80 years ago today, New Orleans made pro football history

SmashMouth · 12-05-2018, 07:25 AM

On Dec. 4, 1938, the first professional football game in the southern U.S. was played in New Orleans.

The Cleveland Rams defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 13-7 before an estimated crowd of 7,500 fans at City Park Municipal Stadium.

The stadium was opened a year earlier and eventually was named after former Tulane, Loyola and LSU coach Tad Gormley. The facility hosted its first football game on Oct. 24, 1937, when DePaul defeated Loyola 18-7 before 20,000 fans, but city officials were eager to christen it with professional football.

Here’s how the game came about, according to sports historian William Taylor:

“In mid-October 1938, Pittsburgh Pirates owner Art Rooney (the club would become the Steelers in 1940) got NFL permission to move the team’s upcoming (regular season) home game versus the Cleveland Rams to the end of the season in early December and re-locate the game because of low attendance,” Taylor said. “After negotiations with Chattanooga, Tenn. failed, a friend recommended he speak with New Orleans officials on the availability of City Park Stadium. On Nov. 27, Pirates business manager John Maher arrived in New Orleans to present the check to secure the facility. A formal announcement of the game was made eight days later.”

Tickets were priced at $1-$2.50. Programs sold for 10 cents.

The league assigned E.F. “Tommy” Hughitt as the head referee for the game, but used locals for the other officiating positions: umpire Leo Ernest (Warren Easton High School); linesman W.J. “Dutch” Luchsinger (Tulane, longtime Fortier High School coach), and Bill Walmsley (Rugby Academy).

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12-05-2018, 07:25 AM	#1
SmashMouth I donated, did you? Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Mandeville, LA Posts: 37,141 Blog Entries: 29	80 years ago today, New Orleans made pro football history On Dec. 4, 1938, the first professional football game in the southern U.S. was played in New Orleans. The Cleveland Rams defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 13-7 before an estimated crowd of 7,500 fans at City Park Municipal Stadium. The stadium was opened a year earlier and eventually was named after former Tulane, Loyola and LSU coach Tad Gormley. The facility hosted its first football game on Oct. 24, 1937, when DePaul defeated Loyola 18-7 before 20,000 fans, but city officials were eager to christen it with professional football. Here’s how the game came about, according to sports historian William Taylor: “In mid-October 1938, Pittsburgh Pirates owner Art Rooney (the club would become the Steelers in 1940) got NFL permission to move the team’s upcoming (regular season) home game versus the Cleveland Rams to the end of the season in early December and re-locate the game because of low attendance,” Taylor said. “After negotiations with Chattanooga, Tenn. failed, a friend recommended he speak with New Orleans officials on the availability of City Park Stadium. On Nov. 27, Pirates business manager John Maher arrived in New Orleans to present the check to secure the facility. A formal announcement of the game was made eight days later.” Tickets were priced at $1-$2.50. Programs sold for 10 cents. The league assigned E.F. “Tommy” Hughitt as the head referee for the game, but used locals for the other officiating positions: umpire Leo Ernest (Warren Easton High School); linesman W.J. “Dutch” Luchsinger (Tulane, longtime Fortier High School coach), and Bill Walmsley (Rugby Academy). more on NOLA Attached Thumbnails exiled and jeanpierre like this.