1932: Eight is Enough
1932 was a turning point in pro football history. While the full set of teams that would march into the "modern" era (or more accurately the Post-WWII era) was not quite complete, the framework that the league would use to reach a point of stability was in the final stages of forming. Yes, Harrisburg and Rhode Island, two "small-time" cities were still around, but their days were numbered. Those small city teams probably rejoiced a bit when it was announced that three "big city" teams: the Boston Minutemen, Pittsburgh Miners and Philadelphia Hornets, were folding.
Left with a seven-team circuit, AFA President Jack Kristich was tempted to add another smaller city to the circuit, keeping some balance between big and small, which was his long-time preference. But the memory of the "Reds' Revolution" of 1931 when Rhode Island had refused to play the Detroit Maroons in what would have been a de facto championship game, still rankled even Kristich's fair-minded heart. Losing three large markets, he decided that the proper thing to do would be to replace one of those teams with a new club, one with no baggage and a fresh economic start. So Jack went with Boston where a consortium that included both hockey owner Frank Denny and baseball owner Jesse Barton put together a team that would be called the Boston Americans. The Americans would play at Barton's ballpark which would henceforth include some temporary football-only stands built by Denny's construction company giving the Americans arguably the best sightlines of any AFA club.
On the field, the newly-minted Boston Americans were a revelation, winning nine of their fourteen games to finish second, ahead of the traditional powers in Chicago, Detroit and New York and behind only the resurgent Cleveland Finches. Led by dual-threat QB Allan Pothast, who led the league in passing yardage while finishing fourth in rushing yardage, the Finches weren't overpowering on either offense or defense, but were consistent in all phases and that was good enough to earn them the 1932 AFA Championship.
Boston featured Magnus Norman, who became the first rusher to accumulate 1000 yards - a feat that might have been done before, except the AFA didn't start tracking individual statistics until the 1932 season itself. Regardless, Norman had a tremendous season. Rhode Island finished third, and this time there'd be no shenanigans as their 6-4-0 mark was clearly inferior to Cleveland's 7-3-0 record. Once again the league's schedule was unbalanced, and once again Barrell, Boon and Townsend campaigned at the 1933 AFA League Meetings for a balanced schedule that would see everyone play the same number of games, while they also pushed for divisional play to set up a championship game. Jack Kristich however, remained skeptical and felt obliged to the "tradition" of barnstorming-type schedules for the clubs.
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