1939-09-24 Brooklyn Dodgers vs Detroit Lions

[@michaeldonner5334]

The Dayton Triangles were an original NFL team that entered the league in its first season in 1920. In 1930, the Triangles were sold to a Brooklyn-based group, moved to Brooklyn, and played as the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1930-1943. In their last year in Brooklyn, 1944 they were re-named the Brooklyn Tigers. In 1945 they merged with the NFL's Boston Yanks - the resulting franchise was called simply "The Yanks." . The owner of the Tigers then accepted the AAFC's offer of the New York franchise in that league; so the NFL canceled his Brooklyn Tigers franchise and assigned the Brooklyn players to the Boston Yanks. The Boston Yanks moved to New York as the New York Bulldogs in 1949. In 1950, the Bulldogs were renamed the New York Yanks. In 1951, the New York Yanks folded, with the franchise being sold back to the NFL. In 1952, the NFL effectively relocated the franchise in Dallas, Texas, and the Dallas Texans played on year (1952) before it, too, was sold back to the NFL. The Texan players were transferred to a new ownership group in Baltimore, that became the Colts in 1953. Then later that franchise move to Indianapolis. So, the Indianapolis Colts are direct descendants, through the Brooklyn team shown here on the video, of the Dayton Triangles, an original NFL franchise from 1920.

[@TigerWoodsLibido]

Bingo. The NFL and the Irsays know this. The endgame was always to get them back close to Dayton. They’re just 117 miles to the west now.

[@jamesrkrau2481]

What does the Colts ownership think about that. They should embrace it.

[@magellaniclight9098]

👍 That's 👍 good 👍 information ℹ️. Kudos 👌

[@zeb_reynolds]

@@biggslighter1950packers too, no?

[@TheLAGopher]

@@zeb_reynolds The Packers were first organized in 1919 as an independent football club.They didn't join the NFL until it's second season in 1921. So even though they existed in 1920 when the NFL was formed. They were not one of it's original franchises. BTW the Chicago Bears as the Decatur Staleys were formed by George Halas after he was granted an NFL franchise in 1920. The Cardinals actually were formed in Racine Wisconsin as the Racine Cardinals in 1899. So for 21 years the Racine Cardinals operated as a pro team where teams scheduled games among themselves and there was no ruling body enforcing rules among teams and player/coach contracts. The Cardinals joined the NFL in 1920 as the Chicago Cardinals.

[@t4texastomjohnnycat978]

Absolutely loved it. This is the oldest color NFL game THESE eyes have seen.🏈 THANKS FOR POSTING THIS VIDEO.

[@trillionaire2478]

It gives you a wayyyy better look

[@justinreynolds7372]

This is amazing to look at a late 30’s game in color. And sometimes it don’t look real at times to me when I see video likes these because you are so used to the black and white film grain but it’s incredible to see a game in color

[@EdsterIII]

I just got this in my recommendations. Thanks for posting this YEARS ago. I only wish I could have seen it sooner! This was such a cool look into the past. The fact it's in color and looks so good? Made it that much better!

[@southbend3406]

Rare film! Close-up view in color...in 1939!

[@keruetz]

Really fun to watch. Thanks for finding and posting this.

[@Frankincensedjb123]

DAMN! that video quality is amazing. Why is the quality of so many of these old films better than much of what I see recorded just 20 years ago. GREAT job!

[@PoleTooke]

they recorded on film, which can be infinitely upscaled. digital and vhs cannot be.

[@rhythmjones]

Film has higher resolution than videotape. So the entire pre-HD television era has very low resolution. It was okay on a 20" CRT but looks AWFUL on today's HD screens.

[@JiveDadson]

Here's the real answer. Three-strip color processes, like Technicolor, looked great, but were danged expensive. The full color film that largely replaced three-strip in the fifties was relatively cheap, but it faded. Later, and cheaper yet, was video tape. It sucked. High definition digital is a 21st century thing.

