1920 Chicago Cardinals season

1920 Chicago Cardinals season
Head coach Paddy Driscoll
Home field Normal Park
Results
Record 7–2–2 overall
6–2–1 in APFA standings
3–2–1 against APFA teams
League place 4th APFA

The 1920 Chicago Cardinals season was their inaugural season in the National Football League. The team finished 6–2–1, earning fourth in the league. Their final games of the season against the Chicago Stayms Foresters was played after the NFL season was officially over and didn't count towards the standings.

Offseason

The Chicago Cardinals, who were named the Racine Cardinals, finished 4–2–3 in their 1919 season in the Ohio League, a professional football league based around the state of Ohio.[1] Following the 1919 season, representatives of four Ohio League teams—the Canton Bulldogs, the Cleveland Tigers, the Dayton Triangles, and the Akron Pros—called a meeting on August 20, 1920, to discuss the formation of a new league. At the meeting, they tentatively agreed on a salary cap and pledged not to sign college players or players already under contract with other teams. They also agreed on a name for the circuit: the American Professional Football Conference.[2][3] They then contacted other major professional teams and invited them to a meeting for September 17.[4]

At that meeting, held at Bulldogs owner Ralph Hay's Hupmobile showroom in Canton, representatives of the Rock Island Independents, the Muncie Flyers, the Decatur Staleys, the Massillon Tigers, the Cardinals, and the Hammond Pros agreed to join the league. Representatives of the Buffalo All-Americans and Rochester Jeffersons could not attend the meeting, but sent letters to Hay asking to be included in the league.[5] Team representatives changed the league's name slightly to the American Professional Football Association and elected officers, installing Jim Thorpe as president.[5][6][7] Under the new league structure, teams created their schedules dynamically as the season progressed,[8][9] and representatives of each team voted to determine the winner of the APFA trophy.[10] After joining the league, owner Chris O'Brien signed halfback John "Paddy" Driscoll for $3,000. One of Driscoll's young running backs was Ralph Horween, who previously played under the name of B. McMahon at Harvard University.[11]

Schedule

1920 Chicago Cardinals schedule[12]
Week Date Opponent Result Venue Attendance Record
1 No game scheduled
2 No game scheduled
3 October 10, 1920 at Chicago Tigers 0–0 T Cubs Park 5,000 0–0–1
4 October 17, 1920 vs. Moline Universal Tractorsdagger 33–0 W St. Rita's Field N/A 1–0–1
5 October 24, 1920 at Rock Island Independents 7–0 L Douglas Park 4,000 1–1–1
6 October 31, 1920 vs. Detroit Heralds 21–0 W Cubs Park 3,000 2–1–1
7 November 7, 1920 vs. Chicago Tigers 6–3 W Cubs Park 7,000 3–1–1
8 November 14, 1920 vs. Cincinnati Celtsdagger 20–0 W Normal Park 5,000 4–1–1
9 November 21, 1920 vs. Lansing Oldsmobiledagger 14–0 W Normal Park 3,500 5–1–1
10 November 28, 1920 vs. Decatur Staleys 7–6 W Normal Park 5,000 6–1–1
11 December 5, 1920 vs. Decatur Staleys 10–0 L Cubs Park 11,000 6–2–1
12 No game scheduled
13 December 19, 1920 at Chicago Staymsdagger 14–14 T Pyott Field N/A 6–2–2

Standings

1920 APFA standings[13]
W L T PCT DIV PF PA STK
Akron Prosdagger 8 0 3 1.000 6–0–3 151 7 T2
Decatur Staleys 10 1 2 .909 5–1–2 164 21 T1
Buffalo All-Americans 9 1 1 .900 4–1–1 258 32 T1
Chicago Cardinals 6 2 2 .750 3–2–2 101 29 T1
Rock Island Independents 6 2 2 .750 4–2–1 201 49 W1
Dayton Triangles 5 2 2 .714 4–2–2 150 54 L1
Rochester Jeffersons 6 3 2 .667 0–1 156 57 T1
Canton Bulldogs 7 4 2 .636 4–3–1 208 57 W1
Detroit Heralds 2 3 3 .400 1–3 53 82 T2
Cleveland Tigers 2 4 2 .333 1–4–2 28 46 L1
Chicago Tigers 2 5 1 .286 1–5–1 49 63 W1
Hammond Pros 2 5 0 .286 0–3 41 154 L3
Columbus Panhandles 2 6 2 .250 0–4 41 121 W1
Muncie Flyers 0 1 0 .000 0–1 0 45 L1

 dagger  Awarded the Brunswick-Balke Collender Cup and named APFA Champions.
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

Roster

Chicago Cardinals 1920 final roster

Notes

  1. ↑ Peterson 1997, p. 63
  2. ↑ PFRA Research 1980, pp. 3–4
  3. ↑ Siwoff, Zimmber & Marini 2010, pp. 352–353
  4. ↑ PFRA Research 1980, p. 3
  5. 1 2 PFRA Research 1980, p. 4
  6. ↑ "Thorpe Made President" (PDF). The New York Times. September 19, 1920.
  7. ↑ "Organize Pro Gridders; Choose Thorpe, Prexy". The Milwaukee Journal. September 19, 1920. p. 24.
  8. ↑ Peterson 1997, p. 74
  9. ↑ Davis 2005, p. 59
  10. ↑ Price, Mark (April 25, 2011). "Searching for Lost Trophy". Akron Beacon-Journal. Retrieved June 23, 2012.
  11. ↑ "Franchise". Arizona Cardinals. Retrieved February 11, 2013.
  12. ↑ NFL History 2003, pp. 1–7
  13. ↑ "NFL – 1920 Regular Season". National Football League. Retrieved January 6, 2013.

References

Further reading

Akron Buffalo Canton CHI Cardinals
CHI Tigers Cleveland Columbus Dayton
Decatur Detroit Hammond Muncie
Rochester Rock Island
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