THE BOSTON REDSKINS
1 9 3 3 - 1 9 3 6
The Washington Redskins organization has strong ties with New England, as the franchise originated in Boston in 1932 as the
Boston Braves. Braves owner George Preston Marshall later changed the name to “Redskins” in honor of the team’s head coach,
Lone Star Dietz, who claimed to be of Native American decent. From 1933 to 1936, the Boston Redskins tried their best to compete with college football, which was popular in the area at the time, but had little success growing a fan base. Frustrated by lack
of support, Marshall moved the team back to his hometown of Washington D.C. where they remain today.
The NFL granted the city of Boston their first
football team, following the folding of the Newark Tornados. George Preston Marshall owned the team and
named it the Boston Braves after the baseball team
with whom they shared a home.
Redskins
center Turk Edwards earned
First-Team AllPro honors for
the first time
in his career.
He would go on
to be named
to the NFL’s
1930’s all
decades team
with his teammate, Cliff Battles after their
retirement.
$/%(57*/(1³785.´(':$5'6
Turk Edwards was a highly touted center coming
out of college. He received offers from the Boston
Redskins, the New York Giants and the Portsmouth
Spartans coming out of college. Edwards chose
the highest offer - $1,500 for 10 games to play for
the Redskins. He played for the Redskins franchise
for nine years, earning three First-Team All-Pro
selections (1934, 36, 37), one trip to the Pro Bowl
(1939) and helped his team to one NFL Championship (1937). Following his playing career, Edwards
became an assistant for the Redskins (1941-45)
before being promoted to head coach (1946-48).
'HF
The Redskins
traveled to New
York and shutout the Giants
14-0, capturing
their first NFL
Eastern division
title and securing a trip to the
NFL Championship game.
Due to lack of fan support in Boston, George
Preston Marshall moved the Redskins to Washington D.C. During that first season, the Washington
Redskins, led by Flaherty, defeated the Chicago Bears,
28-21, to win their first NFL Championship. Marshall,
Flaherty, Edwards and Battles were all inducted into
the NFL Hall of Fame.
24
2FW The Boston Braves captured their
first victory, edging out the New York Giants,
14-6.
The Boston Braves moved to Fenway
Park and changed their name to the Boston
Redskins, in honor of their newly appointed
head coach, ‘Lone Star’ Dietz who claimed to
be of Sioux Indian decent.
2FW Redskins running back Cliff Battles
became the first player in NFL history to run for
200 yards in a game en route to a 21-20 victory
over the New York Giants.
After going .500 for their first two seasons, George Preston Marshall hired Massachusetts native and Harvard graduate Eddie
Casey to take over as head coach, but Casey
lasted just one season with the team after the
Redskins finished 2-8-1.
Following his
playing career, former
defensive
end Ray Flaherty (left)
was hired
by Marshall
(right) to
replace Casey as head
coach of the
Redskins.
'HF
The
Redskins
took on the
Green Bay
Packers
in the NFL
Championship, but lost
21-6
5$<)/$+(57<
Ray Flaherty enjoyed a successful career as a player
in the NFL prior to his coaching career. He began his career as an L.A. Wildcat (1926) in the AFL, before moving
to New York to play baseball for the Yankees (1927-28)
and eventually the Giants (1928-29, 1931-35). The
defensive end won three NFL Championships with the
Giants, who took his #1 jersey out of circulation following
the 1935 season, making Flaherty the first professional
athlete to have his number retired.