Aftermath & Legacy
Immediately after the sudden dissolution of the Panthers, four of the team's members managed to join other rosters in either the NFL or the AFL. Doc Elliot found a spot in the eventual AFL champion Philadelphia Quakers, while Al Nesser returned to the NFL, this time playing for the New York Giants. Guy Roberts and Jack Sack both found a new “home” with the Canton Bulldogs. While Sack finished his career in 1926 and Elliott was out of professional football until 1931, the other two former members continued their careers after the end of the first AFL.
They were not the only 1926 Panthers to play for the NFL afterwards:
Cookie Cunningham – 1927 Cleveland Bulldogs, 1929 Chicago Bears, 1931 Staten Island Stapletons
Doc Elliott – 1931 Cleveland Indians
Al Nesser – 1926-28 New York Giants, 1931 Cleveland Indians
Guy Roberts – 1926 Canton Bulldogs, 1927 Pottsville Maroons
Jack Sack – 1926 Canton Bulldogs
Dick Wolf – 1927 Cleveland Bulldogs
Cunningham also played in the American Basketball League 1926-1931 and was a player-coach in the National Basketball League in 1937 and 1938.
On the other hand, six former NFL players had their professional football careers end with the folding of the Panthers:
Al Michaels – 1923-24 Akron Pros, 1925 Cleveland Bulldogs
Dave Noble – 1924-25 Cleveland Bulldogs, 1926 Cleveland Panthers
Red Roberts – 1922 Toledo Maroons, 1923 Akron Pros
Bob Spiers – 1922 Akron Pros, 1925 Cleveland Bulldogs
Ralph Vince – 1923 and 1925 Cleveland Bulldogs
Red Weaver – 1923-25 Columbus Tigers (coach 1924-25)
When Cleveland was getting a new team to play in the All-America Football Conference in 1944, the team's head coach, Paul Brown, wanted to use the name "Cleveland Panthers" after popular support named the team after him initially. However, Brown would later be informed by former Panthers owner Zimmerman that he still held the rights to the Panthers name. Brown ultimately went with the first option, and the team would be named the Cleveland Browns. The Browns joined the NFL from the AAFC in 1950 and continue to play in the NFL today.
The "Panthers" nickname would be revived in the NFL in 1993 for an expansion team based in Charlotte, North Carolina; the Carolina Panthers.
Read more about this topic: Cleveland Panthers
Famous quotes containing the words aftermath and/or legacy:
“The aftermath of joy is not usually more joy.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“What is popularly called fame is nothing but an empty name and a legacy from paganism.”
—Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536)