The Providence Steam Roller were a National Football League (NFL) team based in Providence, Rhode Island that existed from 1916 to 1933. Their most successful season was in 1928 when they won the NFL championship; becoming the first New England based team to do so. 

The Providence Steam Roller(often spelt with or without an “s” or “Steamroller” as one word) was founded in 1916 by a group of sports-editors/writers of the Providence Journal as an independent barnstorming team. Their uniform colors were black, orange, and white. They quickly rose to become one of the biggest and most popular teams in New England , and the best independent professional team in the United States. During the 1924 season Providence were playing, and doing quite well against, several established NFL teams. After a successful campaign in 1924 the team declared themselves ‘The Undisputed Champions of the Northeast’ and the decision was made by team owners to petition to join the NFL, which the league accepted. The Providence Steam Roller officially entered the NFL beginning in the 1925 season. Prior to joining the NFL the Steam Roller played their home games at Kinsley Park in Providence. Upon entering the NFL they moved into the Providence Cycledrome; a 10,000 capacity stadium built in 1925 mainly for bicycle racing, but easily converted for other sport usage. The team struggled for their first couple of seasons in the NFL. The Steam Roller, which was always notoriously stingy in paying its players, as an independent team was able to skirt rules about signing players still in college( they simply didn’t pay them in order to keep the players amateur status), and in entering the NFL they were gutted of almost all of their players. However by the 1927 season they had established themselves as a legitimate championship caliber team.

The 1928 team, led by head coach/starting quarterback Jim Conzelman, immediately came out strong thrashing the New York Yankees( no, the NFL team) 20-7 in the first game of the season. They then lost a close game, 6-10, to arch-rivals Frankford Yellow Jackets in the second game, but quickly began an unbeaten streak including shutting out the Yellow Jackets twice( with one game against Frankford being a scoreless tie). In the final game of the 1928 season the Steam Roller tied the Green Bay Packers 7-7 to finish the season with a record of 11-3-2. Providence were tied with the Yellow Jackets for the best record in the NFL, though thanks to the better head-to-head record the Steam Roller were declared the NFL Champions. Prior to  the 1932 season there were no playoffs or a single Championship Game; the NFL Championship was awarded to the team with the best overall season record. A victory party was held at the historic Providence Biltmore.  Each player was given a gold watch, and Conzelman was awarded a special trophy and named team Most Valuable Player.

Unfortunately for the Providence Steam Roller, the team’s fortunes quickly fell apart. After following up the championship season with a mediocre 4-6-2 record in 1929 fan interest in the team waned. The only highlight of note post ‘28 championship season came on November 6 1929 when they hosted the first night game in NFL history. After heavy rains flooded out the Cycledrome, a game against the Chicago Cardinals was canceled. Since neither team wanted to lose a payday, the game was hastily rescheduled to the played at the Steamroller’s old home Kinsley Park at night under floodlights. The Steam Roller were defeated 0-16, though the game was considered a success when 6,000 fans attended. The team, which was always in dire financial straights, was decimated by the Great Depression in 1930. After the 1931 season the team , along with a few other teams including the Frankford Yellow Jackets, suspended operations. In 1933 the Providence Steam Roller ownership officially folded the team. As of this writing the 1928 Providence Steam Roller are the most recent NFL Champions, not including relocated teams, to go defunct.

However the NFL team are not the only Providence Steamrollers, but for that dear Avocadonauts, you have to wait for the Night Thread