Frankford Yellow Jackets Became Philadelphia Eagles in 1932
Published on December 10th, 2023 2:38 pm ESTWritten By: Dave Manuel
The Philadelphia Eagles weren't always the Philadelphia Eagles. In fact, the Philadelphia Eagles were originally the Frankford Yellow Jackets, a team that was incorporated in 1899 and played in the National Football League from 1924-1931.
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The Yellow Jackets were a successful football team that enjoyed success as an independent team, and as a member of the National Football League.
The team, which played their games at Frankford Stadium, located in a section of Philadelphia, won the NFL championship in 1926.
After enjoying a great deal of success in the mid 1920s, the team started to struggle due to the effects of the Great Depression and due to a massive fire at their stadium.
1931 was a very trying year for the team, and they would finish the season as a traveling team, meaning that they never played games at home due to attendance issues.
The team continued to struggle on the field, and the Yellow Jackets eventually suspended operations, unable to continue.
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Now - did the Yellow Jackets directly become the Philadelphia Eagles?
Not really.
The Yellow Jackets returned the franchise to the league, and the NFL spent a year trying to find an ownership group that would operate a team in the Philadelphia area.
In 1933, an expansion franchise was granted to Lud Wray and Bert Bell, who agreed to operate a team in the Philadelphia area.
Wray and Bell were given the assets of the Yellow Jackets as part of the deal.
The team was named the Philadelphia Eagles.
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The NFL considers the Philadelphia Eagles as an expansion team that started in 1933, as do the Eagles.
The assets of the Yellow Jackets weren't really used by the Eagles as well, as just one player from the 1931 Yellow Jackets team played for the Eagles in 1933.
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While the NFL and Eagles don't acknowledge the history of the Yellow Jackets, there is no question that the Yellow Jackets and Eagles are linked together forever.
