Vintage Canton BULLDOGS Metal Football Players - Entire Team WITH Jim Thorpe

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Vintage Canton BULLDOGS Metal Football Players - Entire Team WITH Jim Thorpe:
$49.95

You’llreceive the complete set of 12 pieces from your favorite team.

Buyother sets to recreate the greatestgames in football history!

The figures -These are metal football players which have been cast using vintage 1930s molds,carefully shaped and trimmed of excess material, filed smooth, then meticulouslyhand painted in great detail with official team colors. They stand from 1 ¾ to 2 ½ inches tall andcome in three exciting poses. So, ifyou’re a fan of football from the era of blood and guts, with leather helmets& melon footballs, you’ll love these!Don’t miss out – BUY ‘EM NOW BEFORE THEY’RE GONE!

What other people are saying about these vintage players – “Beautiful item” - Michigan fan, “Greatfigures, nice details” – Notre Dame fan, “…well done, quality product” – OhioBuckeyes fan, “Figurines arrived as described. Highly recommended…” – Packers fan,“How can I ever thank you…” – LSU Tigers fan…

The metal -The lead in these figures comes from a firing range used for training and practiceby Federal, State and local law enforcement officers. They have been completely sealed with at least three coats of primer and paintby the time they’re shipped to you.

About me –I’m retired from the US Navy. I was aLithographer Chief Petty Officer (Printer).I’m now disabled as I am losing my sight. Pouring, shaping and painting these figuresis a labor of love. My wife says I spend‘way too much time on them (4-5 hours per set) but I find it very relaxing andenjoyable. If you buy these, I guarantee,you’ll find a ton of pleasure in displaying them and adding them to yourcollection.

Thanks for looking thrutheknothole!

Founded

November 15, 1904

Owner

Canton Athletic Club (1903–1906)
Jack Cusack (1911–1918)
Ralph Hay (1918–1923)
Canton Athletic Company (1923)
Sam Deutsch (1923–25)
Herb Brandt (1925–1927)

Coach

Bill Laub (1905)
Blondy Wallace (1905–1906)
Harry Hazlett (1913–1915)
Jim Thorpe (1915–1920)
Cap Edwards (1921)
Guy Chamberlin (1922–1923)
Harry Robb (1925–1926)
Pete Henry (1926)

League

Ohio League
(1903–1906, 1911–1919)
National Football League
(1920–1923, 1925–1926)

The CantonBulldogs were a professional American football team, based in Canton, Ohio. They played in the Ohio League from 1903 to 1906 and 1911 to 1919,and its successor, the National Football League, from 1920 to 1923 and again from 1925to 1926. The Bulldogs would go on to win the 1917, 1918 and 1919 Ohio Leaguechampionships. They were the NFL champions in 1922 and 1923. In 1921–1923, the Bulldogs played 25straight games without a defeat (including 3 ties), which as of 2016 remains anNFL record. As a result of the Bulldogs\' early success along with the leaguebeing founded in the city, the Pro Football Hall of Fame is located in Canton. Jim Thorpe, the Olympian and renowned all-aroundathlete, was Canton\'s most-recognized player in the pre-NFL era.[1]

In 1924, Sam Deutsch, the owner of the NFL\'s Cleveland Indians, bought the Canton Bulldogs and tookthe Bulldogs name and its players to Cleveland and named his franchise the Cleveland Bulldogs. He then offered to sell the Cantonfranchise back to the city of Canton to play in the 1924 season, however therewere no buyers interested in the team, so he \"mothballed\" the Cantonclub. The Canton Bulldogs were however re-established in 1925, and the NFLconsiders the 1925 to 1926 Canton Bulldogs to be the same team as the 1920 to1923 incarnation.

An unrelated\"Canton Bulldogs\" team played in the United Football League in 1964; the team\'s name was somewhatcoincidental, as it had moved from Cleveland and kept its original nickname;that team moved to Philadelphia and became the \"PhiladelphiaBulldogs.\"[2] All in all, this version of theCleveland-Canton-Philadelphia Bulldogs played from 1961 to 1966, its last twoyears in Philadelphia as a member of the Continental Football League.[3] Another \"Canton Bulldogs\"team was slated to begin play in the Stars Football League in 2012, although that team

Prior to thedebut of professional football in the city, an amateur team from Canton wasmentioned as being a superior team in Stark County, Ohio. Until about 1902, this team competedwith the AkronEast Ends for the OhioIndependent Championship. When the Massillon Tigers arrived on the scene and wentprofessional, Canton, as an amateur team, was no longer competitive.[5] The Canton Bulldogs were officiallyestablished on November 15, 1904 as the Canton Athletic Club, a clubdesigned to operate baseball and football teams. The statementstated that the football team was to be a \"professionalorganization,\" complete with a \"professional coach.\"

Blondy Wallace era[edit]

The 1906 CantonBulldogs team.

