Pearce B. Johnson was a part-time sports editor for the Providence Journal and the general manager of the Providence Steam Roller of the National Football League.
After the team ended play in 1931, Johnson organized a semi-pro version of the Steam Roller in 1932 to play small-scale local teams.
He also managed a minor league version of the Providence Steam Roller in the American Association in the 1940s.
[3] During football season, Johnson rented out several rooms in his house on High Service Avenue in North Providence, to Steam Roller players.
The day after Thanksgiving, while out shopping for groceries for "her boys," Mrs. Johnson was struck and killed by a streetcar.