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Traveling down the history of pro football in the Boston area...
In the early days of pro football it was common for teams to go by the same name as that city's baseball team. It was an attempt for the then less popular football teams to identify with their fan base, and get those fans to also become football fans; they also generally played in the same stadium. So their were pro football teams known as the Boston Braves, New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, etc. The name 'Chicago Bears' was a play on the the Chicago Cubs.
When the football Braves moved from Braves Field to Fenway Park, owner George Preston Marshall wanted to distance himself from the baseball Boston Braves and Braves Field. Problem was that he had all these uniforms that he had just paid for that were only a year old, and he didn't want to invest in another set of uniforms, logos, etc. - so he changed the name to the Redskins, which allowed him to use all the old gear.
At the same time there was another pro football league forming to challenge the NFL - ironically, called the American Football League. An AFL team called the Boston Shamrocks was formed and played in Braves Field. The Shamrocks drew far more fans than the Braves/Skins, causing Marshall to move his NFL team out of Boston, to Washington. The Shamrocks only lasted three seasons, but they should be included in any discussion of the history of the early days of pro football in Boston as well.
In the early days of pro football it was common for teams to go by the same name as that city's baseball team. It was an attempt for the then less popular football teams to identify with their fan base, and get those fans to also become football fans; they also generally played in the same stadium. So their were pro football teams known as the Boston Braves, New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, etc. The name 'Chicago Bears' was a play on the the Chicago Cubs.
When the football Braves moved from Braves Field to Fenway Park, owner George Preston Marshall wanted to distance himself from the baseball Boston Braves and Braves Field. Problem was that he had all these uniforms that he had just paid for that were only a year old, and he didn't want to invest in another set of uniforms, logos, etc. - so he changed the name to the Redskins, which allowed him to use all the old gear.
At the same time there was another pro football league forming to challenge the NFL - ironically, called the American Football League. An AFL team called the Boston Shamrocks was formed and played in Braves Field. The Shamrocks drew far more fans than the Braves/Skins, causing Marshall to move his NFL team out of Boston, to Washington. The Shamrocks only lasted three seasons, but they should be included in any discussion of the history of the early days of pro football in Boston as well.
