Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Am I correct in assuming that the "taxi squad" from back then is the same as the "practice squad" today?

In 1933 & 1934 the roster limit appears to have been 25 for the first couple of games and then 22.

A 1933 article in the Chicago Tribune archives menions the Bears having to get down to 25 before their opener with the Packers (September 24) and then 22 following their third game (at Brooklyn, October 8). A later report says the cutdown to 22 was "by the third game".

1934 also appears to have the same limits, with the Tribune reporting that after Sunday (October 7) all teams had to be down to 22.

Now you know some more of the story...

History of the Practice Squad
By Kevin Nogle
The Phinsider, a Miami Dolphins community

Hall of Fame coach Paul Brown initiated the use of the taxi squad as a way to circumvent All-American Football Conference rules. During the 1940's, the AAFC limited rosters to 33 players. However, Brown was using his incredible scouting skills to find future Hall of Famers and starting level talent at numbers larger than the 33 he was authorized.

Brown always had to win, and there was no way he was going to allow talent he had found to go to an opposing team. He had to find a way to keep all of his players, no matter how many he had.

In order to avoid cutting players to the 33-player limit, Brown turned to the owner of the Browns, Arthur B. McBride. McBride owned a taxi company in Cleveland, and that company, Zone/Yellow Cab company of Cleveland, would serve as the basis for the "taxi" squad.

Brown worked out a deal with McBride and the managers of the cab company to "hire" several of his players, listing them as employees, although they would never actually work for the company. McBride would continue to pay the players, funneling the money through the cab company, and Brown would be able to keep his extra players. In return, the team would promote the cab company.

Over the years, other teams would start to pick up on the idea and stash their own players. Eventually, the NFL had to formalize the "taxi" squads into practice squads, setting a limit on the number of players a team could keep.

From Brown's use of a taxi company in the 1940s to the eight man practice squad, with rules about who can be put on the squad, and how many times a player may be put onto the squad, used today, the practice squad has evolved throughout the decades. Sometime today, the Dolphins should announce their continuation of the 70 year old "taxi" squad practice.

http://www.thephinsider.com/2012/9/2/32 ... tice-squad

TodMaher wrote:

JKelly wrote:Looking at the link posted for the NFL Archives leads to this question was the "taxi squad" something that was sanctioned and monitored by the league? Meaning was there a limit of players that could be on it? Could they be activated from the squad or deactivated directly to the squad? Looking at the list on NFL Archives of Rosters there is no mention of it and it existed from the 1950's up to the 1970's but it seems to be this shadowy quasi thing. Or am I just missing something?

The "taxi squad" was unofficial until the AFL came along and forced the NFL/Pete Rozelle to make it official and regulated. Before that teams were paying players under the table to practice with them - technically illegal at the time.
I use to have better info on the 1960s roster limits, etc. which I got from the league record manuals. Unfortunately, I lost my original list a few years ago and I no longer have access to the league record manuals from that era.

Ok thanks for that info but it leads me to a few more questions. Once the "taxi squad" became regulated did it morph into the inactive list that started in the late 1960's or was it a seperate entity? If I remember right certain players like Stabler and Johnny Walton were on taxi squads in the late 1960's & early 1970's so it would seem to me that the inactive list and taxi squad were not the same thing. I also recall Jack Concannon spent 2-3 years(?) with the Cowboys on one of the lists but not sure which one or maybe both.

When did the "taxi squad" end? I do not recall hearing much if anything about them thru the 1980's (maybe because of increased rosters?) so I am assuming there is no direct link between the taxi squad and the practice squad although the concept is similar.

I'm curious - did any "taxi squad" members actually drive a cab in the off-season?
It began in an era when many players held off-season jobs.
In pro basketball, Sweetwater Clifton became a full-time cab driver after
he retired from play. John Ezersky did also.

