"I'm Gonna Make It Someday" - The Pottstown Firebirds

Founded in 1968, the Pottstown Firebirds (also known as the Pennsylvania Firebirds in their final season) came into existence at a time when minor league football was enjoying some measure of popularity in North America, particularly in the Midwest and Atlantic states. Members of the Atlantic Coast Football League, the Firebirds were owned by underwear magnate Ed Gruber.

The team became a farm club of the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL)  and played its home games at Pottstown High School’s Grigg Memorial stadium. The roster, like that of a minor league team in any sport, was a mixture of players at the end of their careers, a few who still hoped to move up, and those who just wanted to play the game and had no real prospect of playing in the National or American Football Leagues. 

On the field, the Firebirds were led by quarterback Jim “King” Corcoran who had played college football at Maryland before landing on the roster of the Denver Broncos as an undrafted free agent in 1966. His only NFL action came with the Boston Patriots during the 1968 season in which he appeared in two games. An adequate signal caller, his off-field antics and larger-than-life personality (he used to congratulate himself out loud after throwing a touchdown pass, dressed flamboyantly, and was a bit of a womanizer), likely kept him from returning to the NFL.