Boston Steamrollers

Atlantic Coast Football League (1965)

Tombstone

Born: 1965
Moved: 1966 (Lowell Giants)

First Game: August 14, 1965 (W 21-0 vs. Holyoke Bombers)
Last Game: November 13, 1965 (W 20-14 @ Jersey Jets)

ACFL Championships: None

Stadium

Everett Memorial Stadium (11,000)¹

Branding

Team Colors:

Ownership

Owner: Rudy Fiore, et al.

Our Favorite Stuff

ACFL Logo T-Shirt

The Atlantic Coast Football League of 1962 – 1973 was likely the closest pro football has ever come to having a true “triple-A” minor league, similar to baseball. At the league’s peak in the late 1960’s, NFL teams such as the New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins maintained farm clubs in the ACFL.

This ACFL design is also available today as a Crewneck or Hooded Sweartshirt, 3/4 sleeve Raglan or Women’s Tank Top at Old School Shirts!

When you make a purchase through an affiliate link like this one, Fun While It Lasted earns a commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks for your support!

Background

The Boston Steamrollers were a minor league football team that played for one season in Everett, Massachusetts, a small city on the northern border of Boston, during the autumn of 1965. The Steamrollers came to town thanks to a re-shuffling of several New England-based franchises in the Atlantic Coast Football League (ACFL) earlier that spring.

The Boston Sweepers, the prior ACFL tenants at Everett Memorial Stadium, moved south to the whaling city of New Bedford, Massachusetts. Meanwhile, the Providence Steamroller franchise went bust down in Rhode Island’s state capitol. A new ownership group then formed to replace the departing Sweepers in Everett.

The arrival of the Steamroller (“s”, now plural upon their arrival in Massachusetts) was represented in some press reports as a transfer of the Providence club to Boston. Providence head coach Connie Pensavalle took over the Boston Steamrollers and several ex-Providence players ultimately came north with Pensavalle. But the truth was a bit muddier in the eyes of Rhode Island Superior Judge James Bulman.

The Internal Revenue Service seized the assets of the Providence Steamroller for unpaid taxes. Nine former Providence players signed with a newly formed minor league team, the Rhode Island Indians of the Continental Football League. The Indians purchased the rights to their contracts in a tax auction held by the IRS. The Boston Steamrollers sued to prevent the former Providence players from jumping leagues, but Bulman ruled in favor of the Indians. In effect, Bulman’s ruling suggested that the Providence Steamroller had folded and the Boston Steamrollers were a new organization that couldn’t prove custody of ownership of the former team’s contracts.

In Competition

…but ANYWAY. Pensavalle’s charges overcame these pre-season distractions and posted a more-than-respectable 8-5 record during the 1965 ACFL season.

Jack Daly (Boston College) and Pete Smith (Michigan State) split duties under center. 245-pound fullback Nat Craddock was the Steamrollers’ top ground threat (745 yards, 7 touchdowns).

The Steamrollers did not return after the 1965 season. In March 1966, the ACFL announced that the Lowell Giants would replace the Steamrollers on the schedule. A number of ex-Steamrollers players suited up for Lowell , a mill city located 45 minutes north of Everett, during the 1966 season.