[@joeyrivaldo5239]

Week 3. Lions 27 Dodgers 7. Uniform Note: The Brooklyn Dodgers wore both these Red Uniforms & Blue Jerseys, similar to the Detroit Lions. The Dodgers also wore Silver Pants with them, as well as the White Pants with them. Brooklyn Dodgers Uniform Combinations: Red Jersey's/White Pants - Worn Weeks 2, 3, 4 Red Jersey's/Silver Pants - Worn Weeks 7, 8, 9, 11 Blue Jersey's/Silver Pants - Worn Weeks Weeks 10 & 12 Blue Jersey's/White Pants - Worn Week 5 They did not play in Week 1.

[@markroberts9577]

Beautiful quality color footage of the first half of a rough and tumble well played game

[@danieldecker2526]

Crazy that all those people are long gone,maybe a few really young fans might now be around 90.

[@BaltimoreColt]

I know. My uncle was 2 months old. He's 82 now and has a great memory. I'll have to ask him if he remembers this game. lol

[@TigerWoodsLibido]

Even Art Donovan and Gino Marchetti would have been young then but they assuredly would have known of the team moving to Boston then back to NY then of course they were drafted by the Yanks and then were the Texans for the one season before then becoming the Colts with the same roster.

[@mckman6700]

Not all of them are long gone. Brooklyn #7 HoF Ace Parker just died in 2013 age 101 and #22 Ralph Kercheval died in 2010 age 98

[@EZDZ24]

80+ plus years old and in color. Just amazing!

[@JiveDadson]

Color movies predate this by over 20 years.

[@warntom]

I wacthed this clip to see players play without helmets on, turned out it's true coz the place kicker at 6:59 wasn't wearing a helmets which was allowed because helmets weren't mandatory in the NFL until 1943

[@davids9520]

Proof of time travel of video recording technology from the future. This is better than videos of football games from the 1960's and 1970's.

[@locutus1126]

Some of these old videos from 80 years ago were shot on 35 or 70mm film. It was basically like a photograph but not done all the time. Stuff from the 70's was recorded on video tape and as we know, it degrades fairly quickly.

[@tribulation138]

that's still alot of fans even for back then

[@billdries1]

NFL football was a popular spectator sport from the beginning.

[@aethergaming7934]

Love this vivid color

[@saturnguytwelvesg127]

Kicker: helmet optional.

[@mustang6172]

Were the officials selling ice cream too?

[@williamstidham]

Incredible footage from pre-war America

[@pape444]

No fat steriod and anabolic athlete like in today Football. No fat Junk food bad dressed Fans. Pure Sport and pure America in her prime.

[@JustWinBabee]

If anyone wants to know what true Honolulu Blue looks like, it's in this video. The Lions need to get back to this shade for their blue uniforms.

[@StainlessSteelPolish]

The line play looks very different. This must be from the era when below-the-belt blocking was allowed. The defense doesn't even put more than 3 guys on the line of scrimmage. It's like every play you get a mix of offensive and defensive linemen just rolling around.

[@JiveDadson]

Thirty years before below belt blocking was outlawed.

[@_Another_Idea_]

Tom Brady's first NFL game

[@allenmurray7893]

What field was this game played on. Love the vid, but sound would have been good to know some of the players. I like that they weren't wearing face guards.

[@Ryan-qf3kz]

University of Detroit Stadium

[@dustylover100]

I believe the Lions were playing at the University of Detroit - Mercy. I wonder if Dutch Clark was still playing. I do know that around he was their head coach.

[@dustylover100]

I know Potsy Clark was their first one, coming with the Lions from Portsmouth, Ohio.

[@jacobgreengas7121]

Yup, that is exactly where they were playing, they had 15,515 fans in attendance that day. I found the United Press article for that day, I don't see Dutch Clark listed on the roster in the article. And, it looks like the coach that year was Gus Henderson

[@paulhelman2376]

Yes it was. We used to play touch football outside that stadium in the 50's. Six mile and Livernois.

[@richardlawson6787]

Now I know where that saying smash mouth football comes from...no facemasks...imagine how many broken jaws and knocked out teeth were suffered before they smartened up and put on face guards ..it was a very brutal sport back then

[@jameswirth3117]

Detroit won this game 27-7. This games was played at the University of Detroit Field. The Lions did play a few games at Briggs Stadium, the home of the Detroit Tigers, in the 1939 season.

