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 Tractors	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 Celts	20–0 W	Normal Park	5,000	4–1–1
9	November 21, 1920	vs. Lansing Oldsmobile	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 Stayms	14–14 T	Pyott Field	N/A	6–2–2

Standings

1920 APFA standings[13]
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	PF	PA	STK
Akron Pros	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

   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
		-- Paddy Driscoll QB -- Nick Mcinerney FB -- Len Charpier FB -- Pete Schultz FB -- Paul Florence RE -- Dick Eagan E -- Red O'Connor E -- Paul LaRosen E -- Lenny Sachs E -- Paul Florence C -- Charlie Knight C		-- Clyde Zoia RG -- Bill Clark G -- George Knight G -- Louie Kolls C -- Leo Chappell RG -- Joe Carey G -- Bill Fortune G -- Fred Gillies LT -- Bernie Halstrom RH -- Harry Curran LH -- Willis Brennan K

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. 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

• Peterson, Robert (1997). Pigskin: The Early Years of Pro Football. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-507607-9.
• PFRA Research (1980). "Happy Birthday NFL?" (PDF). The Coffin Corner (Professional Football Researchers Association) 2 (8). Retrieved June 10, 2011.
• Siwoff, Seymour; Zimmber, Jon; Marini, Matt (2010). The Official NFL Record and Fact Book 2010. National Football League. ISBN 978-1-60320-833-8.

Further reading

• Ziemba, Joe (1999). When Football Was Football: The Chicago Cardinals and the Birth of the NFL. Triumph Books. ISBN 978-1572433175.

1920 APFA season
Akron Pros	Buffalo All-Americans	Canton Bulldogs	Racine Cardinals
Chicago Tigers	Cleveland Tigers	Columbus Panhandles	Dayton Triangles
Decatur Staleys	Detroit Heralds	Hammond Pros	Muncie Flyers
Rochester Jeffersons	Rock Island Independents