View source for Hammond Pros

{{short description|Defunct American football team}}
{{more citations needed|date=January 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox Pre-modern NFL team
| name = Hammond Pros
| bgcolor = #3b0160
| fontcolor = #f0bf00
| helmet = 
| logo = 
| founded = 1917
| suspended = 1926
| folded = 
| location = [[Hammond, Indiana]], U.S.
| field = [[Wrigley Field|Cubs Park]]
| league = [[National Football League]]
| division = 
| colors = Purple, gold, white <br> {{color box|#3b0160}} {{color box|#f0bf00}} {{color box|white}}
| history = '''Hammond Pros''' (1920–1926)
| nickname = 
| coach = [[Hank Gillo]] (1920) <br> [[Max Hicks (American football)|Max Hicks]] (1921) <br> [[Wally Hess]] (1922–1924) <br> [[Fritz Pollard]] (1925) <br> [[Doc Young]] (1925)
| manager = 
| owner = Paul Parduhn <br> [[Doc Young]]
| championships = 
| mascot = 
}}

The '''Hammond Pros''' were an [[American football]] team from [[Hammond, Indiana]] that played in the [[National Football League]] from 1920 to 1926 as a [[traveling team]].

==History==
The Pros were established by local businessman [[Paul Parduhn]] and [[Doc Young|Dr. Alva Young]]. Young, a boxing promoter and owner of a racing stable, also served as doctor/trainer (and part-owner) for a semi-pro football team operated by the Hammond Clabby Athletic Association from 1915 to 1917. In 1918, Young presided over a new team known as the "Hammond All-Stars" and played against many of the teams that would form the backbone of the [[American Professional Football Association]] (including the [[Arizona Cardinals|Racine Cardinals]], [[Detroit Heralds]], [[Rock Island Independents]], [[Minneapolis Marines]], [[Cleveland Tigers (NFL)|Cleveland Tigers]], [[Canton Bulldogs]], and [[Toledo Maroons]]); Young attended the historic meeting in [[Canton, Ohio]] at which the APFA was formed in 1920. (It is said that a game between Hammond and Canton, played [[Thanksgiving Day]] 1919 and drawing some 12,000 spectators in Chicago, convinced team owners that a league would be viable.)

In 1919, the team starred [[George Halas]] at [[wide receiver]]; Halas left for the [[Chicago Bears|Decatur Staleys]] – the future Chicago Bears – the following year, remaining with that franchise as a player, coach and owner until his death in 1983.

Despite the name, the Pros were little more than a semi-professional outfit; most of the players were locals who had full-time jobs and couldn't practice much, and thus were simply no match for most other NFL squads. Nor did they really represent Hammond, as the town's stadium (A. Murray Turner Field) was built for baseball and seated only a few thousand. The Pros would play only two regular-season NFL games in Hammond over their seven years in the league,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/192610100ham.htm | title=Duluth Eskimos at Hammond Pros | website=[[Pro-Football-Reference.com]] | publisher=Sports Reference | access-date=January 2, 2022}}</ref><ref>[https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/ham/1923.htm 1923 Hammond Pros Statistics & Players ]</ref> and would use [[Wrigley Field|Cubs Park]] in Chicago as an unofficial "home" stadium{{Citation needed|date=January 2022}}. Nevertheless, Young kept the team going in the NFL for seven years and 34 games, with a combined record of 5–26–4. The Pros might have lasted even longer, but after winning the 1926 battle with the [[American Football League (1926)|American Football League]], the [[National Football League|NFL]] decided to scale down to 12 teams, getting rid of many of the smaller franchises, including the Pros.

Of the nine [[African-American]] players in the league during those years, six played for the Pros, including the first African-American head coach in the NFL, [[Fritz Pollard]], and the successful music producer [[J. Mayo Williams|Mayo "Ink" Williams]].

==Hall of Famers==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ style="background:#3B0160;color:#F0BF00;"|Hammond Pros Hall of Famers
|-
!scope="col"| No.
!scope="col"| Name
!scope="col"| Position
!scope="col"| Tenure
!scope="col"| Inducted
|-
| —
|scope="row"| [[Paddy Driscoll]]
| [[Quarterback|QB]]/[[Halfback (American football)|HB]] || 1919 || 1965
|-
| —
|scope="row"| [[George Halas]]
| [[End (American football)|End]] || 1919 || 1963
|-
| —
|scope="row"| [[Fritz Pollard]]
| [[Halfback (American football)|HB]]<br>Coach || 1923, 1925 || 2005
|}

==Season-by-season==

{| class="wikitable"
|+Season records for the Hammond Pros
|-
!scope="col"| Year
!scope="col"| {{abbr|W|Wins}}
!scope="col"| {{abbr|L|Losses}}
!scope="col"| {{abbr|T|Ties}}
!scope="col"| Finish
!scope="col"|Coach
|-
|scope="row"| 1920
| 2 || 5 || 0 || 12th ||[[Hank Gillo]]
|-
|scope="row"| 1921
| 1 || 3 || 1 || 13th ||[[Max Hicks (American football)|Max Hicks]]
|-
|scope="row"| 1922
| 0 || 5 || 1 || 15th ||rowspan=3|[[Wally Hess]]
|-
|scope="row"| 1923
| 1 || 5 || 1 || 15th 
|-
|scope="row"| 1924
| 2 || 2 || 1 || 10th 
|-
|scope="row"| 1925
| 1 || 4 || 0 || 14th ||[[Fritz Pollard]], [[Doc Young]]
|-
|scope="row"| 1926
| 0 || 4 || 0 || 21st ||Doc Young
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.hickoksports.com/history/hammondpros.shtml#coaches More info on the Hammond Pros]

{{Hammond Pros|state=expanded}}
{{Hammond Pros coach navbox}}
{{NFL charter member}}
{{Defunct NFL teams}}

[[Category:Hammond Pros| ]]
[[Category:American football teams established in 1920]]
[[Category:American football teams disestablished in 1926]]
[[Category:Defunct NFL teams]]
[[Category:Defunct American football teams in Indiana]]
[[Category:1920 establishments in Indiana]]
[[Category:1926 disestablishments in Indiana]]
[[Category:Hammond, Indiana]]
[[Category:Traveling teams]]