Chicago Bulls (AFL) - After The First AFL

After The First AFL

Upon the completion of a New York Yankees' 7-3 victory over the Bulls in Comiskey Park on December 12, 1926, the first AFL was officially dead. Although Joey Sternaman was the official owner of the team, the bills were paid by C. C. Pyle, who decided to cut his losses by dissolving his (and Red Grange’s) interest in the team as the Yankees and the Wildcats went on a barnstorming tour of the American South and West Coast. As a result, the Bulls were no more viable as an entity than the AFL. Its fate was officially sealed when Sternaman returned to the Chicago Bears and the Yankees entered the National Football League (with New York Giants owner Tim Mara technically the owner in a lease arrangement for the defunct Brooklyn Lions franchise).

As Sternaman continued his career, he was not the only former Chicago Bull to join a NFL team’s roster after the dissolution of the AFL:

Mush Crawford – 1927 New York Yankees
John Fahay – 1929 Minneapolis Red Jackets
Aubrey Goodman – 1927 Chicago Cardinals
Ojay Larson – 1929 Chicago Bears, 1929 Chicago Cardinals
Dick Stahlman – 1929 & 1930 New York Giants, 1931-1932 Green Bay Packers, 1933 Chicago Bears
Red Strader – 1927 Chicago Cardinals (later became head coach for the 1948-1949 New York Yankees (AAFC), 1950-51 New York Yanks (NFL), and 1955 San Francisco 49ers)
Jim Tays – 1927 Dayton Triangles, 1930 Newark Tornadoes, 1930 Staten Island Stapletons
Buck White – 1927-1929 Chicago Bears

While Garland Buckeye’s professional football career ended with the folding of the Bulls, his major league baseball career continued, pitching for the Cleveland Indians in 1927-1928 and the New York Giants in 1928.