The franchise was originally known as the
Providence Indians (aka
Rhode Island Indians), a newly-formed team in the Continental League's first season in 1965. The COFL's other nine squads were taken from the
Atlantic Coast Football League and the defunct
United Football League; the Indians replaced an incarnation of the
Providence Steam Roller that had played in the ACFL from 1962 to 1964. After a disastrous 3-11 season played before tiny crowds, the franchise was shifted to Brooklyn and renamed after the famous baseball team. (There was precedent for this: there was a
Brooklyn Dodgers team in the NFL from 1930–43 and another club of that name in the
All-America Football Conference (AAFC) from 1946–48; still, the Los Angeles Dodgers were not amused, suing the new Dodgers for copyright infringement for using their former name.) Although a completely different organization from the
baseball Dodgers (who by this point had
moved to
Los Angeles), the football Dodgers did hire hardball legend
Jackie Robinson as their general manager, featuring him in their promotional materials. Robinson, who briefly played professional football in the old
Pacific Coast League in the 1940s, was actually hired as a figurehead with little say over the day-to-day actions of the team; his role was mostly limited to public appearances, such as attending "Jackie Robinson Day" when the Dodgers played in Montreal, where he had played for the minor-league
Montreal Royals in 1946.
Andy Robustelli was the Dodgers' head coach, while Tom Kennedy, who also played with the club when it was in Providence in 1965, was the starting quarterback. After Kennedy led the Continental in passing (191-for-316, 2559 yards and 18 TDs), he was signed by the
New York Giants; afterwards, ex-
TCU star
Sonny Gibbs took over behind center. ==1966 season==