The Boston Independents are a professional Hybrid Football team located in Boston, Massachusetts. They currently compete in the North American Association of Football as a member of the East Division. They play their home games at Richardson Stadium in Boston.
The Independents were founded in 1915 as the Boston Football Club. The club was a founding member of the New England Football Championship which began play in 1915. They joined the NAAF along with the NEFC's merger into the NAAF in 1949. The Independents' name comes from the years between 1943 and 1945 when the club had been known as an Independent Club which competed against challengers during the later years of WWII when they did not belong to a league. During that period the team was often nicknamed the "Independents" by fans and competing teams. The name also hands a slight nod to Boston's colonial past and the American Revolution. The team was initially run by the NEFC's founder and commissioner John McCallister, before being bought by Glen Harris in 1919. Their current owner is Benjamin Harris, the son of Glen Harris. He took over the team in 1953.
The Independents are known as the most successful football team in the history of the sport. The team had won 16 NEFC Championships and 3 NAAF Championships for a total of 19 McCallister Cups. They have also appeared in the McCallister Cup the most times with 26 total appearances.
STADIUM
Richardson Stadium is a 45,265-seat stadium located in Boston, MA. The stadium was opened in 1927 and has been the home of the Boston Independents Football Club ever since. The stadium features a brick finish, notably in the walls that surround the outside of the playing surface. Three of the stadium's sides feature deep stands with canopies over top. The final side that faces the primary road has a brick structure, which is the main entrance for fans. Due to the structure, there are fewer seats on that side of the field compared to the other 3 sides.
PRE-NAAF HISTORY
The Boston Football Club was founded as an inaugural member of the New England Football Championship. The team was initially run by the NEFC's founder and commissioner John McCallister. They quickly found success being able to garner a lot of talent from the Boston area. The club won the New England Football Championship in the first two seasons beating the in-town rival Cambridge Rovers in both games. The next couple of seasons would be tough for the team, despite another appearance in the New England Football Championship Game in 1918 where they fell to the Rovers. John McCallister was not able to handle both running the team and the NEFC so he found a buyer in Glen Harris.
1919-1934: Glen Harris' Ownership and Rise to Dominance
After Harris took over the team, Boston started their rise to dominance. They returned to the top in 1920 taking down the Worcester Athletic Club 20-11 in the championship game. The team would go on to make the next two championship games, falling short in 1921 to Worcester and then beating the Manchester Blue Shirts in 1922.
After the 1923 season, when Boston missed the championship game, Harris hired a young coach in Peter McDuffin. McDuffin would make changes bringing many young players from all over making Boston what was stated by the Boston Times as "The Most Talented Football Team Ever". One of the players that the team hired was QB/DB Seamus O'Flaherty. O'Flaherty was the club's starting QB from 1924 to 1936. He had a run-first style, but McDuffin taught O'Flaherty how to throw and was able to pioneer the passing offence over the 1920s which made Boston into the most productive offence during the decade.
Boston's pairing of McDuffin and O'Flaherty would go on to play in the next 11 New England Football Championship Games. Boston fell short in 1924, but McDuffin and O'Flaherty would win their first title in 1925 beating the Providence Football Club 19-12. Boston would repeat for the first time since 1916, beating the New Haven Scouts the next season. After falling short in 1927, Boston would go on to win the next 7 championships marking the longest streak of championship wins in a row of the McCallister Cup (The New England Football Championship Trophy at the time).
1935-1936: Great American Football League
After Boston won 5 Championships in a row, Glen Harris held meetings with owners of other clubs in America with the aim to create a larger American Football league with the biggest clubs in the country. A few years later in 1935, the Great American Football League was founded. The Boston Football Club joined 5 other teams, the Chicago All-Professional Football Club, the Detroit Warriors, the New York City Bulls Football Club, the Manhatten Football Club, and the Philadelphia Rebels. Boston would meet New York City in the league's first final, and narrowly won, 24-21. The second season would see Manhatten swapped with the Brooklyn Guardians, who would go on to upset Boston in the final game of the season in order to head to the championship in Boston's place. The loss would give the Boston Football Club their first missed championship game since 1923. Unfortunately after just two seasons, with financial struggles rising due to the Great Depression, the Great American Football League would disband and the teams would return to their own leagues.
1937-1942: New York-Pennsylvania Football League
Following the Great American Football League disbandment, Boston would be the lone team to not return to their native competition. Instead, Boston would join the now combined New York and Pennsylvania Leagues. At the same time, there would be a change of guard at QB, as Boston had a new young player in QB Larry Larson. The first year in the NYPFL would see Boston go 5-3, missing the championship game again, but by the second year with Larson Boston was back to being one of the best teams in football. Larson would lead Boston to a championship win in 1938, and then 2 more in 1940 and 1941. With The United States becoming involved in World War II, the NYPFL would slowly shrink as more players went to fight in the war. After the 1942 season, the NYPFL would officially split and professional football would be put up in the air.
