History
Rock Island, Illinois, is one of the so-called Tri-Cities, with Moline, also in Illinois, and Davenport, Iowa. (Later, when Bettendorf, Iowa, was incorporated, the area became known as the Quad Cities.) The NBA team now known as the Atlanta Hawks originated as the Tri-Cities Blackhawks of the National Basketball League.
But long before that, the Tri-Cities area had quite a few amateur neighborhood football teams, and competition between the cities was as intense as the competition within them. In 1910, some of Rock Island's best players formed a team known as the Independents, because it wasn't associated with any particular neighborhood or club. The team went undefeated and unscored upon in five games.
The Independents didn't play in 1911, but many of the same players came back together in 1912, under the leadership of John Roche, and they won eight games without giving up a score.
Eventually, the Independents gave up some points. They even lost a game now and then. But that was to be expected, because the Independents were moving beyond their original territory and playing better teams.
Walter Flanigan, who had joined the Independents as a backup end in 1913, took over the team in 1915. He expanded Rock Island's horizons even farther. He boldly scheduled two 1917 games against the Minneapolis Marines, who were generally considered the champions of the northwest--that is to say, the area of the midwest beyond Indiana. Rock Island did well in the home game, losing only 7-3. But they were wiped out, 33-7, at Minneapolis.
Flanigan realized he had to bring in some players from outside the Rock Island area to build a top-caliber team. In 1919, he hired Rube Ursella of the Marines as player-coach, and Ursella brought several other Minneapolis players with him. They lost only one game that season, to the powerful Hammond Pros, led by George Halas. Flanigan challenged the Canton Bulldogs to a "championship" game, offering a guarantee of $5,000 if they would come to Rock Island for the game. But Canton, which had already won the Ohio championship by beating arch-rival Massillon, turned down the offer.
The following year, Flanigan jumped at the chance to join the new American Professional Football Association, which became the NFL in 1922. The Independents had identical 4-2-1 records in each of the league's first three years, with five of the six losses coming against George Halas's Decatur/Chicago Staleys/Bears.
Flanigan left the team to concentrate on his own real estate and insurance business in 1923. Another local businessman, Dale Johnson, took over as owner, with backup quarterback Vince McCarthy as manager. Rock Island went 2-3-3 that season, but came back with two more winning seasons in 1924 and 1925.
Then came a fateful decision. Red Grange and his manager, C. C. Pyle, were rounding up franchises for the American Football League, to begin play in 1926. McCarthy pulled Rock Island out of the NFL and joined the new league. The Independents were the only NFL team to make the jump, and it turned out to be a bad idea. Several players left for bigger salaries with other teams, and the Independents stumbled to a 2-6-1 record. It was a losing season in every way. The AFL folded and the Independents didn't rejoin the NFL. They played as a minor, semi-pro team in 1927, then went out of business.