance into the merged league and met the same fate as the Rangers when they tried to play as an independent team in 1945. When the dust of the merger settled, the new PCPFL team lineup was the same as it was in 1944, except with the AFL San Francisco Clippers replacing the Packers and the returning Hollywood Bears replacing the short-lived Wolves of the same locale.

Team	W	L	T	Pct.	PF	PA
Hollywood Bears	8	2	1	.800	248	95
Oakland Giants	7	2	0	.778	151	105
Los Angeles Bulldogs	5	5	1	.500	163	143
San Diego Bombers	4	4	0	.500	159	126
San Francisco Clippers	1	7	0	.125	47	195
San Jose Mustangs	0	5	0	.000	58	162

With the end of World War II, more changes were afoot in the newly-merged PCPFL. Kenny Washington and Paul Schlisser returned to the Bears, who ended San Diego’s string of league championships. Tailback Dean McAdams, hero of the Rangers’ championship campaign of 1944, was scoring touchdowns for the Bulldogs in 1945. San Diego had Bosh Pritchard

Bosh Pritchard

Abisha Collins "Bosh" Pritchard was an American football halfback in the National Football League who played for ten seasons for the Cleveland Rams, the Philadelphia Eagles and the New York Giants...

, who would later be rushing for the Philadelphia Eagles

Philadelphia Eagles

, and the Bulldogs had a new quarterback who would later make a name for himself in San Francisco: Frankie Albert

Frankie Albert

Frank Cullen "Frankie" Albert was an American football player. He played as a quarterback with the San Francisco 49ers in the National Football League...

. The NFL’s color line was still about a year from being erased; Oakland’s Mel Reid, banned by the NFL because of his race, was the PCPFL’s most valuable player

Most Valuable Player

In sports, a Most Valuable Player award is an honor typically bestowed upon the best performing player or players on a specific team, in an entire league, or for a particular contest or series of contests...

in 1945.

Seismic changes in the world of professional football were the trend in 1946. The Hollywood Bears and the Los Angeles Bulldogs once had Los Angeles to themselves in 1945, but in 1946, they faced competition from the NFL (with the Los Angeles Rams) and the All-America Football Conference

All-America Football Conference

(with the Los Angeles Dons

Los Angeles Dons

The Los Angeles Dons were an American football team in the now defunct All-America Football Conference from 1946 to 1949 that played in the Los Angeles Coliseum....

). While two occupants of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

were drawing dozens of thousands to their home games in 1946, the Bulldogs (in Gilmore Stadium

Gilmore Stadium

) and the Bears (in Gilmore Field

Gilmore Field

Gilmore Field is a former minor league baseball park that served as home to the Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League from 1939-1957 when they, along with their intra-city rivals, the Los Angeles Angels, were displaced by the transplanted Brooklyn Dodgers of the National...

) were having difficulty getting paying people to their much smaller stadia. Another major change came with the rebreaking of the NFL's 12-year-old "color barrier:" when the Rams signed two of the PCPFL's top stars, Woody Strode

Woody Strode

and Kenny Washington

Kenny Washington (American football)

Kenneth S. "Kingfish" Washington was a professional football player who was the first African-American to sign a contract with a National Football League team in the modern era.-UCLA Bruins:...

(both of the Hollywood Bears), it began a slow erosion of the PCPFL's most important talent base: the black players in American professional football

Black players in American professional football

Details of the history of black players in American professional football depend on the professional football league considered: the National Football League , which evolved from the first professional league, the American Professional Football Association, or the American Football League, , a...

that, up to that point, the NFL had refused to allow into their league.

In the meantime, the PCPFL expanded to a record nine teams and had divisional play for the only time in its history (the two division champions would play a single game for the league title). New teams include the Tacoma Indians, Salt Lake (City) Seagulls, Sacramento Nuggets, and the Hawaiian Warriors. The Hawaiians played all their games at home, and generally in two-game sets to minimize travel expenses for the mainland opponents. With their own officiating crew, the Warriors had a perceived advantage as they consistently played in front of crowds of upward of 15,000 people.

The PCPFL, the Dixie League

Dixie League (football)

, and the American Association

American Association (football)

(which changed its name to the American Football League for the 1946 season) entered into a working arrangement with the NFL, agreeing to being, in essence, a farm league to the “big boys” and not allowing any participants in “any outlaw league” (specifically the AAFC) to be a member of any PCPFL team. The compact was formalized March 24, 1946, with the announcement of the formation of the Association of Professional Football Leagues

Association of Professional Football Leagues

The Association of Professional Football Leagues was a compact formed in 1946 among the National Football League and three minor leagues of professional American football: the American Association , the Dixie League, and the Pacific Coast Professional Football League...

