Sports' Forgotten Heroes

In the 1940s and into the 1950s, the NFL had a troubled franchise. Originally known as the Boston Yanks, the team played in Boston (with a slight detour in 1945) from 1944 through 1948. They relocated to New York for the 1949 season and renamed themselves the New York Bulldogs. In 1950, they called themselves the Yanks and after the 1951 season, they called it quits. Now, the NFL could not move forward with an odd number of teams. So, they found themselves a buyer and took a chance on an entirely new region of the country, the Southwest. A hotbed for college football, the NFL thought it was a no-brainer. So, the Yanks moved to Dallas and became the Dallas Texans where they would play in the 75,000-seat Cotton Bowl. Well, it didn't go well. The first-ever game attracted just under 18,000 fans. They never reached that number again. Professional football in Dallas - at that time - was a colossal failure. In fact, it was so bad, the Texans didn't finish the season in Dallas. After four home games they had to relo