Dan Blaine, a restaurateur and onetime halfback, built the hometown Stapleton Football Club into the best semi-pro team in the metropolitan area, and then – from 1929 through 1932 – a competitive member of the National Football League.
During four mostly middle-of-the-pack seasons, the Stapes hosted the Bears, Packers – and, every Thanksgiving, the New York Giants – at tiny Thompson’s Stadium, highlighted by a 7-6 upset that cost the Giants the 1930 NFL championship.
Class of 2001