History
The Staten Island Stapletons began in 1915 as a neighborhood team, organized by 24-year-old Dan Blaine, who played halfback, and based in the Stapleton section of Staten Island. The Stapletons played similar semi-pro neighborhood teams from the New York City area.
The team was inactive in 1918, when Blaine was in the service, but he got it going again in 1919. Meanwhile, he was also building up a chain of restaurants that made him rich. He retired as a player in 1924 but continued as owner and manager of the Stapletons, who were commonly known as the Stapes.
On November 14, 1926, the Stapes were routed by the Newark Bears, 33-0. The Bears belonged to Red Grange's American Football League, which challenged the NFL just that one season. Unhappy with the defeat, Blaine promptly hired most of the Newark players, who hadn't been paid in a while because the team's owner was having financial problems. As a result, the Bears went out of business and the Stapletons became a much better team.
In 1928, Blaine further upgraded the team by signing some players from New York University. The Stapletons had a 10-1-1 record that season and were 3-1 against NFL teams. They even beat the New York Giants, 7-0, in a Thanksgiving Day game.
That inspired Blaine to apply for an NFL franchise in 1929. He needed permission from Tim Mara, the owner of the Giants, because Staten Island was in Mara's exclusive territory. But Mara actually had an extra franchise. It had originally belonged to the Brooklyn Lions and had been given to Mara when the Lions folded in 1927, because they owed him money. Mara had then allowed the New York Yankees to use the franchise when that team moved from the defunct AFL into the NFL. The Yankees went out of business after the 1928 season, so the franchise again went back to Mara and he passed it on to Staten Island.
Blaine promptly hired Ken Strong, who became the best player in Stapleton's history. An All-American at NYU, Strong was a speedy, powerful runner who was also one of the best kickers of the era.
But the Stapletons never had a winning season in the NFL. In 1932, they finished dead last and Blaine was allowed to suspend league play the following season, when the team, now officially known as the Stapes, played mostly against other independent teams from the New York area. In five exhibition games against NFL teams, they managed just one win. The Stapes didn't play at all in 1934 and Blaine formally surrendered his franchise before the 1935 season.