This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 4/2/2023
Collectors, this is an EXTREMELY rare piece of NFL history. With over 30+ years of buying Milwaukee related memorabilia, this is the first piece of Milwaukee Badgers jewelry discovered by the staff of MEARS. Offered is a 2.5" Milwaukee Badgers figural hanger featuring a relief image of a full length Badger, the Wisconsin State Animal. A black/red/yellow ribbon and football charm complete the design. This is the only known surviving piece of jewelry associated with the team. Based on the scarcity, this may be player or front office related. Piece was accompanied by a small collection of Milwaukee Badgers programs. (Lot is Figural hanger only, no programs included)
In 1922, two years after the National Football League was founded, two Chicago sporting promoters established the Milwaukee Badgers. The team played from 1922 to 1926 at Athletic Park (Borchert Field), but was not particularly popular. The team did have some notable players, however. Future actor and signer Paul Robeson, who played football at Rutgers and earned a law degree from Columbia, played with the Badgers in 1922. He joined Fritz Pollard, who as player-coach for the Akron Pros in 1919 was the first African American to coach white players in American professional sports. Pollard was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2005.
Other well-known players for the Badgers include Hall of Famer Jimmy Conzelman and future Packers stars Red Dunn, LaVerne Dilweg, and Johnny "Blood" McNally. Despite talented players, the Badgers did not do well in Milwaukee. In the 1920s college football was far more popular, and even high school and semi-pro leagues did better than pro leagues. Milwaukee had an amateur football program called the Milwaukee Amateur Football Association that had 34 teams in 1922, and semi-pro games would often draw 9,000 fans compared to the 4,500 the Badgers drew.
In 1925 the Badgers were involved in a scandal in which they used high school players in an out-of-season game against the Chicago Cardinals. The Badgers had trouble fielding a full team and used the four Chicago-area players to fill out the roster. The team was fined $500, which hurt their already perilous financial situation. They played the 1926 season, but folded due to lack of money.
(72V0413)