[@bemore1134]

That was my assumption, that it was the UD field, since I noticed late in the film there were TWO sets of goal posts--one on the goal line for pros, the other set 10 yards deeper. The UD Titans last played football in 1964.

[@angeleyes9951]

It's a good thing this film is in color; if it were in black and white like most film was at the time, you wouldn't be able to tell the teams apart.

[@jdnolin4852]

neither team is wearing a white jersey, color rush 1939 style

[@TigerWoodsLibido]

I think the road team sometimes wore orange or red if their colors were different than that of the home team. The Brooklyn Dodgers often wore blue as they are the Dayton Triangles franchise that is now the Indianapolis Colts.

[@toastnjam7384]

Back then there were no home or road uni's until the 1950's when football started to be televised. They needed to be differentiated because of the quality of the small B&W TV's which made it difficult to tell who's who during the plays. Also for night games a white football was use because the regular one was hard to pick up.

[@PoleTooke]

@0:42 OH!! Who's that runner?? he's GOOD

[@jmill3147]

Johnny Pingel

[@PoleTooke]

@@jmill3147 wow he had a super cool career! He has the all time NCAA record for punting yards in a season with 4,138, says Google. I hope he got some recognition for his talent. Hall of fame or some other award or something

[@jbratt]

@ 6:55 kicker has no helmet : )

[@wills1483]

This is great. Everyone is about 185lbs

[@steven2212]

Amazing.

[@SamFergusonNE]

What’s with the two sets of goalposts in one endzone?

[@JWhiiteXXIII]

Them boys back in the days was running that mf no cap

[@andypetrovich2155]

I wonder where this game is played. It can't be Briggs Stadium or Ebbet's Field because i don't see the baseball infield.

[@ANCIENTASTRONAUT]

AWESOME upload

[@Robespierre1758X]

this has got to be the Oct 1 1939 game against the Chicago Cardinals

[@JStarStar00]

Nope, it's Sept. 24, 1939 vs the Brooklyn Dodgers. Detroit won 27-7.

[@akbarlebowitz8151]

No, The Dodgers played the Eagles on 10-1-1939. Oddly enough both the Cardinals and Dodgers wore alternate blue or red jerseys with either silver or white pants in 1939. Both teams had white helmets as well. Could be quite confusing since some teams did not use distinctive stripes or bands on the uniforms. Click on gridiron-uniforms.com to see what all the NFL teams wore past and present.

[@JD-vn4sh]

It's the dodgers you can see ace Parker number 7 throwing the ball.

[@TigerWoodsLibido]

The Dodgers (Colts today) wore blue and white at home and red on the road in some seasons.

[@MrAndyhdz]

@@TigerWoodsLibido not the colts you might find some unofficial connection but not the colts.

[@lakemichigan6598]

This was a time when most of the great college football players didn't graduate to the NFL but instead followed more traditional, non athletic career paths. Professional football just didn't pay very much back then. And by the way, WWII was not yet a month old when this game was being played.

[@lakemichigan6598]

@@sasquatch7234 Baseball too. Both DiMaggio's record 56 game hitting streak & Ted Williams' .403 batting average occurred after the war had started but before our entry into it. Williams flew combat missions during the war as did big Hollywood stars Jimmy Stewart & Clark Gable.

[@johndates9827]

The first Heisman Trophy recipient was Jay Berwanger of the Univ. of Chicago. The Bears offered him a contract of $8,000. Berwanger turned it down, citing he could make more in private business.

[@Wowzersdude-k5c]

@@johndates9827 I ran it through an inflation calculator and 8 grand would be about $180,000 in today's money. I am surprised, actually. That's not terrible money at all.

[@TheLAGopher]

A big part of that was that men who played at the biggest colleges especially the Ivy League and what would become the Big Ten, were seen as gentlemen of leisure who played football for the love of the game and in the same spirit English gentlemen played polo or cricket. Playing football as a job was seen as beneath the dignity of cultured youngmen.

[@goldenthug9]

This is incredible!!

