Dixie League (American football)
The "Dixie League" was a professional American football minor league founded in 1936 originally as the "South Atlantic Football Association", with six charter member teams in the Middle Atlantic states of Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Like the American Association, its popularity rivaled that of another earlier established "major league" grouping, the National Football League of 1922. Unlike most professional football minor leagues, the "Dixie League" had a relative stability in membership during the "Great Depression" in the years prior to World War II, maintaining a five or six-team lineup membership of franchises.
Like the competitor 'AA' and the third "American Football League", the "Dixie League" suspended operations after the Pearl Harbor attack by Japan, on the "Day of Infamy" – Sunday, December 7, 1941; unlike the AFL, the football minor league reorganized after the end of the War and resumed competition in the first post-war season year of 1946. The following year, the 'D.L.' collapsed when one of its member teams purchased the assets of a defunct team in the other pro football minor loop, the "American Association" and opted to jump leagues.
Origin
The "Dixie League" began its existence in 1936 when six independent teams joined forces for the purposes of competition. Charter members included the Maryland Athletic Club, the Baltimore Orioles, Norfolk Clancys, Richmond Arrows, Portsmouth Cubs, and the Alexandria Celtics. Charles Hamilton became the new "Dixie League's" first president.Although the new League officially called itself at first, the "South Atlantic Football League" in its first year of existence, various sportswriters repeatedly unofficially called it the "Dixie League." The name was officially adopted for the second 1937 pro season.
1936
Like the New York Yankees pro football team of the first "American Football League", the Richmond Arrows provided the financial backbone of the Dixie League in its first year, averaging twice as many paying spectators per home game as the other league members. The Arrows played all their games at home, offering the visiting teams a five percent bonus for the privilege. On November 15, 1936, Richmond's team coach and the players walked off the team in an effort for more pay. Richmond manager Blair Meaney, Jr. hired a new head coach and new players to finish the season.Baltimore's Ted Wright led the scoring, while the Orioles/Blue Jays also featured the League's top passer, Leroy "Sunshine" Campbell. Until the player strike, back Mush DeLotto provided an explosive running game for the Richmond Arrows.
| Team | W | L | T | Pct. | PF | PA |
| Washington Pros | 6 | 3 | 2 | .667 | 66 | 47 |
| Richmond Arrows | 4 | 3 | 3 | .571 | 61 | 43 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 4 | 4 | 2 | .500 | 97 | 85 |
| Portsmouth Cubs | 4 | 5 | 2 | .444 | 71 | 82 |
| Norfolk Clancys | 3 | 4 | 2 | .429 | 56 | 69 |
| Alexandria Celtics | 3 | 5 | 1 | .375 | 41 | 66 |
"Playoffs": Washington defeated Richmond; Baltimore defeated Alexandria
"Championship": Washington beat Baltimore, 3–0, on a Willis Brenner field goal with 13 seconds left in regulation.
Fourth-place finisher Portsmouth declined to participate in the playoffs, opting for a game against nearby rival Norfolk. Despite finishing in last place, Alexandria took Portsmouth's place against Baltimore.
In the first game of a series between the 'D.L.' champion and the winners of the American Association, the Washington Pros defeated the Brooklyn Bay Parkways 13–6 in Richmond, Virginia, January 1, 1937. While there would be more exhibition games involving members of the two leagues, this was the last time that an "American Association" team lost to a team in the "Dixie League" on the gridiron.
1937
Compared to most sporting leagues in their beginning years, the "Dixie League" had begun strongly. All six charter members were in strong enough shape to compete in a second season.Richmond was still recovering from the effects of the player rebellion when the strikers formed a new team, the Richmond Rebels, and tried to replace the Arrows in the league. After being rebuffed, the Rebels tried to compete against the Arrows by forming the "Virginia-Carolina Football League" and then marched through the season undefeated. The 'V-CFL' lasted only the 1937 season; the Rebels folded along with the league.
Despite the competition from the Rebels, the Arrows held their own, both on the field and at the turnstiles with their fans. Despite their improved record, the Arrows could finish no higher than third place, behind the undefeated defending champion Washington and the newly rechristened Baltimore Blue Jays or Blue Birds.
| Team | W | L | T | Pct. | PF | PA |
| Washington Presidents | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1.000 | 53 | 20 |
| Baltimore Blue Jays | 5 | 1 | 1 | .833 | 89 | 18 |
| Richmond Arrows | 6 | 2 | 1 | .750 | 90 | 28 |
| Alexandria Celtics | 2 | 5 | 0 | .286 | 30 | 63 |
| Norfolk Clancys | 1 | 5 | 1 | .167 | 34 | 112 |
| Portsmouth Cubs | 0 | 6 | 1 | .000 | 20 | 75 |
Championship: no playoffs – Washington clinches title on 3–3 tie with Baltimore
While the league featured balance from top to bottom in its maiden season, it clearly divided into the "haves" and "have nots" in 1937. Five members of the Washington Presidents were named to the all league team. Baltimore's Ted Wright was once again the league's leading scorer while teammate "Sunshine" Campbell dented defenses with his passes. Richmond placed three linemen on the all league team, including league most valuable player Lyle Graham. The winless Portsmouth team had a future team member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio on its roster, player-coach "Ace" Parker, who played in only one game for the Cubs before he signed with the NFL's Brooklyn Dodgers team in early November.
