Philadelphia Athletics (NFL)

In Philadelphia, the AL's Athletics lured several of the NL's Phillies from their contracts, only to lose them again through court action.

When Phillies owner John Rogers decided to start a football team, the Athletics followed suit.

A's owner Ben Shibe fielded a team made-up of several baseball players as well as some local football talent.

However, both Rogers and Shibe knew that to lay claim to the World Championship, they had to play a team from Pittsburgh, which was the focal point of football at the time.

Mack wasn't an expert on football, but he had always been careful with Shibe's money and his sports teams.

When he was in the mood, the Athletics' star left-hander Rube Waddell could throw a baseball better than anyone in the world.

The league played all of its games on Saturdays, since there were no Sunday sports events according to Pennsylvania blue laws in 1902.

If the angle was bad, the scoring team's fullback punted the ball out into the field from behind the goal line.

However, the A's were not content to be the first team to score against the Stars; they added a second-half field goal—also five points, the same as a touchdown.

In Elmira, Waddell was tempted to remain in a town that was the home of one of the biggest manufacturers of fire engines, which he loved.

Then the night before the first championship game try with Pittsburgh, Connie caught Rube sneaking into the hotel long after curfew.

Although a Philadelphia victory on Thanksgiving Day would give the A's the championship, a win by the Stars could tie the league race tighter.

Mack prepared the A's for the big game by playing an exhibition tour through northern Pennsylvania and southern New York.

In late December of that same year, the 1902 World Series of Football was held at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

The "New York" team played in the first indoor football game against the Syracuse Athletic Club.

Mack reorganized the team for the 1903 season but the squad played only two games, a 0–12 defeat at the hands of the Watertown Red & Black and a 6–0 victory over the All-Syracuse eleven, before folding.