Bay City Bulldogs
History: The team was founded in 1906 by Harry Defoe of the Defoe Shipbuilding Company. For the first two years, it was nothing more than a club in which his employees would face off against workers from other companies in the area. However, in 1908, he offered a management job to William O’Malley, who had been a star wingback at Notre Dame. With a ringer on his hands, the Bulldogs wiped out the rec league competition. By 1912, the entire squad (while still technically employed at the shipyard), was hired specifically to play football. The team doesn’t have a home stadium, and instead brings in money only through the gate revenue at road games.
Leadership: Defoe is heavily involved in recruiting and signing new players, with mixed results.
Key Players: Bay City’s has three star players who are good enough to start on almost any team, and their skills complement one another well. August Owens (tailback – Nebraska), Noah Strickland (wingback – Ohio State), and Denis Azzopardi (end/coach – Indiana) combine Owens’s quickness, Strickland’s raw speed, and Azzopardi’s power to overwhelm opponents, particularly on the offensive side of the ball.
Outlook: Unfortunately, outside of their big three, the team has very little talent. A lack of depth combined with the fact that they will have to travel for every game means that their ceiling is probably the middle of the pack.
Nickname: The first ship that Defoe ever built for the Navy was called the U.S.S. Bulldog. He liked the name, and gave it to the team.
Logo: The Bulldogs are one of the only teams to have a logo. It’s unusual in that it isn’t just an advertisement for the shipbuilding company.
Uniforms: There are brown canvas strips sewn onto the front and sides of the gold jerseys. Bulldogs players do not have numbers.
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