The Rock Island Independents were a professional American football team based in Rock Island, Illinois. One of the first professional football teams, they were founded in 1907 as an independent club founded by Demetrius Clements. They later played in what is now the National Football League from 1920 to 1925. They joined the first American Football League in 1926, but folded in 1927. They played in Douglas Park and Browning Field. Walter Flanigan owned the team from 1915 to 1923; Dale Johnson took over and owned the team until 1926, when the team eventually folded.
Their best finish in the National Football League standings was fifth, which they accomplished three times: in 1921 and 1922 under Jimmy Conzelman, and in 1924 under Johnny Armstrong.
Read more about Rock Island Independents: Pro Football Hall of Famers, Season-by-season
Famous quotes containing the words rock and/or island:
“The steel decks rock with the lightning shock, and shake with the
great recoil,
And the sea grows red with the blood of the dead and reaches for his spoil—
But not till the foe has gone below or turns his prow and runs,
Shall the voice of peace bring sweet release to the men behind the
guns!”
—John Jerome Rooney (1866–1934)
“Your kind doesn’t just kill men. You murder their spirits, you strangle their last breath of hope and freedom, so that you, the chosen few, can rule your slaves in ease and luxury. You’re a sadist just like the others, Heiser, with no resource but violence and no feeling but fear, the kind you’re feeling now. You’re drowning, Heiser, drowning in the ocean of blood around this barren little island you call the New Order.”
—Curtis Siodmak (1902–1988)