History
Although the Brooklyn Dodger franchise was purchased from the Dayton Triangles in 1930, the team was totally new. Brooklyn businessman Bill Dwyer and John Depler, who had coached the Orange Tornadoes in 1929, were the owners.
The team went 7-4-1 in its first season but dropped all the way to 2-12 in 1931. Benny Friedman, who had starred as a passer for three other teams in four NFL seasons, was then hired as player-coach, but he didn't have much more success.
John "Shipwreck" Kelly and Christian "Red" Cagle, both of whom had played for the New York Giants the previous season, bought the Brooklyn franchise for $25,000 in 1933. Most of the money undoubtedly came from Kelly, who came from a wealthy family. The new owners kept Friedman as a player, but hired a new coach and brought in some new talent, notably themselves. Cagle was a dangerous runner who had been an All-American at Army and Kelly was a good pass receiver out of the backfield.
The Dodgers finished second in the Eastern Division. Dan Topping then bought out Cagle's share of the team, although Cagle continued to play. However, Benny Friedman retired for a college coaching job and the team slipped all the way to 4-7. The Dodgers stumbled along in mediocrity until 1940, when Jock Sutherland was brought in as coach. Sutherland, who had coached the University of Pittsburgh to 110 wins in 15 seasons, immediately made contenders of the Dodgers. They finished second in the East two years in a row, just a game behind each time, but then Sutherland and several of the team's stars went into the service.
After two losing seasons, the Dodgers were renamed the Tigers in 1944. But they were even worse under the new name, losing all 10 of their games that season. Because of the World War II, the team was merged with the Boston Yanks in 1945. The following year, Topping moved his team into the new All-America Football Conference. He also moved them to New York and renamed them the Yankees. Just to confuse things further, the AAFC had a new franchise called the Brooklyn Dodgers, which had absolutely nothing to do with Topping's team.
In 1949, the AAFC's fourth and final season, the Dodgers merged into the Yankees. After the AAFC, three of its teams entered the NFL, while the Yankees were merged with the NFL's New York Bulldogs, formerly the Boston Yanks. That team folded after the 1951 season.