New England Patriots Flashback: The move that took an NFL franchise from Boston

How a bad decision cost Boston (and New England) an NFL franchise long before the New England Patriots.

Long before the New England Patriots or even the Boston Patriots franchise existed, there was another NFL team in Boston (actually two, but this deals with only one of them). This is a bit of a historical perspective of what might have been, actually could have been for pro football in Boston.

From 1932 to 1936 Boston had a team in the National Football League. Yes, that National Football League. In 1932 they were called the Boston Braves. Sound familiar? Maybe not.

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There was also a second Boston Major League Baseball team known as the Boston Braves in that era, as well. They played at what is now Nickerson Field (then Braves Field) at Boston University.

George Preston Marshall was then owner and in 1933 he changed the name of the team from Boston Braves to the Boston Redskins. The Redskins were Boston’s NFL team from 1933-1936. Concomitant with the name change was a move to Fenway Park as the home of the Redskins.

Marshall was not happy with the support he received in Boston, and he was ready for a move in 1936.

Moving the team and a legend to Washington

But that’s not the whole story. The “best” is yet to come. So Marshall arranged to take the team to Washington in 1937 and, yes, they have kept the name Redskins to this day. But that’s not the worst of the story.

In the 1937 NFL draft, one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history was actually drafted by the Boston Redskins, who were on their way to Washington. It was slinging Sammy Baugh. Oh, what might have been …

How does this sound? Baugh led the Washington Redskins to win the NFL Championship in 1937 and 1942 and was named NFL Player of the Year by the Washington D.C. Touchdown Club in 1947 and 1948 for his play. In both of his Player of the Year seasons, he led the league in completions, attempts, completion percentage, and yards.

That’s right, Baugh led the Redskins to a Championship, in his rookie year! He played 16 years for Washington, and all of those great seasons could have been in Boston.

Baugh was not only one of the greatest quarterbacks to play the game, he was one of the greatest players. So if Marshall had waited for another year to move the team, the entire history of Boston football, Washington football, and the history of the NFL might have changed.

But, then again, if that had happened, there may have been no New England Patriots and no Tom Brady, the greatest of the greats here in New England (Boston). So I guess we did ok after all.