By Jim Dunne

Professional football in Norwich? Well, not exactly, but 60 years ago this fall, “semi-pro” football was founded in Norwich by the men who played it. The Norwich “Y Giants” played on Sunday afternoons from 1947 through 1951, challenging semi-pro teams from Sidney, Vestal, Syracuse, Utica, and other central New York towns.

The year 1947 was part of a different era. Although professional football was played on Sundays, no one had a TV to watch it. The local semi-pro teams drew large crowds, anxious to see more of the boys who had starred for the high school teams a few years before. Founded by men who had served in World War II and who had returned still in good condition (in more ways than one), the teams were joined by college men and boys just out of high school.

“Semi-pro” was a term used to differentiate this local brand of football from high school football. Sometimes the players were paid, but the real motivation for most of them was to extend their youth, playing a game that they loved. They surmounted many obstacles in order to field a team that would draw the crowds necessary to finance equipment, uniforms, game officials, and insurance.