1920 Chicago Cardinals season

The 1920 Chicago Cardinals season was the Cardinals' inaugural season in the American Professional Football Association (soon to be the National Football League). The team finished 6–2–1, earning fourth in the league. Their final two games of the season against the Chicago Stayms Foresters were played after the APFA season was officially over and did not count towards the standings.

1920 Chicago Cardinals season
Head coachPaddy Driscoll
Home fieldNormal Park
Results
Record6–2–2 overall
6–2–2 in APFA standings
3–2–1 against APFA teams
League place4th APFA

Although the Cardinals' existence traced back as far as 1899, this was their first season as a member of the American Professional Football Association.

The last remaining active member of the 1920 Chicago Cardinals was Paddy Driscoll, who retired after the 1929 season.

Offseason

The Chicago Cardinals finished 4–3-0 in their 1919 season in the Chicago Football league[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] Then they 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, manager 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
Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 Bye
2 Bye
3 October 10at Chicago TigersT 0–00–0–1Cubs Park5,000
4 October 17Moline Universal Tractors†W 33–01–0–1St. Rita's Field–
5 October 24at Rock Island IndependentsL 0–71–1–1Douglas Park4,000
6 October 31Detroit HeraldsW 21–02–1–1Cubs Park3,000
7 November 7at Chicago TigersW 6–33–1–1Cubs Park7,000
8 November 14vs. Cincinnati Celts†W 20–04–1–1Normal Park5,000
9 November 21Lansing Oldsmobile†W 14–05–1–1Normal Park3,500
10 November 28Decatur StaleysW 7–66–1–1Normal Park5,000
11 December 5Decatur StaleysL 0–106–2–1Cubs Park11,000
12 Bye
13 December 19at Chicago Stayms†T 14–146–2–2Pyott Field–
14 January 9, 1921vs. Chicago Stayms†W 6–07–2–2Normal Park3,000

Game summaries

Standings
1920 APFA standings[12]
W L T PCT DIV DPCT PF PA STK
Akron Pros† 8 0 3 1.000 6–0–3 1.000 151 7 T2
Decatur Staleys 10 1 2 .909 5–1–2 .833 164 21 T1
Buffalo All-Americans 9 1 1 .900 4–1–1 .800 258 32 T1
Chicago Cardinals 6 2 2 .750 3–2–2 .600 101 29 T1
Rock Island Independents 6 2 2 .750 4–2–1 .667 201 49 W1
Dayton Triangles 5 2 2 .714 4–2–2 .667 150 54 L1
Rochester Jeffersons 6 3 2 .667 0–1–0 .000 156 57 T1
Canton Bulldogs 7 4 2 .636 4–3–1 .571 208 57 W1
Detroit Heralds 2 3 3 .400 1–3–0 .250 53 82 T2
Cleveland Tigers 2 4 2 .333 1–4–2 .200 28 46 L1
Chicago Tigers 2 5 1 .286 1–5–1 .167 49 63 W1
Hammond Pros 2 5 0 .286 0–3–0 .000 41 154 L3
Columbus Panhandles 2 6 2 .250 0–4–0 .000 41 121 W1
Muncie Flyers 0 1 0 .000 0–1–0 .000 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

Postseason

Notes
  1. Ziemba 1999, p. 64
  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. Archived from the original on July 11, 2012.
  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. Archived from the original on November 5, 2012. Retrieved February 11, 2013.
  12. "NFL – 1920 Regular Season". National Football League. Retrieved January 6, 2013.

References

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