Evansville Crimson Giants

First Game Played October 2, 1921 Last Game Played Novermber 12, 1922

1921: While the American Professional Football Association was playing its first season, a semi-pro team in Evansville, Indiana was finding their own success. The Ex-Collegians as they were called posted a 7-1 record and attempted to lure the Canton Bulldogs into a game on Christmas Day. While, they failed to get a matchup with Canton, the publicity and interest in the Professional Football in Evansville convinced local business men to invest in their own team. After initial reluctance players from the Ex-Collegians would join the team known as the Crimson Giants. Playing at Bosse Field, the Crimson Giants would get off to a solid start, blanking the Louisville Brecks 21-0 in their first game on October 2nd. A week later they would also blank the Muncie Flyers 14-0.However, the Giants would suffer a 3-0 loss to the Hammond Pros in Week 3. After two games against non-league teams that the won 90-0 Evansville was greatly exposed, losing to the Green Bay Packers another first year APFA team 43-6. ECG would play one more league game, and regained some respect, beating the Cincinnati Celts 48-0 to finish the season with a record of 3-2.

1922: Despite their solid first season, many players on the Crimson Giants were unhappy with how the team was being run as they suffered financially. A group of players calling themselves “the committee of five” looked to former their own team and compete independently. The committee of five would form a partnership with the Knights of Columbus team and become the Evansville Pros. The Pros attempted to schedule games against the Hammond Pros, Dayton Triangles, and the Louisville Brecks. However, Frank Fausch, owner and coach of the Crimson Giants paid the $1,000 bond to secure the franchise right for the newly renamed NFL. League President Joseph Carr ruled that any team in the NFL wanting to play Evansville could only play the Crimson Giants as they attempted to freeze out the Pros. However, the Pros secured the right to Bosse Field forcing the Giants to start the season on the road. Evansville would lose their first two games to the Toledo Maroons 15-0 and Rock Island Independents 60-0. In the meantime the Evansville Pros unable to get big name opponents folded as the Giants attempted to regain the rights to Bosse Field. However after failing to get an agreement the Giants would play just one more game, losing to the Brecks 13-6 on November 12th. Following the season the Evansville Crimson Giants would fold.

©MMXV Tank Productions. Stats researched by Frank Fleming, all information, and team names are property of the National Football League. This site is not affiliated with the Evansville Crimson Giants or the NFL. This site is maintained for research purposes only. All logos used on this page were from Chris Creamer’s Sports Logos Page.
Page created on January 31, 2015. Last updated on January 31, 2015 at 9:55 pm ET.