1943-1945: The Independents
Despite not having an official competition, Boston would embrace the independent club role, playing teams that wished to challenge them for the best team in America, providing some entertainment during the toughest years of the war. They remained the best team in football as no other team was able to beat them over the war years. They would even do this without Larry Larson, who would get to fight in the war in 1943. Larson would return around a year later, after getting wounded overseas, but would not play football until 1946.
1946-1948: Return to New England Football Championship
After World War II concluded, the Boston Football Club returned to the NEFC for some stability, though they still played the occasional game outside of the league competition continuing their independent status to an extent. QB Larry Larson returned to action and would continue to dominate in his prime, leading Boston to a perfect record between 1946-1948. They would defeat the rival Providence Gold Stars in all 3 championship games for the NEFC during this time period.
NAAF HISTORY
1949-1954: Joining the NAAF and Continued Success
In 1949, the NEFC would officially merge with a new start-up league in the North American Association of Football. Upon joining the league, Boston would officially lose its independent title, however, they would absorb the nickname that many opposing teams gave them "the Independents", officially changing the club's name to the Boston Independents.
Boston would be featured in the NAAF's first-ever game against the Ottawa Royals. Boston would get a 20-17 win on the road, in what would be the closest game the team had post-World War II. Boston would win their next two games, but they would eventually suffer their first loss post-World War II, after falling to the Montreal Rouge 13-10 in week 5 of the 1949 season. It would be their lone loss of the season, as Boston went on to finish 7-1, and defeat the Royals in the semi-finals to make yet another championship game.
Prior to the league's first championship game, John McCallister, the Boston Football Club and NEFC founder passed away. The league would go on to rename the championship trophy, which had been passed on to the NAAF from the NEFC when they were absorbed into the NAAF, the McCallister Cup to honour the late founder who had the cup made for the NEFC. In fact, QB Larry Larson was the one to inspire the change stating to the Boston Times:"we are playing for John [McCallister's] trophy". The game was then renamed the McCallister Cup championship game the following season with numbers added to all the previous games.
The later-named 31st McCallister Cup would see a close game between Boston and their bitter rival Gold Stars, which was tied at 13 heading into the final quarter. The deciding play would be a 17-yard touchdown pass to WR Ethan Walters to give Boston the lead which they would hold onto to win the NAAF's first championship 23-13.
Boston would slip to 2nd in the league in 1950 but still came out on top with a 16-10 win over the Montreal Rouge in the McCallister Cup. The Independents would make the McCallister Cup again in both 1951 and 1952, however, they would lose to Montreal and Buffalo in each game respectively.
After the 1952 season, longtime-Head Coach Peter McDuffin would retire from football, leaving Boston with a new coach for the first time since 1923. Boston would promote Dean Reed to Head Coach, and they would go 4-6 in 1953, which would be the team's first sub-.500 seasons in their entire history. In 1954, Boston would rebound to 6-3-1 and would return to the McCallister Cup, but they would, once again, lose, 23-27 to the Ottawa Royals. The McCallister Cup game would be QB Larry Larson's last, as he would retire after the game. There was a special moment as Larson and the rising star of Royals' QB, Jean Matieau, would meet at midfield after the game before Larson would raise Matieau's arm to congratulate the new champion and pass the torch to the next star.
1955-1957: Rebuilding Years
After Larson retired, Boston would go into a deep rebuild for the first time in its history. QB Brian Meadows would step into the shoes left by Larson to lead the build and they would go 2-8 in 1955. Meadows would eventually be replaced by 2nd Round QB Caldwell Higgins III in 1956, where Boston would finish dead last at 1-9. Luckily, they would end up having 4 1st round picks in 1956 and 1957, landing them plenty of talent in LB Konrad Aust, DL Robin Hill, RB Kendall Morgan, and OL Graham Chambers. Those players would join the already strong stars of LB Brent Harper and WR Ellis Lindholm. The talent Boston got would help the team make a return postseason in 1957, however, they still had a question mark at QB with Caldwell Higgins III struggling to lead to the team starting a 4th round talent in QB Bart Swayze for part of the season.
1958-1965: Rise of Braddock and Return to the Top
GM George Hanson decided that QB Caldwell Higgins III was not the long-term answer and would look for a QB in the 1958 draft. Ahead of the 1958 Draft, college star QB Nathaniel Braddock made the shocking move to declare for the NAAF over the expected ACFL. Braddock immediately shot to the top of the draft board for the '58 draft. Boston would make a big move to trade with the Louisville Thunder in order to get Braddock. Boston would give up the 5th overall pick, as well as a 1st and 2nd round picks plus LB Phillip Murphy to make the trade work.
Now that Boston had their guy, they would find consistent success over the next 8 seasons, making the playoffs in every season, winning the East Division 2 times. However, they still made a coaching change after the 1959 season, bringing in Ben McMillan to replace Dean Reed. In McMillan's second season they would have their biggest in 1961, as Boston would finish 8-4 before beating Providence and Montreal en route to their first McCallister Cup appearance since 1954. Braddock would lead the Independents to a win in the big game defeating the defending champion, London Tigers, 25-24 to win their first title since 1950. Braddock's performance in the playoffs would earn him the Playoff MVP and McCallister Cup MVP.