[@gern7535]

they were tougher back then. number 64 on the lions has a slit in the seat of his pants and was still playing! that's tough!

[@PRHILL9696]

Now this is real football!

[@amfbolton]

PRHILL9696 no

[@Trequavion]

Yes sir

[@jacobfamily4544]

Nope. They're wearing helmets and body armour. Real football is done without all that, no forward pass, no blocking, etc and so on. Real football is played in Rugby.

[@FurlogTheGiant]

Jacob Family rugby’s inferiority complex

[@dutdut2.059]

these fools would get utterly dominated by a modern college team. Just stop.

[@roughriderreturns5039]

Imagine how many concussions these players received during the course of the season. Rugged guys.

[@jacobgreengas7121]

It looks like there is potentially one in this video at 1:46 number 25 in red, Bruiser Kinard, takes a knee to the head from the ball carrier, Johnny Pingle, on the line of scrimmage after losing his helmet and lies motionless on the ground after the play

[@NoGoodBoyo1000]

Fewer than in the modern era. Leather helmets were safer. Not used as weapons.

[@fallandbounce]

@@jacobgreengas7121 ... and at the end of that clip you see a teammate going to drag him up and "shake him out of it". Concussions used to be called "getting your bell rung", and were usually met with "come on, you big baby, snap out of it".

[@jacobgreengas7121]

@@fallandbounce Thank heavens we understand them better now. I hate to think of the CTE that so many of those early must have endured

[@XxJERICHOHOLICxX13]

Helmets arguably increase the risk of concussions. There's no data from before modern helmets were invented so we can't say for sure but it makes sense logically speaking. Before boxing added boxing gloves to the sport, fighters took less blows to the head. This is because the risk of breaking your wrist was very high without gloves and wraps, so you had to be very smart about when you chose to strike. But the sport was boring as hell, so they added in boxing gloves to encourage more action. Boxing gloves are not safety devices, they are weapons. They enable you to swing away without worrying about breaking your wrist. A football helmet is just a boxing glove for your head. A hard shell football helmet with a facemask enables you to use your head as a weapon. The speed of the game prior to helmets was a lot slower, because players had to be smart with how they chose to hit and how they took hits. That being said, there are absolutely still concussions in early era football.

[@YTHatesMe-999]

I guess all the scoring came after the camera was turned off.

[@TigerWoodsLibido]

The History of the Indianapolis Colts. “The Dodgers Era”

[@michaeldonner5334]

Great point!! See my post above that explains that connection.

[@MrAndyhdz]

Connection isn't official.

[@user117831]

#7 for Brooklyn is future hall of fame Ace Parker. Right Tackle #25 (Brooklyn) is future HOF Bruiser Kinard. For Detroit #30 C is HOF Alex Wojciechowicz.

[@KevinMiller-xn5vu]

Sucks there's no audio.

[@jamespatrinos4708]

Many players on both sides of the ball.

[@ThomasMcGauley-m7z]

So the baseball team and football team were both the dodgers. Never knew that.

[@aronb03]

1:47 that man is out cold😂😂

[@paulhelman2376]

They played both ways. No sitting out half the game.

[@hunterduhwayne]

1:39 homie got fucking ROCKED OW

[@PoleTooke]

I know, I noticed that too! Dude was OUT

[@michaelsmith-ws2mb]

Where was this game played in Brooklyn?

[@classicsports5057]

This game was played at University of Detroit stadium.

[@fosbury68]

Like the refs in white shirts, white pants and bowties.

[@paulks2339]

Wow this is so cool !

[@paulks2339]

Did Refs back then serve pizza at half time?? What’s with the white suits and chef hats !

[@TooRandomForYou]

@@paulks2339yes I was at this game they served Detroit style pizza… you think Brooklyn style, but Detroit style much better

[@obabytutu6008]

Back when it was fun to watch

[@adanalyst6925]

Funny how they named so many teams after the baseball team

[@mashugenah]

I could spot a couple of unnecessary roughness...

[@timothyclaffey9138]

Anyone know what stadium this might be?

