Ernie Nevers was Jacksonville’s first professional football star. Nevers would go on to become the only player in the history of the NFL to have scored 40 points in a single game. (Wikipedia)
Unfortunately for O’Brien, when kickoff arrived, only 6,700 fans were willing to pay the steep admission necessary to enter the gates of Fairfield Stadium. Fans who did attend witnessed a forgettable 19-6 victory for the Bears, featuring mundane performances by both Grange and Nevers. The inexperienced All-Stars expressed their frustration through an increasingly chippy style of play, hitting the Bears after the whistle and throwing punches in pile-ups. At one point, several Bears chased a particularly egregious Jacksonville offender straight into Fairfield’s bleachers.
That afternoon, the Jacksonville Journal reported, “Professional football came and departed from Jacksonville Saturday afternoon, failing to create much interest among local fans.”
Pyle took his cut, leaving O’Brien with a $12,500 loss for the game.
The All-Star’s fate was sealed seven days later, when an even smaller crowd showed up at Fairfield Stadium to see the All-Stars lose 6-0 to the New York Giants in what would be the last game ever played by the Jacksonville team.
Courtesy of Ken Bowen
Florida Times-Union sports editor Paul W. Ferris lamented the next day:
“It is no secret that the disgraceful smallness of the attendance at the game between Jacksonville and the New York Giants was a severe blow to the men who were attempting to give the city one of the country’s greatest sporting attractions and, incidentally, to publicize Jacksonville throughout the nation as a metropolis capable of doing big things.”
It would be nearly 50 years before professional football returned regularly to Jacksonville.
Ken Bowen is a Data Scientist and digital marketer living in Jacksonville, and the author of Big League City: 100 Years of Football in Jacksonville. You can contact Ken at KenBowen242@gmail.com.