1924 season[edit] On October 3, 1924, the Maroons played their first game of the season against the Frankford Yellow Jackets. They lost the game 31–6. Despite the loss, hopes were high for the teams second game, against the Milwaukee Badgers. However the result was a 21–0 defeat. The big game and the home opener, which became the only game the professional Maroons would ever play in Kenosha, was scheduled for Sunday October 19, 1924 against the Hammond Pros. Newspaper reports state that the weather was perfect, and remained warm during the first half of the Maroons-Pros contest which ended in scoreless tie. However the wind shifted and a sharp breeze cooled off the thousand or so spectators at Nash Field. On the gridiron things heated up. Capping a third quarter drive, fullback Seasholtz hurtled over the goal for a Maroon touchdown. He missed the conversion kick. However the Pros came back to score with a minute left in the game. Maroons tackle Fritz Heinisch, a Racine native, blocked the extra point try to preserve the final tie which was considered almost a moral victory for the underdog home team. The game drew about 600 spectators in attendance, which was considerably less than a victory since other NFL teams, like the Green Bay Packers, who could draw 5,000 hometown fans to a game. Injuries in the Hamond game were costly. Usher broke his nose, Simpson injured his neck, and Potteiger suffered a broken arm that finished him for the season. From that point, it was all downhill for the Maroons. On October 26, 1924, the team played a strong Duluth Kelleys team. With a powerful running attack, mixed with passes, the Kelleys wiped out the Kenoshans, 32–0. The Maroons failed to make a first down all afternoon. A game with the Waukegan Elks of the lesser Midwest League was scheduled for November 2. At the last minute, however, the Illinois team cancelled out. Some claimed that Midwest officials pressured Waukegan not to play outside its league. When manager Johnson was unable to schedule a replacement game, November 2 became an open date. Citing the missed game and the poor local attendance at the Hammond contest, a Racine sportswriter claimed pro football in Kenosha was a flop and predicted the Maroons would not finish the season. A Maroons spokesman dismissed the accusations and announced the team would travel to Buffalo, New York the following weekend to play the Buffalo Bisons. But there was uncertainty in the air as Johnson announced that there would be a big announcement after the Buffalo game. At Buffalo, the Maroons lost 27–0 to the Bisons. Ten Days later the high-priced Maroons players were released from their contracts and the original team disbanded. In a startling development, the local financial backers announced they were keeping the franchise and had bought the winning, but financially troubled, Duluth Kelleys. The Duluth players were to simply switch jerseys and become the new Kenosha Maroons. The Kelleys were tied for fourth place in the league with the Packers and the Chicago Cardinals. On Thanksgiving Day 1924 a game between the new Maroons and the Racine Horlick-Legion was announced, as was another, just three days later, on November 30, 1924 with the NFLs Kansas City Cowboys. However neither game was played. The Kelleys went back to Duluth to play several more years. For Kenosha the season ended dismally with a 0–4–1 record. The Maroons tied with the winless Minneapolis Marines and the Rochester Jeffersons for last place in the NFL
Posted on: Fri, 14 Nov 2014 16:25:15 +0000
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