JKelly wrote:

TodMaher wrote:

JKelly wrote:Looking at the link posted for the NFL Archives leads to this question was the "taxi squad" something that was sanctioned and monitored by the league? Meaning was there a limit of players that could be on it? Could they be activated from the squad or deactivated directly to the squad? Looking at the list on NFL Archives of Rosters there is no mention of it and it existed from the 1950's up to the 1970's but it seems to be this shadowy quasi thing. Or am I just missing something?

The "taxi squad" was unofficial until the AFL came along and forced the NFL/Pete Rozelle to make it official and regulated. Before that teams were paying players under the table to practice with them - technically illegal at the time.
I use to have better info on the 1960s roster limits, etc. which I got from the league record manuals. Unfortunately, I lost my original list a few years ago and I no longer have access to the league record manuals from that era.

Ok thanks for that info but it leads me to a few more questions. Once the "taxi squad" became regulated did it morph into the inactive list that started in the late 1960's or was it a seperate entity? If I remember right certain players like Stabler and Johnny Walton were on taxi squads in the late 1960's & early 1970's so it would seem to me that the inactive list and taxi squad were not the same thing. I also recall Jack Concannon spent 2-3 years(?) with the Cowboys on one of the lists but not sure which one or maybe both.

When did the "taxi squad" end? I do not recall hearing much if anything about them thru the 1980's (maybe because of increased rosters?) so I am assuming there is no direct link between the taxi squad and the practice squad although the concept is similar.

In the 1960s and early 1970s the "taxi squad" was officially called the "inactive list." Different than today's "inactive list."

On the list on my website for most of the 1960s I am missing for the number of players who were on the "inactive list."
If anyone has access to the NFL and AFL record manuals from then they could help fill in that data.

Based on Programs and Gamebooks, the roster limit in 1982 was 45 active + 4 inactive (Week 1 & 2), before the strike, then 49 active (Week 11-17 & Playoffs).

John Grasso » Fri Jan 30, 2015 7:25 pm
"'Im curious - did any "taxi squad" members actually drive a cab in the off-season?
It began in an era when many players held off-season jobs.
In pro basketball, Sweetwater Clifton became a full-time cab driver after
he retired from plaIy. John Ezersky did also."

=====

Dave Cowens

From time to time, Cowens exhibited a few unconventional traits:
In 1974, after the Celtics won the NBA championship over Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the Milwaukee Bucks, he slept on a park bench on Boston Common, purportedly after wandering throughout the neighborhoods adjacent to downtown Boston to celebrate the victory with Celtics fans and an entourage of admirers and devotees.
During the early part of the 1977 season, Cowens took a leave of absence from the Celtics and worked as a cab driver for one night. He explained that he just needed "to clear his head" and that he was "suffering from burnout."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Cowens

-----

"I just wanted to see what it's like," said Cowens, who is 6 foot 9 and about 230 pounds. "I paid $35 to become part of the Independent Taxi Operators Association. As long as you filled up their car at the end of the shift, you get to keep the fares you made."

http://espn.go.com/espn/page2/index?id=5285963

From my understanding of the rosters in c.1969-72, there was also a Move List, which appears to have sat in between the Active and Inactive (Taxi Squad).

In 1969, players had to miss two games whilst on the Move List and could not be claimed by other teams. A team would then have to make a decision on that player - Activate, De-Activate, Request Waivers or Injured Reserve.

In 1971, the Chicago Tribune reported that teams would have 7 weeks to make a decision on a player on the Move List, up from the previous 5 weeks.

Describing it as "cumbersome and controversial" the Tribune reported that the Move List was scrapped at the NFL Owners meeting in April 1973; being replaced with a 40 player Active roster and 7 player Inactive roster, with teams able to move players between the two as required. This setup was dropped in 1974 and a 47 player Active roster took its place.

I've seen the question asked and don't remember a definitive answer, but how did teams scrimmage back in the day when there was a roster limit of 18?

Here's an August inter squad game program from the Giants in 1947 - 43 on this roster, looks like the limit by the start of the season was 35 (check out the timer)