View source for Boston Yanks

{{Short description|National Football League team based in Boston, Massachusetts}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2013}}
{{one source|date=October 2017}}
{{Infobox Pre-modern NFL team
| name = Boston Yanks
| bgcolor = green
| fontcolor = ffcc00
| helmet = 
| logo = BostonYanks48.gif
| founded = 1944
| suspended = 
| location = [[Boston, Massachusetts]]
| field = [[Fenway Park]] ([[Boston]])<br> [[Braves Field]] [a few regular season games] ([[Boston]])
| league = [[National Football League]] 
| conference =
| division = old [[Eastern and Western Divisions (NFL) 1933–69|Eastern Division]]
| colors = Kelly green, gold, white <br> {{Color box|green|border=silver}}{{Color box|#ffcc00|border=silver}}{{Color box|#FFFFFF|border=silver}}
| history = '''Boston Yanks''' (1944, 1946–1948)<br>'''The Yanks''' (1945)
| nickname = 
| coach = [[Herb Kopf]] (1944–1946) <br> [[Maurice J. "Clipper" Smith]] (1947–1948)
| manager = 
| owner = [[Ted Collins (manager)|Ted Collins]]
| NFL championships = 
| AFL 1 championships =
| AFL 2 championships =
| AFL 3 championships =
| AAFC championships =
| mascot = 
| website =
|relocated=1948 [[New York Yanks|as New York Bulldogs/Yanks]]}}

The '''Boston Yanks''' were a [[National Football League]] team based in [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]], that played from 1944 to 1948. The team played its home games at [[Fenway Park]]. Any games that conflicted with the [[Boston Red Sox]] baseball schedule in the [[American League]] were held at [[Braves Field]] of the cross-town [[National League (baseball)|National League]] team, the [[Boston Braves (baseball)|Boston Braves]]. Team owner [[Ted Collins (manager)|Ted Collins]], who managed singer and television show host [[Kate Smith]] (1907–1986) for thirty years, picked the name Yanks because he originally wanted to run a team that played at [[New York City]]'s old [[Yankee Stadium (1923)|Yankee Stadium]]. The Yanks managed only a 2–8 record during their first regular season.

<span id="Yanks"></span>Because of a shortage of players caused by [[World War II]], the Yanks were temporarily merged with the erratic founding APFA member [[Dayton Triangles]]' franchise, then known as the [[Rochester Tigers#1936 season|Brooklyn Tigers]], for the 1945 season, and styled as just the Yanks with no home city named. The merged team played four home games in Boston and one in New York and finished with a 3–6–1 record.

When Brooklyn Tigers owner [[Dan Topping]] announced his intention to join the newly established rival professional football league, the [[All-America Football Conference]] (AAFC), in 1946, his [[NFL]] franchise, which was a founding APFA member that he had moved from Dayton, Ohio in 1929, was revoked and all of its players were assigned to the Yanks, with the original Triangles legacy being carried on by this group. After three continuous losing seasons, Collins finally was allowed to move to [[New York City]]. But instead of an official relocation, he asked the league to officially fold his Boston franchise and give him a new franchise, for a Federal tax write-off. The League granted his request, and Collins named his new team the [[New York Bulldogs]]. However, like many of this franchise's moves, the NFL considers them to have folded, while the players and assets simply moved, ultimately keeping the Dayton Triangles' legacy alive as the last remaining [[Ohio League]] member.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20130617111756/http://www.profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/17-05-621.pdf HOW TO GET FROM DAYTON TO INDIANAPOLIS BY WAY OF BROOKLYN, BOSTON, NEW YORK, DALLAS, HERSHEY AND BALTIMORE By Bob Carroll, THE COFFIN CORNER: Vol. 17, No. 5 (1995), Originally published in Ragtyme Sports]</ref>
Despite the franchise's assets moving to a new city and carrying on the team's legacy, the Boston Yanks are the only officially defunct NFL team ever to have a [[List of first overall NFL draft picks|first overall pick]] in the NFL draft. They had it twice, in 1944 and 1946, selecting quarterbacks [[Angelo Bertelli]] and [[Frank Dancewicz]] from [[University of Notre Dame|Notre Dame]].

==First round draft selections==
[[File:Fritz Barzilauskas.jpg|thumb|upright|Guard [[Fritz Barzilauskas]]]]

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+Boston Yanks first-round draft picks
|-
! style="background:green; color:#ffffff; border: 2px solid #ffcc00;"|Year
! style="background:green; color:#ffffff; border: 2px solid #ffcc00;"|Player name
! style="background:green; color:#ffffff; border: 2px solid #ffcc00;"|Position
! style="background:green; color:#ffffff; border: 2px solid #ffcc00;"|College
|-
| [[1944 NFL Draft|1944]] || [[Angelo Bertelli]] || Back || Notre Dame
|-
| [[1945 NFL Draft|1945]] || [[Eddie Prokop]] || Back || Georgia Tech
|-
| [[1946 NFL Draft|1946]] || [[Frank Dancewicz]] || Back || Notre Dame
|-
| [[1947 NFL Draft|1947]] || [[Fritz Barzilauskas]] || Guard || Yale
|-
| [[1948 NFL Draft|1948]] || [[Vaughn Mancha]] || Center || Alabama
|}

==Pro Football Hall of Fame==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan="5" style="background:green; color:#ffffff;"|Boston Yanks Hall of Famers
|-
! colspan="5" style="background:#ffcc00; color:green;"|Players
|-
! No.
! Name
! Position
! Tenure
! Inducted
|-
| — || [[Clarence Parker|Clarence "Ace" Parker]] || [[Quarterback|QB]], [[Halfback (American football)|HB]] || 1945 || 1972
|}

==Season-by-season==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Year !! W !! L !! T !! Finish!! Coach
|-
| 1944 || 2 || 8 || 0 || 4th East||rowspan=3|[[Herb Kopf]] 
|-
| 1945 || 3 || 6 || 1 || 3rd East
|-
| 1946 || 2 || 8 || 1 || 5th East
|-
| 1947 || 4 || 7 || 1 || 3rd East||rowspan=2|[[Maurice J. "Clipper" Smith|Clipper Smith]] 
|-
| 1948 || 3 || 9 || 0 || 5th East
|-
!Totals || 14 || 38 || 3
|colspan="2"|
|}

==References==
<references />

{{Boston Yanks}}
{{Boston Yanks football coach navbox}}
{{Boston Yanks seasons}}
{{Dayton Triangles}}
{{Brooklyn Dodgers (NFL)}}
{{Dallas Texans (NFL)}}
{{Defunct NFL teams}}

[[Category:Boston Yanks| ]]
[[Category:Defunct NFL teams]]
[[Category:1944 establishments in Massachusetts]]
[[Category:1948 disestablishments in Massachusetts]]
[[Category:American football teams established in 1944]]
[[Category:American football teams disestablished in 1948]]
[[Category:American football teams in Boston]]