Triangles: The Life and Times of an NFL Original Team

This final episode of the podcast explores the impact that National Football League original team the Dayton Triangles and its members had on sports and the local community..Support the show

Carl Storck sold the Dayton Triangles in 1930, but stayed in the National Football League as an executive. Eventually, he succeeded the late Joe Carr as NFL president, becoming the third, and last, head of the league before the commissioner era. This episode documents the two year period when the National Football League was headquartered in Dayton, Ohio.Support the show

The Dayton Triangles, last founding members of the National Football League, struggle to survive as a road team in the late 1920s.Support the show

Facing irrelevance in 1927, Dayton Triangles owner Carl Storck and business manager Mike Redelle reinvent the National Football League original team as a hometown squad. After losing their opening game, the Triangles upset defending NFL champions the Frankford Yellow Jackets before playing an epic game against the New York Yankees, led by the legendary Red Grange. The season features tough defensive battles with the likes of the Chicago Bears and Cardinals. By the end of the 1927 season, Dayton is the last remaining NFL original franchise.Support the show

After concluding that National Football League original team the Dayton Triangles could no longer make money on home games, owner/coach Carl Storck and his business manager Mike Redelle turn the Triangles into a road team in 1925. In 1926, Storck and Redelle reconsider that strategy and float a "trial balloon" in an effort to rekindle interest in the team.Support the show

As the 1924 National Football League season approaches, Dayton Triangles owner/coach/manager Carl Storck hopes to restore the team to NFL glory after a disastrous 1923 campaign. The team must overcome several challenges before the season even begins, but open the with two wins. Then, the Triangles must face another dose of adversity, with struggles both on the field and at the box office.Support the show

Following the untimely death of the Dayton Triangles' most ardent financial supporter, Carl Storck must assume ownership of the team's NFL franchise in an effort to keep the team going. The 1923 season sees the Triangles struggle to replace retired quarterback Al Mahrt, as numerous teams in the new league struggle to survive financially..Support the show

The 1922 NFL season represents a turning point for National Football League founding team, the Dayton Triangles. Founding coach Nelson "Bud" Talbott is forced to step aside to attend to his growing family business and social affairs, leaving team business manager Carl Storck to assume head coaching duties as well. Meanwhile, illness threatens the team's biggest supporter in the local business community. The team's long time quarterback and field general, Al Mahrt, faces his future.Support the show

Dayton Triangles coach Nelson Talbott, forced to take on more family responsibilities in the wake of his father's death, turns to his old Yale coach Frank Hinkey to help out during the 1921 professional football season. Business manager Carl Storck hopes to build on the success of the 1920 Triangles at the box office, but runs into trouble when the team struggles to win games.Support the show

The Dayton Triangles join with other teams in 1920 to form the American Professional Football Association, which would eventually rename itself the National Football League. The inaugural APFA season finds the Triangles in the hunt for the first pro football championship, and features epic battles against teams led by future NFL Hall of Fame players like Jim Thorpe and Fritz Pollard.Support the show

Following two years of war and disease, life returned to normal for the Dayton Triangles football team in 1919. With their coach and star quarterback back from the war, the Triangles looked to prove their mettle against the top competition in the Ohio League. Getting games against the likes of the Canton Bulldogs and Massillon Tigers, however, remained a daunting challenge. Support the show

The 1918 Dayton Triangles must deal with the constraints imposed by war in Europe and an influenza pandemic at home. The Triangles persevere under the guidance of fill-in coach Earle "Greasy" Neale and the management of Carl "Scummy" Storck. Support the show

When the United States enters the war in Europe in 1917, things change for the second-year Dayton Triangles. Coach Nelson "Bud" Talbott and Triangles business manager Mike Redelle are among those who volunteer for military service. The team moves on with Al Mahrt as associate coach for the season and Carl Storck taking Redelle's position as team and park manager.Support the show

The Dayton Triangles, who would become founding members of the National Football League, embark on their inaugural season of play in 1916 under Coach Nelson "Bud" Talbott. Keyed by the exploits of Norb Sacksteder, the power running of Lou Partlow, and Al Mahrt's fast and accurate passes, the Triangles became a Dayton semi-pro "dream team" that contended for championship honors in the Ohio League. Despite playing well, though, the Triangles struggled to get fans in the seats at Triangle Park, a problem that would haunt them throughout their history.Support the show

The former Saint Mary's Cadets, forerunners of NFL original team the Dayton Triangles, became the Dayton Gym-Cadets in 1915. The Gym-Cadets put themselves forward as contenders for the championship of the informal Ohio League. In the East, Nelson Talbott prepared himself for the next phase of his career. As 1916 arrived, three Dayton industrialists and their companies created Triangle Park and became major backers of local athletics. Talbott and F. B. MacNab emerge as key leaders in both areas..Support the show

After winning the football championship of Dayton and Southern Ohio in 1913, the Saint Mary's Cadets, predecessors of the Dayton Triangles, faced an uphill battle to repeat in 1914. Injuries and defections took their toll. The 1914 season was also noteworthy for the arrival of center George Kinderdine, who would be an anchor for the Cadets and Triangles throughout the latter team's history. The episode also covers Nelson "Bud" Talbott's senior year at Yale, and Norb Sacksteder's amazing performance that caught the attention of "Ripley's Believe It Or Not" almost two decades after he turned it in.Support the show

The Saint Mary's Cadets, predecessors of the Dayton Triangles, complete their march to the Dayton city football championship. Meanwhile, Nelson Talbott gains national renown,  becoming an All-American at Yale.Support the show

This episode covers key events in the early years of the Saint Mary's Cadets, whose football team eventually formed the nucleus of NFL original team the Dayton Triangles. As the Cadets evolved, so did the economics and rules of the American football game. By 1913, the main Cadet players were out of school and ready to take on the world. First, though, they had to haggle over gate receipts.Support the show

This episode traces the beginnings of the Dayton Triangles from their inception as a basketball team called the Saint Mary's Cadets. The episode also describes the state of American football around 1900 and tells how a crisis in the game in 1905 led to an open style of play in which the Cadets, and later the Triangles, excelled.Support the show

This episode gives a little background about how I got started in the process of creating this podcast and sets the stage for future episodes.Support the show