Team	W	L	T	Pct.	PF	PA
Tacoma Indians	7	4	0	.636	202	141
San Francisco Clippers	6	4	0	.600	206	130
Salt Lake Seagulls	2	5	1	.286	81	137
Sacramento Nuggets	2	5	1	.286	67	201
Oakland Giants	1	5	0	.167	60	89

Team	W	L	T	Pct.	PF	PA
Los Angeles Bulldogs	9	2	1	.818	318	185
Hawaiian Warriors	8	4	0	.667	236	179
Hollywood Bears	5	5	1	.500	187	196
San Diego Bombers	1	7	0	.125	65	164

The season ended in controversy as the Northern Division title was determined by a game in which the San Francisco Clippers apparently defeated the Los Angeles Bulldogs by a score of 24-19 and claimed the top spot in the division. When Clippers owner Frank Ciraolo entered his team’s locker room to participate in the victory celebration, he noticed that John Woudenberg

John Woudenberg

John William "Dutch" Woudenberg, Jr. was a professional American football offensive and defensive lineman in the National Football League and the All-America Football Conference ....

, tackle for the San Francisco 49ers

San Francisco 49ers

The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and...

, was wearing a uniform that was assigned to the Clippers’ Courtney Thorell. After the “discrepancy” was reported to league officials, the game was declared a 1-0 forfeit to the Bulldogs. As a result, the Northern Division champions were the Tacoma Indians.

The Bulldogs, with 11 players with NFL experience, defeated Tacoma in the league championship game, 38-7, on January 19, 1947. It was the last game of the Indians’ existence.

Although the Salt Lake Seagulls had three games cancelled in 1946, they would return for another season; but not so the Oakland Giants. The Hollywood Bears took another "leave of absence."

Team	W	L	T	Pct.	PF	PA
Hawaiian Warriors	7	2	0	.778	267	121
Los Angeles Bulldogs	5	3	0	.625	165	126
San Francisco Clippers	4	4	0	.500	158	175
Salt Lake Seagulls	1	4	1	.200	48	130
Sacramento Nuggets	0	4	1	.100	75	161

Back Buddy Abreu was the league’s leading rusher and scorer as his Hawaiian Warriors won a narrow “race” with the defending champion Bulldogs (led by quarterback Mel Reid) by beating the team from L.A. 7-6. Sacramento and Salt Lake dropped out of the league after canceling their home-and-home series that was scheduled to finish the PCPFL season.

But having only three active members was not the only issue threatening the continuation of the existence of the league. An investigation led by league president J. Rufus Klawans revealed that members of the Hawaiian Warriors were placing bets on games in which they were participating. Four (Abreu, Ray Scussell, Floyd “Scrap Iron” Rhea, and Jack Keenan

Jack Keenan

Jack Harvey Keenan was an American football guard in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins. He played college football at the University of South Carolina....

) were permanently banned from the league; another ten team members were “suspended indefinitely.”

San Diego Bombers

San Francisco Bay Packers

Los Angeles Bulldogs

Hollywood Bears

As the PCPFL continues unraveling, the Hollywood Bears return to the fold after a second “leave of absence.” The revitalized Bears were under the watchful eye of former Bulldogs owner Jerry Corcoran as they re-entered the league as a traveling team

Traveling team

. The Bulldogs, who used to sell out games at 18,000-seat Gilmore Stadium, had to move to Long Beach, California

Long Beach, California

Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...

, after two years of failing to attract 1000 fans in their home games.

Team	W	L	T	Pct.	PF	PA
Hawaiian Warriors	5	1	0	.833	181	86
Long Beach Bulldogs	3	1	0	.750	102	49
Hollywood Bears	1	3	1	.250	93	152
San Diego Clippers	0	4	1	.000	69	158

The Warriors were the class of the league, averaging 30 points of offense per game despite losing over half of the 1947 squad. They had claimed at least tie for the league title with a 5-1 record, with the Bulldogs having two games left to play (one with the Bears, one with the Clippers) in Long Beach's Veterans Memorial Stadium

Veterans Memorial Stadium (Long Beach)

Veterans Memorial Stadium is a stadium located south of the Liberal Arts Campus of Long Beach City College in Long Beach, California. It is the home stadium to a number of local area high school football teams, as well as Long Beach City College's football team...

.

The games were not played. The legendary Los Angeles Bulldogs (who were the Long Beach Bulldogs in 1948) had called it quits after drawing only 850 fans in the only PCPFL game in Long Beach; the league soon followed suit and folded.

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.