Help Requested: Late 70’s Berlin Germany Bears Team Jacket (German-American Football)
 

I know that I am far from alone, especially on this site, when I say that the hunt is the best part of collecting.

For me, it is closely followed by learning about a team, an athlete, a league or an artifact that I knew nothing about.

Found this jacket this past weekend at a local Vancouver vintage clothing store and I have been engrossed in learning more about the former German-American Football League or Bundesliga (now GFL) and one of its founding member teams - the Berlin Baren (Bears).

I believe this is a player’s jacket from the 1979 or 1980 Bears, who changed their name (and colors) to “Adler” (Eagles) in 1981 and still exist today.

Would love to confirm that it is the team with a photo if anyone can find one (even of the original team unis) and anyone who collects items from the league. "M. Howley" - I assume it would be a stretch to find a roster?

Wiki: The club was formed as the second American football club in Berlin on 12 February 1979, then under the name of Berliner Bären (English: Berlin Bears). In the early days, all training was carried out on the facilities of the US Army and supervised by US soldiers stationed in Berlin.

In 1979, the Bears became a founding member of the American Football Bundesliga, renamed the German Football League in 1999, together with the Frankfurter Löwen, Düsseldorf Panther, Ansbach Grizzlies, Munich Cowboys und Bremerhaven Seahawks.

The Bears came third in their first season in competitive football, but was unable to make the play-off in its first four seasons. To improve on-the-field performance, the team decided to join established club BSC Wilmersdorf in 1981, changing its club colors and name, becoming the Berlin Adler.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/archi...=.ec0f47d99b97

Cool jacket!

Agreed, cool jacket.

Football or soccer?

Football. American pigskin rules.