The Providence Steam Roller

An early NFL franchise, the Providence Steam Roller brought major league sports to Rhode Island for the first time. Playing at a bicycle arena known as the Cycledrome, the team thrilled thousands of fans in its brief history. Only a short time after sitting atop the pro football world for one glorious season, it ceased to exist.
This book brings the Providence Steam Roller back to life in the first thorough examination of one of the most unusual franchises in NFL history. The team toiled in the NFL from 1925 to 1931 after nine years as an independent professional squad. The Steam Roller achieved many firsts in NFL history: it was the first NFL team in New England, hosted the first night game in NFL history, and is the last now-defunct team to win an NFL championship. Many who wore the black and orange uniform played professional football not for the money but for the love of the game and to represent the city of Providence.

Greg D. Tranter is a prominent sports historian, curator and author with a specialized expertise in Buffalo Bills history. He has authored five books on Buffalo sports history and writes for three magazines. He is the assistant executive director of the Pro Football Researchers Association and the managing editor of The Coffin Corner magazine.

Greg D. Tranter
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 293
Bibliographic Info: 42 photos, appendix, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2024
pISBN: 978-1-4766-9494-8
eISBN: 978-1-4766-5340-2
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments ix
Preface 1
Introduction: The 1920s and the Early NFL 3
1. Before the NFL Came to Providence 7
The Early Years of the Independent Steam Roller 7
The Cycledrome 18
2. The Early Years (1925–1927) 22
1925—The Inaugural Season 22
1926—Excitement Turns to Disappointment 38
1927—Conzelman Arrives and Fortunes Change 52
3. The NFL Champions (1928) 68
1928—The Top of the Mountain 68
4. Aftermath and Demise (1929–1931) 95
1929—The Championship Hangover 95
1930—The Steam Roller Contends but Attendance Falls Off Sharply 109
1931—More Games, Fewer Fans, the End Is Near 121
Epilogue: The End and the Steam Roller Legacy 135
A Steam Roller Who’s Who 143
Appendix: ­Year-by-Year Results, Team Rosters and Statistics 227
Chapter Notes 257
Bibliography 263
Index 273

• “This superb history of the Steam Roller masterfully integrates the team within the broader communal context of Providence and New England during the region’s ‘golden age of sports.’ Tranter’s comprehensive research and eloquent writing enliven the players, games, and statistics that produced New England’s first championship NFL team. Undoubtedly, the best book on the Steam Roller.”—Robert Cvornyek, professor emeritus of sport history at Rhode Island College and author of Black Grays and Colored Giants: A Compressive History of Black Baseball in Rhode Island, 1870-1949

• “Rhode Island has punched above its weight in any number of departments for much of the past 400 years and none more so when the Providence Steam Roller reigned as champions of the NFL in 1928. Greg Tranter has captured the story of this remarkable team and franchise in his thoroughly researched and engaging book. A must-read for both football and New England sports fans.”—Richard Johnson, curator, The Sports Museum