Gilberton Cadamounts facts for kids

The Gilberton Catamounts were a professional football team from the 1920s. They were based in Gilberton, Pennsylvania, a town in Pennsylvania. People sometimes called them the Gilberton Cadamounts or the Gilberton Duck Streeters. The team often played their home games in nearby Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania. This was because their own field, Stoddard Field, often got flooded. Gilberton even got the nickname "Ducktown" because of all the flooding!

Playing for Big Money

The Gilberton Catamounts played against other teams from Pennsylvania's "coal country." This area was known for its coal mines. In the 1920s, football teams in this region paid a lot of money to talented players. Many players from the National Football League (NFL) came to play here. They wanted to earn more money.

In 1924, the Catamounts signed three new star players. These players were Ben Shaw, Cecil Grigg, and Lou Smyth. All three had played for the Canton Bulldogs in the NFL. Joe Keating and James Rafferty were the team's managers at the time.

That same year, the team joined the Anthracite League. This league was created to try and control how much money teams were spending on top players. However, the Anthracite League only lasted one season and folded in 1924. The Catamounts later played in the Eastern League of Professional Football. They were part of this league from 1926 until it also folded in 1927.

Fritz Pollard Joins the Team

A very important player named Fritz Pollard played for the Gilberton Catamounts. He played with the team in 1923 and 1924. Fritz Pollard is so important that he was later added to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Coach Charlie Copley helped bring Pollard to the Catamounts. Copley had played with Pollard on other teams, like the Akron Pros and the Milwaukee Badgers. When Fritz Pollard joined the Catamounts, he became the first African-American player to play football in Pennsylvania's coal region.

Hall of Fame Players

Some players who played for the Gilberton Catamounts later became very famous. One of them is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.