[JustinD]

I was recently reading about the story of Alabama Pitts and was super intrigued. For those that are unaware, Pitts was convicted of armed robbery and sentenced to 8 to 16 years at Sing Sing in 1929.

In prison he joined the football, Baseball and basketball teams and was a star in all. He earned a reputation as "the most prominent jail-bird athlete in America". He tried out for two professional football teams during his sentence. After being released in 1935, he signed with the Albany Senators as a pro. After signing, the president of the NAPBL blocked his contract as he was against it. After a hearing the executive committee appealed to Kenesaw Landis who declared Pitts eligible. After injuries he played in only 43 games for the Senators and left after the 35' season. In fall of 35' he signed with the Philadelphia Eagles to play Halfback and DB. He was released after the seasons 4th game. In 36' he played basketball on a travel team with the Alabama Pitts All-Stars and resigned with the Senators in July of 36'. He spent the next few years bouncing around the Carolina league and Piedmont League in Baseball and the American Association in Football.
Pitts was never a star, but was very well known at the time and a really great story to dig into.

After reading this, I bought the following press photos as they told his story. Apologies for the auction shots with the watermark, I have not scanned them yet.