ROCK ISLAND INDEPENDENTS

Welcome to the RI Independents Site

This site is dedicated to the Rock Island Independents and the men who came together to take the team from a small neighborhood park in Rock Island to the National Football League.

The team was founded in 1907 and by 1919 was one of the elite football teams in the nation. In 1919, the Independents went 9-1-1 outscoring their opponents 309 to 12.

In 1920, Walter Flanigan joined George Halas in Canton, Ohio and entered the Independents into the newly formed American Professional Football Association.

The Independents went on to produce four Hall of Fame members, and will always be remembered as one of the original NFL teams.

"READ ALL ABOUT IT", in this website, designed to read like a newspaper from 1907-1927. Read about life in the early NFL and 1920's football. Read about each game, find out who won and how. Read about key plays and key players. Rock Island Independents.com is working to get the box score of each game and a summary written with as much detail as possible. Please Enjoy!!!

CLICK TO ENTER

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IMPORTANT NOTES

For More information on the early days of pro football, please check out the Pro Football Researchers Association.

Passing of Bob Carroll - Founder of Professional Football Researchers Association - 8-25-09. Bob Carroll was a great inspiration to me and encouraged me to create this website. Bob helped in the identifying of players and because of his organization I was able to get in touch with key people who had already copied the articles I use to research the Independents. Bob also sent me a copy of some pictures he drew of Duke Slater for use on the website. Thank you Bob, you will be missed!!!

** All individual game write-ups use the Rock Island Argus as a source; the write-ups themselves are the interpretation of the articles by the owner of this website. All write-ups are the personal property of the author of this website and cannot be copied or quoted without written permission** Copyright 2008 RII.com

I need your help!!! I'm looking for any people who might be related to any of these players. I would like scans of any pictures or programs anybody might have. You may have had a Great Grandparent who might have attended a game and might have taken some pictures. Please see the Contact Me above and send me an email. Thanks!!!

A special thanks to Roy Sye. For more information on the early days of Pro Football, check out - Roy's Website

SITE UPDATES

1/29/10 - Updated the Home Page! Now the site is located behind the new Home Page meaning that search engines will no longer see frames on the home page and ignore the site. Traffic should increase base on key words. You must click on links on the new home page to enter the site.

12/30/09 -1914 and 1915 Seasons Complete - Several Players added and others updated.

12/26/09 - 1913 Season Complete and 1914 games 1-4 complete. Updated all players 1912-1914 and add a picture of the 1913 team under Team Photo Link

12/12/09 - Major Updates to 1912 and 1913 Players, Box Scores and Games - Added link to Walter Flanigan on his picture on the home page.

12/10/09 - Update 1907-1925 Home Pages

12/08/09 - Added picture of 1919 Independents Team under team photo - Found on Wikipedia

11/18/09 - Completed 1912 Season!

5/4/09 - Entire Team Standings added