 |
|
1940 |
In 1940, the Boston Bears competed in
the third American Football League. With Andy Karpus at quarterback, Coach Eddie
Casey’s team was a competitive one, finishing the 1940 season with a 5-4-1
record, good for third place in the AFL.
In a five-year career just before World War
II, Andy Karpus played with nine different teams in four different leagues, not
to mention a trial or two with NFL teams.
Karpus began his pro travels in 1937 with
the Brooklyn Dodgers of the NFL, but he was cut before the regular season
started and hooked on with the New York Yankees of the AFL. He was then sold to
the Los Angeles Bulldogs, the AFL’s best team. His touchdown pass in their last
game proved to be the final scoring play in the two-year existence of the AFL.
Karpus returned to the West Coast for the
1938 season with the Salinas Packers of the new California Football League. The
CFL folded after the season and in 1939 he resurfaced with the Union City Rams
of the American Association.
For the first time in Karpus’s career, his
league didn’t fold in the offseason, but his team did. A few of the Rams’ top
players, Karpus among them, caught on for 1940 with a new AA team, the Long
Island Indians. The Indians won their first two games, but the bottom fell out
when the Boston Bears of the new AFL stole several of their stars, including
Karpus.
For the Bears he played as a halfback and
was named to the All-AFL team. Karpus led the AFL in completions and passing
yardage, and that earned him a first-team berth on the all-league team.
But success on the field did not transform
itself into success in the stands. Before the league’s annual preseason meeting,
the owner announced the dissolution of the team. In the meeting, the league
tabbed Detroit for an expansion team for the 1941 season to replace the Bears.
Andy Karpus probably never made much money,
and he sure didn’t make a lasting name for himself; but if they gave points for
persistence and love of the game, he’s high on the list. |
