Logo of an original team from the National Football League, the Duluth Eskimos. This franchise played as the Duluth Kelleys in 1923 and changed their name in 1926. Although based in Duluth, the team was basically a traveling show and rarely played any “home” games. The team disbanded after the 1927 season, but despite its’ short existence, boasts having 3 Hall of Famers – Walt Kiesling, Ernie Nevers and Johnny “Blood” McNally.
A great team logo for Halloween, the logo of the Toronto Phantoms football team, who played 2 seasons in the Arena Football League, in 2001 and 2002. The team was moved from New England after failing there, and was the Arena League’s attempt to enter the Canadian market. They were owned by Rogers Communications, the same group that later made a deal with the Buffalo Bills of the NFL to host some of their home games, and played their home games at the Air Canada Centre. Unfortunately the team disbanded after the 2002 season. Their most notable player was “offensive specialist” Damian Harrell.
With Halloween just around the corner, a good team logo to feature is this one, of a minor league baseball team that played in the Pioneer League from 2008 until 2011, the Casper Ghosts. Based in Casper, Wyoming, the team played as the Rockies from 2001 to 2007 before taking on the spooky new name, and along with the name change, introduced new team caps that had a ghost logo that glowed in the dark. Unfortunately the team is moving to Grand Junction, Colorado next season.
Logo of the Baltimore Clippers minor league hockey team, which played in the American Hockey League from 1962 until 1975. They were affiliated with the New York Rangers and later the Pittsburgh Penguins. The team disbanded when the Michigan Stags of the WHA relocated to Baltimore and became the Blades. A couple of notable Clipper players include goalie Ed Giacomin and Wayne Rivers.
Logo of the San Francisco 49ers football team, from their days when they played in the old All America Football Conference. When the team began play in the AAFC in 1946, they were the first professional sports team to be based in the city. The 49ers didn’t have much success in the early years, but luckily they were included among the teams from the AAFC to be absorbed into the NFL in 1950. Their roster in the AAFC years included Joe Perry, Bill “Tiger” Johnson, who later coached the Cincinnati Bengals, and left-handed QB Frankie Albert, who also went on to coach the team.
Logo of the Philadelphia Liberty Belles football team, who played in the Independent Women’s Football League from 2001 until 2004, winning the league’s inaugural championship in 2001. A new, totally unrelated version of the Liberty Belles surfaced in 2009 in the Women’s Football Alliance, named in honor of the original team.
Logo of the Buffalo Bisons football team that played in the All America Football Conference in the 1946 season. The franchise played only the one season with the Bison nickname before changing to the Bills in 1947. The Bison roster included quarterback Al Dekdebrun, who owned a popular sporting goods store in the city after his retirement, and was also involved in local politics.
Logo of the New York Yankees’ football team, a franchise that played in the All America Football Conference from 1946 until the league merged with the NFL in 1949. Unfortunately the Yanks weren’t one of the teams absorbed into the NFL, and their players were divided between the New York Giants and New York Bulldogs, who later took the Yankee nickname. The club played its’ home games at Yankee Stadium, in an era where baseball and football franchises routinely shared stadiums and team names. The gridiron Yanks’ roster included two Hall of Famers in Arnie Weinmeister and Tom Landry.
Logo of a team from the wild and wooly early days of the National Football League, the Oorang Indians. They were a traveling team that played in the league in 1922 and 1923, and were named after the Oorang dog kennels in Larue, Ohio. The team was a novelty created by the kennel’s owner for marketing purposes, and its’ roster was made up entirely of Native Americans, led by future Hall of Famer Jim Thorpe. The kennel’s owner was able to purchase the franchise for $100, which he was easily able to do since he could sell one of his prize Airedale dogs for $150. With a population of less than 1,000 the town of Larue is the smallest city to ever have been home to an NFL franchise.
Logo of a baseball team from the old Negro Leagues, the Newark Eagles. The Eagles played in the Negro National League from 1936 until 1948, when the league disbanded due to Jackie Robinson’s successful integration into the major leagues. They have the distinction of being the first professional team with a female owner, Effa Manley, and under her guidance won the Negro League World Series over the powerhouse Kansas City Monarchs in 1946. Their roster over the years included many players who went on to great major league careers, including Larry Doby, Don Newcombe, Monte Irvin and Ray Dandridge.