[@JustWinBabee]

This might be the University of Detroit stadium if the game was in Detroit. The Dodgers, like the baseball team, played their home games in Ebbets Field.

[@brunomoreno3666]

it was almost all rushing and no passing lol

[@lakemichigan6598]

Well, the quarterbacks aren't very good passers - but in their defense, the football was fatter then making it more difficult to pass.

[@brunomoreno3666]

@@lakemichigan6598 it was totally a different game of course, they didnt had the defense or the rules of today, it was more a game of hitting.

[@lakemichigan6598]

@@brunomoreno3666 Yes, it was a more basic game back then - but why wouldn't it be? It was a more basic era. The game's been continuously amended these past 81 years in the hopes of keeping it up with the times - and given pro football's profound popularity today, certainly much greater than in 1939, that effort has clearly been very successful.

[@dustylover100]

The team that most of the passing in that day was Green Bay, with Don Hutson being the most feared receiver in the NFL at the time.

[@fakofakoson1667]

Looking at this brings to mind how much the game has changed, not only as a business but the athleticism itself. The fundamentals, stances,form, performance, physique.....

[@limitededition3086]

What's so intresting though is that they are still athletic, and I was not expecting that. Some of those cut moves were nice. I was expecting a bunch of classic old geezers who were slow and unathletic but these guys clearly had talent even back then. Nothing compared to today but still.

[@bl3313]

How much of today's "athleticism" is fueled by drugs?

[@PoleTooke]

which team is which?

[@classicsports5057]

Brooklyn-Red Detroit-Blue

[@bryansteele832]

7:28 POOR GUY SPLIT HIS PANTS

[@coolmeenmac761]

University of Detroit Stadium.

[@ocularzombie6679]

how did you colorize this holy shit

[@classicsports5057]

I'm pretty sure this wasn't colorized.

[@ocularzombie6679]

​@classicsports5057 color tv wasn't even a thing until the 1970s

[@localfatty4364]

These guys look massive

[@HandlingBusinessMA]

They do

[@aethergaming7934]

Just…wow

[@robminmonaca]

I wonder if that goal post in front of the other effected the play of the game. Looks dangerous as well. It looks weird.

[@michaelholland7392]

Before the 1975 NFL season, goalposts were on the goalline...college football had goalposts at the back of the endzone. Apparently, Detroit is using a college field...looks like the college posts are permanent. So they used temporary posts for their game.

[@byrd56]

@@michaelholland7392 Specifically, the Lions were playing on the Univ. of Detroit's football field (U of D, later known as Detroit Mercy, shut down football in 1964). They would eventually move to Briggs Stadium (later Tiger Stadium), followed by Pontiac Silverdome and, currently, Ford Field.

[@dustylover100]

Who won the game?

[@classicsports5057]

Detroit 27-7

[@clivestaples244]

The BROOKLYN DODGERS? Thats a baseal team in LA. Craziest football vid ever! No face masks, and they threw the ball too...

[@brianreid4567]

Interesting 🤔 game for it’s time

[@jnolette1030]

Why isn't there any MLB footage like this?

[@classicsports5057]

There is some footage from the 1939 WS in color.

[@Rasdawg915]

Almost a century later and Detroit still hasn't had a better team than this😂😂😂

[@smdblue90]

I really miss football. I can't watch today's game.

[@aethergaming7934]

Wow

[@mweb1]

0-0?

[@poppopartist3870]

Looks like a good upper level modern day high school football game

[@jiveassturkey8849]

I wouldn’t say upper level, this looks like a middle school or maybe a high school JV game.

[@lakemichigan6598]

@@jiveassturkey8849 The players aren't displaying a lot of athleticism.

[@crawfordgalbraith73]

Do you have to ?

[@Frankincensedjb123]

They run, they block, they tackle. Looks no different to me than what you see today. What are you talking about? You're probably clueless about the fact that the football was more difficult to deal with because it was bigger and harder to throw. Their "athleticism" looks OK to me.

[@poppopartist3870]

@@Frankincensedjb123 no your clueless slow and a dork I'm quite sure... Boy cheerleader

[@rhythmjones]

64 SPLIT HIS PANTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@mrstep2me]

3 yards and a cloud of dust.

