The Rauch Affidavit

Richard Rauch was both player and coach for the Pottsville Maroons. He coached the Maroons from 1925 through 1928.

Excerpts from this affidavit are within quotation marks and are verbatim.

It all came down to the phone call.

 “I was present in the office of Dr. Striegel, the owner and manager of the Pottsville Maroons, on November 30, 1925 when he telephoned the office of Joe Carr, Commissioner of the National Football league.”

 Joe Carr was ill and unavailable and Jerry Corcoran was the acting commissioner of the NFL. When Doc Striegel called the NFL on November 30, 1925 asking for permission for the Pottsville Maroons to play the Four Horseman and Seven Mules of Notre Dame in an exhibition game at Shibe Park in Philadelphia, he was give this permission by Corcoran, “subject to the Pottsville Maroons beating the Chicago Cardinals December 6, 1925 and thereby becoming the National Football League Champions. Dr. Striegel also related to me that Mr Corcoran wished us “Good Luck””.  Doc Striegel signed a contract with Notre Dame based on this conversation.

“On December 6, 1925 we defeated the Chicago Cardinals thereby winning the 1925 National Football League Championship and becoming the Champions of the National Football League for 1925”.

“On Dec 9, 1925 Commissioner Carr telephoned Dr. Striegel and informed him that Shep Royal, manager of the Frankford Yellow Jackets,  had protested our forthcoming game with the “Four Horsemen and Seven Mules of Notre Dame” on the grounds of invasion of territorial rights.  On the basis of this protest Commissioner Carr directed Dr. Striegel to cancel the game or face severe penalties.”

No such rule related to territorial rights has ever been documented. Additionally, “Mr. Corcoran when asked, as Acting Commissioner whether he had ever given Dr. Striegel permission to play the game, did not deny that he had granted such authority”.

“Dr. Striegel informed Commissioner Carr he was not defying the league and had no intent to do so but that he had signed a contract to play the game and he could not breach his contract nor had the commissioner and legal right to induce him to breach the contract”.

Pottsville did play and beat the Notre Dame All-Stars, 9 -7, largely legitimizing professional football in the process. Pottsville was suspended and lost its generally accepted “Championship” status. A  Championship reign of six days.

To make a long and convoluted but fascinating story, that has been the subject of two books and hundreds of articles a bit shorter, on July 12, 1926 “all penalties imposed and sanctions against the Pottsville Maroons imposed by the National Football League for participating in the game with the “Four Horsemen and Seven Mules of Notre Dame” were rescinded”. For years, Pottsville assumed that the championship title was also restored to them by the NFL, but as it turned out, this was not the case.

Over the decades there have been three major initiatives to have the championship reinstated. All have failed. This affidavit was part of this process.

This three page affidavit is the most comprehensive, documented, first-hand account of the pivotal phone call and the consequences of the Notre Dame All-Star game in existence. Singly, the most significant document related to the lost championship of the Pottsville Maroons and the early history and controversies of the NFL.

The affidavit was signed on December 1, 1966. December 1, is fittingly Jacob’s birthday.

Among the five signatories on the document were Richard Rauch and Joseph Zacko.

This affidavit is referenced in The Pottsville Maroons and The NFL’S Stolen Championship of 1925, Genovese, 2009.

Also see blog entry dated March 23, 2017