1920 Chicago Cardinals season

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

The 1920 Racine 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.

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

Offseason

The Chicago Cardinals, who were then named the Racine Cardinals, finished 4–3-1 in their 1919 season in the Chicago Football league 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. Then they contacted other major professional teams and invited them to a meeting for September 17.

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. Team representatives changed the league's name slightly to the American Professional Football Association and elected officers, installing Jim Thorpe as president. Under the new league structure, teams created their schedules dynamically as the season progressed, and representatives of each team voted to determine the winner of the APFA trophy. 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.

Schedule

1920 Racine Cardinals schedule

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	—	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	at 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	—	6–2–2
14	January 9, 1921	vs. Chicago Stayms†	6-0 W	Normal Park	3,000	7–2–2

Standings

1920 APFA standings
	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
		-- Paddy Driscoll QB -- Nick Mcinerney FB -- Len Charpier FB -- Pete Schultz FB -- Paul Florence RE -- Dick Egan E -- Red O'Connor E -- Paul LaRoss 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

References

• Davis, Jeff (2005). Papa Bear, The Life and Legacy of George Halas. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-146054-3.
• 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. 2 (8). Professional Football Researchers Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 12, 2011. 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.