1926 Hartford Blues team via Wikipedia

Today’s edition of Forgotten Football Teams takes us to the Northeast as we look at a team that played only one season in the NFL. This edition is about the Hartford Blues, who played only one NFL season in 1926.

The team originally started out playing semi-pro with other towns around Connecticut. George Mulligan, a sports promoter in Connecticut, owned the Blues.

During 1924 and 1925, the Blues played independently against other teams in Connecticut. They did play a NFL team during each season.

Originally from Waterbury, the Blues moved to Hartford more than halfway through the 1925 season.

Wrong Four Horsemen

Also during that ’25 season, Mulligan was able to sign Harry Stuhldreher, famous for being part of the Four Horsemen at Notre Dame.

Soon, Hartford was playing in the NFL. They began the 1926 season with new coach Jack Keogh. They played that 1926 season at the Velodrome, a bicycle track in East Hartford.

Hartford’s season started out rough as they lost their first four games and didn’t score a touchdown during that point and time.

Their first win of the season came Oct. 24 against the Brooklyn Lions, a team the Blues lost to two weeks earlier.

From there, they would win two more times during the season, once to the Canton Bulldogs and then to the Dayton Triangles.

Owners voted during the offseason to cut several teams from the league, including Hartford. The Blues soon became the Giants and played football against other teams in Connecticut in 1927. They were done soon after.

The closest thing to a professional football team for Connecticut fans to follow are either the Giants or Jets in New York or the Patriots of New England. Connecticut is one of eight states that use to have a professional football team. The last pro team they had was 15 years ago when the Hartford Whalers were doing their thing.

Never forget!