1938
After two years of stability, the "Dixie League" made some adjustments in 1938. William Nickels, Jr. became the league's second president, replacing Charles Hamilton. The DL was forced to play with only five teams after the folding of the Baltimore Blue Jays/Blue Birds, and the Washington Patriots minor league squad became a traveling team under owner George Preston Marshall.A. E. Stutz, the founder and owner of the Norfolk Clancys, died in late 1937; in 1938, new owner Harry Howren started stockpiling talent, sufficient for the newly renamed the "Shamrocks" to dominate League play that year. Another Shamrock player, tackle Vernon "Buck" Miles, was named the league's most valuable player at the end of the season.
The Portsmouth Cubs, winless in 1937, reached.500 in 1938 as quarterback Larry Weldon led the League in scoring.
| Team | W | L | T | Pct. | PF | PA |
| Norfolk Shamrocks | 5 | 1 | 1 | .833 | 59 | 30 |
| Richmond Arrows | 5 | 3 | 0 | .625 | 81 | 38 |
| Portsmouth Cubs | 4 | 4 | 0 | .500 | 96 | 86 |
| Washington Patriots | 1 | 3 | 1 | .250 | 27 | 50 |
| Alexandria Celtics | 1 | 5 | 0 | .167 | 42 | 101 |
"No playoffs": Norfolk was declared league champions
After the season, Norfolk was defeated 16–14 by the Hazelton Redskins, of Pennsylvania, champions of the Eastern Pennsylvania Football League in a game for the "National Minor League title". Two members of the 1937 Baltimore Blue Jays/Blue Birds provided the difference in the game, with Campbell throwing two touchdown passes and Spirida scoring ten points in the game.
1939
The number of traveling teams in the "Dixie League" was halved with the folding of the Alexandria Celtics team in Virginia. The number of league members stayed at five with the entrance of the Newport News Builders, which actually played its home games in neighboring Hampton southeast of Newport News on the Virginia Peninsula.“Buck” Miles became the league "M.V.P." as he repeated his feat of scoring the most points in the "Dixie League". His Cubs finished the season in a tie for the league lead with the Richmond Arrows. For the last game, the Cubs added Ace Parker. He scored the only touchdown in a 7–0 Cubs victory over Newport News Builders to force a playoff with the Richmond Arrows for the league championship.
| Team | W | L | T | Pct. | PF | PA |
| Richmond Arrows | 6 | 1 | 1 | .833 | 77 | 31 |
| Portsmouth Cubs | 6 | 1 | 0 | .833 | 79 | 42 |
| Newport News Builders | 2 | 4 | 1 | .333 | 45 | 47 |
| Washington Presidents | 2 | 4 | 1 | .333 | 43 | 62 |
| Norfolk Shamrocks | 0 | 6 | 1 | .286 | 34 | 96 |
Playoff: Portsmouth 7, Richmond 0 – Portsmouth wins league championship
1940
With the addition of the Roanoke Travelers, the "Dixie League" returned to having six teams for the 1940 season. While the team made a successful debut, finishing in second place, the Travelers had the misfortune of having almost half of its season canceled as a result of bad weather.Two early losses deprived Richmond of a chance for competing for the league title, but the Arrows entertained the fans by being the first 'D.L.' team to average more than two touchdowns a game. "Sunshine" Campbell, returning to the Dixie League after playing in the American Association and the E.P.F.L., provided the passes, and A. B. Conner became the "M.V.P." of the "Dixie League" by scoring 49 points.
Portsmouth's Larry Weldon set a new league record by throwing seven touchdown passes in the span of ten games. Over a span of 20 games in 1939 and 1940, Weldon and the Cubs won 16 games, lose two, and tie two games – and win two league titles.
Washington's Presidents struggled through its third consecutive season as a "traveling team", and left the League after the end of the 1940 season.
| Team | W | L | T | Pct. | PF | PA |
| Portsmouth Cubs | 8 | 1 | 1 | .889 | 101 | 51 |
| Roanoke Travelers | 4 | 2 | 0 | .667 | 55 | 58 |
| Richmond Arrows | 5 | 4 | 0 | .556 | 155 | 69 |
| Washington Presidents | 2 | 3 | 2 | .400 | 47 | 99 |
| Norfolk Shamrocks | 3 | 6 | 1 | .333 | 73 | 105 |
| Newport News Builders | 1 | 7 | 0 | .200 | 43 | 92 |
No playoffs: Portsmouth declared league champions for the second straight year.