The team wasgiven the goal of beating the rival Massillon Tigers, who had won the Ohio Leaguechampionship in 1903 and 1904. To do this, Canton went out and offered money tothe best players on all the other Ohio League teams. Bill Laub, a player, team captain and coach ofthe AkronEast Ends, was hired asthe team\'s first-ever coach.

The team beganits 1905 season, with a 7–0 record. The Bulldogs thentraveled to Latrobe, Pennsylvania to play the Latrobe Athletic Association, led by quarterback John Brallier. Latrobe was not only the current Pennsylvania champions, but had gone undefeated forthe last three seasons. Latrobe were also considered the only pro team capableof competing with Canton and Massillon. Canton would go on to lose its 1905game to Latrobe, 6–0. However, the worst part of the loss came when coach BillLaub became injured and was unable to finish the season. Blondy Wallace, a former All-American for the Penn Quakers, was then named as Laub\'s successorand team captain. Two weeks later, the team would lose the Ohio Leaguechampionship game to the Massillon Tigers, 14–4.[6]

Sometime duringthe 1906 season, the Canton team became known as the \"Bulldogs\"although no one is quite sure how it came to be affixed to the Canton team. Itwasn\'t called that in 1905, nor through most of the 1906 season. As late asNovember 4, R.C. Johnson, an editorial cartoonist with the Canton Repository, was only able to picture the Cantonteam as only a man with a club lying in wait for the Massillon Tiger. Mostreferences to the team called it \"Canton A.C.,\" \"C.A.C.,\"\"Canton eleven.\" \"the Red and White\" or \"Wallace\'sMen.\" Suddenly, almost overnight, the team became the\"Bulldogs.\"

For more details on this topic, see Canton Bulldogs–MassillonTigers betting scandal.

Canton Bulldogsvs. Massillon Tigers playing on grid field on November 24,1906, during the betting scandal.

Blondy Wallacebegan the 1906 season by signing Jack Lang, Jack Hayden, Herman Kerchoff, and Clark Schrontz away from the Tigers and improvingCanton\'s chances for 1906 championship. Due to the money that was being spentby Canton and Massillon on professional players, both teams ended up with aspending deficit that had to be shouldered by local businessmen.

That year theBulldogs won their first game against the Tigers, at Canton, but lost thesecond game at Massillon. Due to rules of the championship series, the win inthe second game allowed Massillon to claim the Ohio championship. Shortly afterthat second game, a Massillon newspaper charged Canton coach Blondy Wallacewith throwing the 1906 championship game. Canton denied the charges,maintaining that Massillon only wanted to ruin the club\'s reputation beforetheir final game with Latrobe. Although Massillon could not prove that Cantonhad thrown the game, the accusation so tarnished Canton\'s name that virtuallyno one attended the Latrobe game. The scandal ruined professional football inOhio until the mid 1910s. Other sports pundits argue that the expense ofplacing all-star teams on the field each week hampered on the sport. The CantonMorning News put a $20,000 price tag on the Massillon Tigers 1906 team, whilemany speculate that the Bulldogs probably cost even more. Still others contendthat the games involving top teams like Canton and Massilon were too one-sidedand lacked excitement.

While Massillonwas still able to field a local team in 1907 and still win the Ohio Leaguechampionship, the Canton team folded. Blondy Wallace may have lost more thanmoney. His libel suit never came to trial. The reason was probably that hesettled out of court, rather than that Massillon had some sort of secretevidence. This leaves the scandal still disputed by historians and footballfans alike. Because Wallace settled out of court, we have only charges andcountercharges instead of a real end to the fix scandal.[7]

Harry Turner era[edit]

Jim Thorpe during his tenure with the Bulldogs.

In 1911, Cantonfinally fielded a new team called the Canton Professionals. The team was madeup entirely of local players and the pay was undoubtedly small. In theircomeback season, the Pros finished in second place in the standing behind Peggy Parratt and the Shelby Blues.[8] In 1914, the Pros challenged Parratt,this time with the AkronIndians, for the OhioLeague title. In a game that served as a precursor to the championship, Cantondefeated Parratt, however Canton captain Harry Turner, was severely injured during the gamewhile attempting to tackle Akron\'s Joe Collins. He later died of a fracture to his spinal cord. According to Canton manager Jack Cusack, who was at Turner\'s bedside when hedied, his last words were \"I know I must go,\" he said, \"but I\'msatisfied, for we beat Peggy Parratt.\" Canton won the game 6 to 0. Thedeath of Turner was taken hard by the team. It was the first fatal accidentinvolving a major professional football team in Ohio. The Professionals easilylost a rematch to the Indians a few days later.[9]

