The Washington Commanders shipped up to Boston this week for a joint practice with and preseason game against the Patriots. It might be almost 90 years in the past, but history buffs could call the trip a homecoming of sorts. That's because, back when the NFL first started, the Burgundy & Gold was Beantown's pro football team, and the Pats didn't exist.
In the most recent episode of “Hail Tales: Stories from Washington Football History,” Chris Willis, head archivist at NFL Films, dives into what he describes as the "unique story" of the Burgundy & Gold's move from Boston to D.C.
During the franchise's five years in Boston, the city wasn't exactly enamored with the team.
"They cared about Boston College football. They didn't care about pro football at the time," Willis explained.
By the mid-1930s, teams like Chicago and New York were consistently drawing crowds in the 20,000-25,000 range. Boston, however, was only averaging around 5-6,000. It didn't matter even that the Burgundy & Gold was one of the best in the country. In fact, the 1936 team made it to the NFL championship and should have hosted the title game, but ticket sales were dreadfully low.
"Marshall got so mad at the city, he moved the game actually to New York, because they would get a bigger crowd. They would try to get a little bit more money from the championship game, so they could split it with the players," Willis said. "They did lose the game...Don Hudson and the Packers won. But by this time Marshall was like, 'Yeah, I'm done. Let's move somewhere.'"
The "somewhere" became clear quickly. Marshall had an affiliation with Washington, D.C. through his dry cleaning business. Not to mention, a move down south perhaps felt natural for the West Virginia native.
So, off the team went to the nation's capital, and the rest really is history. In their first season in D.C., spearheaded by rookie Slingin' Sam Baugh, Washington won its first NFL championship.
