In 1917, A. E. Staley's Fellowship Club formed a baseball team managed by future Baseball Hall of Famer Joe McGinnity. Gene Staley was a big sports fan, believing it helped build character and instill a sense of competition in his employees. Two years later, the Fellowship Club created a football counterpart. The players on both teams worked as semi-professionals in his factory. The football team, nicknamed the Decatur Staleys and headed by a coach named Brennan, competed on the independent circuit in 1919; after losing its first game, the team won six in a row to go 6–1.