Jim Thorpe era[edit]

In 1915,Massillon and Canton began hiring several players away from the Akron Pros. Jack Cusack, who had become managerof the Canton team, restored the old Bulldog name.[10] As the first of two Canton-Massillongames approached, Cusack signed Jim Thorpe for $250 a game. Thorpe did not playmuch in the Bulldogs\' first game, at Massillon, which the Tigers won 16 to 0.In the second game, Thorpe took over as the team\'s coach and played the entiregame. He kicked two field goals in a 6 to 0 Canton win.[11]

In 1916, theBulldogs went undefeated, beat Massillon 24–0, and were generally recognized asthe professional champions, not only of Ohio, but also of the country. BecauseThorpe was able to draw big crowds to Canton for games, Cusack was able to puttogether a financially stable squad that included several former All-Americans.The average attendance for a game prior to Thorpe\'s signing was 1,500. Thatsoon rose to 6,000 and eventually reached 8,000 spectators, which was thecapacity of Canton\'s LeaguePark. Thorpe wouldremain the chief attendance draw in professional football until Red Grange entered the game in 1925.[12] In 1917, the Bulldogs won their firsteight games to claim the 1917 league championship.[13] Neither Canton nor Massillon playedduring the 1918 season because of World War I and the influenza epidemic.[14] Cusack left the team that year tostart up an oil business in Oklahoma and Ralph Hay, a successful auto dealer, took overmanaging the team.

Hay keptCusack\'s team pretty much intact in 1919 and the Bulldogs won their thirdleague championship in four years.[10] They played the Hammond Pros, twice in Chicago at Cubs Park, now called Wrigley Field, in front of crowds of 10,000 fans.[15]

NFL[edit]

The CantonBulldogs players depicted in 1922, first NFL championship.

Canton Bulldogsin 1923, NFL champions.

In the APFA,the Bulldogs found the competition somewhat tougher than expected. Canton had arespectable 9–5–4 record over the next two seasons. The APFA became the National Football League in 1922 and Hay hired Guy Chamberlin as Canton\'s player-coach. Chamberlin rebuilt the Bulldogs intoa championship team. He kept just five players from the 1921 squad. As a playerChamberlin led his team past the Chicago Cardinals in 1922 by blocking a punt that set upa touchdown, and running back two interceptions for touchdowns to beat the Cards\'20–3.[17] The Bulldogs went on to winback-to-back NFL championships in 1922 and 1923.

However, Cantonsuffered several setbacks in 1923. First Hay announced that he was steppingdown as the team\'s manager. His asking price for the team was $1,500, which wasdecided to be about $500 more than the 1922 champions were worth. Things werestill up in the air when Hay and Chamberlin left for Chicago to represent theBulldogs at the league\'s summer meeting. When Ralph Hay returned to Canton, hesold the Bulldogs on a group of local businessmen who formed the CantonAthletic Company to run the team. Chamberlin stayed on as coach, assuring theteam of success on the field. Success at the gate was not nearly so likely.[18]

Pro Football Hall of Famers[edit]

Guy Chamberlin
Joe Guyon
Wilbur \"Pete\" Henry
William \"Link\" Lyman
Greasy Neale
Jim Thorpe

Season-by-season[edit]

Year

League

Finish

Coach

Outcome

1905

Ohio

2nd

Bill Laub, Blondy Wallace

Lost Championship to Massillon Tigers

1906

Ohio

2nd

Blondy Wallace

Lost Championship to Massillon Tigers

1907

did not play

1908

did not play

1909

did not play

1910

did not play

1911

Ohio

2nd

Ben Clarke

Lost Championship to Shelby Blues

1912

Ohio

Harry Blythe

1913

Ohio

Harry Hazlett

1914

Ohio

2nd

Harry Hazlett

Lost Championship to Akron Indians

1915

Ohio

1st

Harry Hazlett, Jim Thorpe

Co-Champions with the Massillon Tigers and Youngstown Patricians

1916

Ohio

1st

Jim Thorpe

Champions: defeated Massillon Tigers

1917

Ohio

1st

Jim Thorpe

Champions: defeated Massillon Tigers

1918

did not play

1919

Ohio

1st

Jim Thorpe

Champions: defeated Massillon Tigers

1920

APFA

8th

Jim Thorpe

1921

APFA

4th

Cap Edwards

1922

NFL

1st

Guy Chamberlin

NFL Champions

1923

NFL

1st

Guy Chamberlin

NFL Champions

1924

did not play

1925

NFL

11th

Harry Robb

1926

NFL

20th

Harry Robb, Pete Henry

Totals

107