Massillon Tigers
| Founded | 1903 |
|---|---|
| Owner |
City of Massillon (1903–1907) Jack Donahue and Jack Whalen (1915–1919) Ralph Hay (interim) (1920) |
| Manager |
Jack Goodrich (1903–1904) J.J. Wise (1905–1906) E. J. Stewart (1906) Sherburn Wightman (1907) Stan Cofall (1915–1916) Charles Brickley (1917) Bob Nash (1917–1919) |
| Coach |
E. J. Stewart (1903–1905) Sherburn Wightman (1906–1907) Stan Cofall (1915–1916) Charles Brickley (1917) Bob Nash (1917–1919) |
| League |
Ohio League (1903–1906, 1915–1919) |
The Massillon Tigers were an early professional football team from Massillon, Ohio. Playing in the "Ohio League", the team was a rival to the pre-National Football League version of the Canton Bulldogs. The Tigers won Ohio League championships in 1903, 1904, 1905, and 1906, then merged to become "All-Massillons" to win another title in 1907. The team returned as the Tigers in 1915 but, with the reemergence of the Bulldogs, only won one more Ohio League title. Pro football was popularized in Ohio when the amateur Massillon Tigers, hired four Pittsburgh pros to play in the season-ending game against Akron. At the same time, pro football declined in the Pittsburgh area, and the emphasis on the pro game moved west from Pennsylvania to Ohio.
The team opted not to join the APFA (later renamed the NFL) in 1920; it remained an independent club through 1923, when the Tigers folded. During their time as an independent, the Tigers never played against any team in the NFL, even though several other independent teams did. The Massillon Tigers team name was transferred to Massillon Washington High School, who still uses it today.
The Massillon area had fielded several amateur football teams featuring only local players since the early 1890s. However while some had performed well, the others were more likely to be defeated when they played their cross-county arch-rival, Canton. Therefore, a group of 35 area businessmen met on September 3, 1903, at the Hotel Sailor in Massillon to form the area's first professional football team. Jack Goodrich, who expected to play halfback for the new team, was named manager. Meanwhile, Ed J. Stewart, a young and ambitious editor of the city newspaper The Evening Independent, was named as the team's first coach. Stewart had playing experience while attending Western Reserve College and Mount Union College. Apart from being the team's coach, he later appointed himself as the team's quarterback.
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