[@JD-vn4sh]

Dust covered pellets

[@davidfreeman7455]

Defense pass interference and roughing the quarterback 15 yards. Repeat 1st dowm

[@ot8479]

Would have loved it better in black and white for sure.

[@untexan]

I’m confused, where are all the late hits and spearing and headhunting and cheap shots? The trolls and bots tell me that was what made football great in the old days and there’s none of that here. Is this not a REAL GAME played by REAL MEN?

[@trillionaire2478]

Lol u stupid, This is real

[@fuckyocouch98]

Try the earlier 1970s NFL

[@billdries1]

Without facemasks and hard shell helmets, nobody used their head as a weapon. Ironically, better player safety gear led to more violent play.

[@goodmaro]

@@trillionaire2478 Sarcasm-challenged?

[@wrc1210]

Late hit at 8:57

[@JonathanEvans1977]

One bar face masks 😂 and very little protective gear. Modern day nfl is soft compared to this

[@nightwind7022]

Back when sports were fun and not about money, drugs, politics, and controversy.

[@liammaxwell6114]

Comments like this ruin sports

[@nightwind7022]

@@liammaxwell6114 Sports were ruined long before I started commenting 😏

[@Lions400]

@@nightwind7022politics I understand but the other stuff makes no sense

[@nightwind7022]

@@Lions400 I meant that these days the NFL looks more like pro wrestling than the NFL I grew up with. 😝

[@ryancruz1876]

The 1919 Chicago White Sox called looking for you. 🤣

[@FormedandSmelly]

A 100% pure natural game. No made made artificial turfs, plastic equipment, nylon/polyester uniforms, electronic communications gadgets, or obscene salaries being paid. The only natural thing left in today's football is the leather ball, they still use, for now.

[@MStafford-lr9le]

Wah wah wah, there is always one of you on every old time football video. I think it sucks.

[@johnliberty3647]

@@MStafford-lr9le 2 of us now. I liked the game better in the video than I do now.

[@t4texastomjohnnycat978]

@@johnliberty3647 I'm with you Brother. No overpaid fattass rapper-wannabees out there TV camera-hoggin'. Nobody sucking on oxygen masks. No idiots in the stands looking like they're ready to go trick-or-treating.

[@t4texastomjohnnycat978]

@@MStafford-lr9le Then quit watching mam. Get back to watching "The View".

[@henrypatton5346]

T4TEXASTOM JOHNNYCAT say it. Say what you actually wanna say

[@sahilkumar_home9085]

good coloring but it still has blur

[@JiveDadson]

No coloring. This is undoubtedly an original three-strip movie.

[@bansheesioux5569]

This is not colorized?

[@WitchKing-Of-Angmar]

No, do you think this looks colorized compared to your vast knowledge of colorized films.

[@bansheesioux5569]

@@WitchKing-Of-Angmar it's just a question

[@atheistleopard618]

must have been filmed from 50 miles away in a sound-proof room

[@nicholasbarber3644]

even then the lions where trash

[@TigerWoodsLibido]

The Dodgers (Colts) were actually just as bad or worse most seasons. It took the Triangles-Colts franchise 39 seasons to win their first NFL Championship as they co-founded the NFL in 1920, 2 years after their Ohio League title in 1918.

[@ronsmac]

Great film but God awful football.

[@awesomeautistartist8628]

Great football. The way it’s supposed to be.

[@t4texastomjohnnycat978]

@@awesomeautistartist8628 👍😊👍🏈

[@OdemGee]

I agree, terrible football but you'll those people who will say "no this is real football. Back when they were slow, unathletic, and couldn't throw an accurate pass to save there life" .In reality you can put a good high school team going up against these guys and the high school team would probably blow them out by 50.

[@dutdut2.059]

Tony DaWonderful great football? these guys would get dominated by a modern high school team

[@ronsmac]

@@sasquatch7234 Just a couple of years later Sammy Baugh passed about 20-22 passes a game. Not to dissimilar from the early to mid 70s. In homage to Baugh. He threw 6 td passes on this day 74 years ago. Cheers Sammy