Boston would not be able to replicate the championship season despite making the playoffs in the next 4 seasons, but they would only manage a single playoff win over the Tigers in 1965. With the playoff misfortunes, Ben McMillan would be let go as coach after the 1965 season.
1966-1968: Faltering
To replace Ben McMillan, GM Ernest Bryan would bring in Victors' Defensive Coordinator, Jonathan Fox. Fox's tenure with Boston would not last long as just after a rough 2-10 season, he would be fired along with GM Ernest Bryan. Boston would bring in GM Allen Hutchinson and Raiders' Offensive Coordinator, Levi Bray, to fill the vacant roles. Hutchinson hoped to get Boston back into contention and went out and acquired one of the league's best DBs in Oliver Langstrom. Boston would improve to 5-7 in 1967, but after a 2-5 start in 1968, Bray would then be fired. Dean Reed would come out of retirement to coach the remainder of the season. At the season's end, GM Allen Hutchinson would be fired and Boston would go on to lose Langstrom to free agency.
1969: Return to the Playoffs
With their latest vacancy, Boston would promote Richard Price to the GM role and then hire Raiders' DC Kenneth Channey as the new Head Coach. While the season started slow going 1-4 in the first 5 games, Boston managed to win their remaining 7 games to finish 8-4 and win the East Division marking a return to the postseason. However, they would fall short to the Royals 9-20.
Historic Information
Head Coaches
Peter McDuffin - 1949-1952
Dean Reed - 1953-1959
Ben McMillan - 1960-1965
Jonathan Fox - 1966
Levi Bray - 1967-1968
Dean Reed - 1968
Kenneth Channey - 1969-Pres.
Captains
RB Joel Bonner - 1957
LB Brent Harper - 1958-1965
QB Nathaniel Braddock - 1966-Pres.
Hall of Famers
QB Larry Larson - 1967
OL Andrew Furrson - 1967
S Michael O'Brien - 1967
HC Peter McDuffin - 1967
QB Larry Larson - 1967
OL Andrew Furrson - 1967
S Michael O'Brien - 1967
HC Peter McDuffin - 1967
LB Brent Harper - 1971
RB Joel Bonner - 1972
RB Joel Bonner - 1972
Seasons
1949: 7-1 - 1st NAAF - Won McCallister Cup
1950: 5-2-1 - 2nd NAAF - Won McCallister Cup
1951: 8-2 - 1st New England Division - Lost McCallister Cup
1952: 7-3 - 1st New England Division - Lost McCallister Cup
1953: 4-6 - 2nd New England Division - Lost New England Division Final
1954: 6-3-1 - 1st New England Division - Lost McCallister Cup
1955: 2-8 - 4th New England Division - Missed Playoffs
1956: 1-9 - 4th New England Division - Missed Playoffs
1957: 5-6-1 - 4th East Division - Lost West Division Semi-Final
1958: 7-5 - 2nd East Division - Lost East Division Semi-Final
1959: 8-4 - 2nd East Division - Lost East Division Semi-Final
1960: 8-4 - 1st East Division - Lost East Division Final
1961: 8-4 - 2nd East Division - Won McCallister Cup
1962: 7-5 - 4th East Division - Lost West Division Semi-Final
1963: 9-2-1 - 1st East Division - Lost East Division Final
1964: 7-4-1 - 2nd East Division - Lost East Division Semi-Final
1965: 6-6 - 2nd East Division - Lost East Division Final
1966: 2-10 - 6th East Division - Missed Playoffs
1967: 5-7 - 5th East Division - Missed Playoffs
1968: 5-7 - 4th East Division - Missed Playoffs
1969: 8-4 - 1st East Division - Lost East Division Final
1970: 6-6 - 4th East Division - Missed Playoffs
1971: 7-7 - 4th East Division - Missed Playoffs
1972: 9-4-1 - 2nd East Division - Lost Quarter-Finals
Awards
Offensive Player of the Year:
1949: RB Joel Bonner
1965: QB Nathaniel Braddock
1968: QB Nathaniel Braddock
1972: QB Nathaniel Braddock
Defensive Player of the Year:
1957: LB Brent Harper
1958: LB Brent Harper
1961: LB Brent Harper
Special Teams Player of the Year:
1950: K Arthur Wall
1957: K Johnnie Berg
1963: K Johnnie Berg
Coach of the Year:
1949: Peter McDuffin
1950: Peter McDuffin
Rookie of the Year:
1966: WR Felix Fontaine
Breakout Player of the Year
1965: WR Evan Clanton
1969: RB Reggie Whitehead
Playoff MVP/MOP:
1949: QB Larry Larson
1950: DL Jon Lewis
1961: QB Nathaniel Braddock
McCallister Cup MVP/MOP
1949: QB Larry Larson
1950: DL Jon Lewis
1961: QB Nathaniel Braddock
DESIGN
1949 - 1950
Boston's look prior to the NAAF was mostly like their home white jerseys, but getting into the NAAF would see them add a plastic helmet which was painted metallic gold. They would also add a clashing road set being the first time the team ever had a green jersey.
1951 - 1952
In 1951, the Independents would add gold stripes to their green jersey.
1953-1957
1958-Present
1968
1970
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