1925 Chicago Cardinals season
Encyclopedia
The 1925
Chicago Cardinals
season resulted in the Cardinals winning their first NFL Championship.
The end of the Cardinals season was centered around two historic, but controversial, situations. The first was a team scandal with the Milwaukee Badgers
. The scandal involved a Chicago player, Art Folz
, hiring a group of high school football players to play for the Milwaukee Badgers, against the Cardinals. This would ensure an inferior opponent for Chicago. The game was used to help prop up their win-loss percentage and as a chance of wrestling away the 1925 Championship away from the first place Pottsville Maroons
. When NFL President Joseph Carr
learned high school players had been used in a league game, he told reporters the 59-0 Cardinals win would be stricken from the record. However, the league had never got around to removing it and the game is still a part of the NFL records. Cardinals' owner Chris O'Brien
was also fined $1,000 by Carr for allowing his team play a game against high schoolers, even though O'Brien claimed that he was unaware of the players' status. Finally Badgers' owner, Ambrose McGuirk
, was ordered to sell his Milwaukee franchise within 90 days. Folz, for his role, was barred from football for life.
However by the summer of 1926, the $1,000 fine against O'Brien was rescinded, probably since the amount would have put the Cardinals out of business. McGuirk though had already sold his Badgers franchise to Johnny Bryan
, a fullback
with the Chicago Bears
. Two of the high school football players used in scandal even earned high school all-star recognition at the end of their season. Art Folz reportedly told the high schoolers that the game was a "practice game" and would in no part affect their amateur
status.
The Milwaukee scandal did have implications for the 1925 NFL Championship and the second controversy. In December 1925, the Pottsville Maroons had their title removed by the NFL and given to the Cardinals
for playing in an unsanctioned game against the Notre Dame All-Stars
. To this day, Pottsville residents and supporters still demand to know why Chicago was awarded the title even though they too were found by Carr to have violated the NFL's rules. According to Bob Carroll
of the Professional Football Researchers Association
, "The Cardinals didn't defy the league," Carroll said. "Pottsville did. It was a great team, but the owner made a mistake." However, it is still not entirely known if O'Brien knew of the high school players on the Badgers team.
For his part, Cardinals owner Chris O'Brien refused to accept the championship title for his team. At the owners' meeting after the season was over, he argued team did not deserve to take the title over a team which had beaten them fairly. It appears that his reasons for scheduling the Milwaukee and Hammond games had been not to take the title, but rather to convince the cross-town Chicago Bears
to play his team again – the Bears, with Red Grange
in their roster, were a very lucrative draw. The NFL said it would revisit the issue later, but never did. It was only later, under the ownership of Charles Bidwill
and his son Bill Bidwill
, that the Cardinals began claiming the championship title.
1925 NFL season
The 1925 NFL season was the 6th regular season of the National Football League. Five new teams entered the league: New York Giants, Detroit Panthers, Pottsville Maroons, Providence Steam Roller, and a new Canton Bulldogs team...
Chicago Cardinals
Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
season resulted in the Cardinals winning their first NFL Championship.
The end of the Cardinals season was centered around two historic, but controversial, situations. The first was a team scandal with the Milwaukee Badgers
Milwaukee Badgers
The Milwaukee Badgers were a professional American football team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that played in the National Football League from 1922 to 1926. The team played its home games at Athletic Park, later known as Borchert Field, on Milwaukee's north side...
. The scandal involved a Chicago player, Art Folz
Art Folz
Arthur F. Folz was a professional football player who played with the Chicago Cardinals of the National Football League from 1923 until 1925...
, hiring a group of high school football players to play for the Milwaukee Badgers, against the Cardinals. This would ensure an inferior opponent for Chicago. The game was used to help prop up their win-loss percentage and as a chance of wrestling away the 1925 Championship away from the first place Pottsville Maroons
Pottsville Maroons
The Pottsville Maroons were an American football team based in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1920, they went on to play in the National Football League for four seasons, from 1925–1928...
. When NFL President Joseph Carr
Joseph Carr
Joseph "Joe" F. Carr was the president of the National Football League from 1921 until his death in 1939. Carr was born in Columbus, Ohio. As a mechanic for the Pennsylvania Railroad in Columbus, he directed the Columbus Panhandles football team in 1907 until 1922...
learned high school players had been used in a league game, he told reporters the 59-0 Cardinals win would be stricken from the record. However, the league had never got around to removing it and the game is still a part of the NFL records. Cardinals' owner Chris O'Brien
Chris O'Brien (American football)
Christopher O'Brien, was a painting and decorating contractor as well as a pro football franchise owner. He is mostly known as the owner of the Chicago Cardinals, and is known as the “Father of Professional Football in Chicago,”...
was also fined $1,000 by Carr for allowing his team play a game against high schoolers, even though O'Brien claimed that he was unaware of the players' status. Finally Badgers' owner, Ambrose McGuirk
Ambrose McGuirk
Ambrose McGuirk was the first owner of the Milwaukee Badgers of the National Football League. He is best known for being ordered to sell the Badgers for his role in the 1925 Chicago Cardinals-Milwaukee Badgers scandal, in which four Chicago-area high school football players were employed by the...
, was ordered to sell his Milwaukee franchise within 90 days. Folz, for his role, was barred from football for life.
However by the summer of 1926, the $1,000 fine against O'Brien was rescinded, probably since the amount would have put the Cardinals out of business. McGuirk though had already sold his Badgers franchise to Johnny Bryan
Johnny Bryan
John Frederick "Johnny" Bryan was a professional football player for the Chicago Cardinals, the Chicago Bears, and the Milwaukee Badgers...
, a fullback
Fullback (American football)
A fullback is a position in the offensive backfield in American and Canadian football, and is one of the two running back positions along with the halfback...
with the Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
. Two of the high school football players used in scandal even earned high school all-star recognition at the end of their season. Art Folz reportedly told the high schoolers that the game was a "practice game" and would in no part affect their amateur
Amateur
An amateur is generally considered a person attached to a particular pursuit, study, or science, without pay and often without formal training....
status.
The Milwaukee scandal did have implications for the 1925 NFL Championship and the second controversy. In December 1925, the Pottsville Maroons had their title removed by the NFL and given to the Cardinals
1925 NFL Championship controversy
The 1925 National Football League Championship, officially held by the Chicago Cardinals, has been the subject of controversy since it was awarded. The controversy centers around the suspension of the Pottsville Maroons by NFL commissioner Joseph Carr, which prevented them from taking the title.The...
for playing in an unsanctioned game against the Notre Dame All-Stars
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is the football team of the University of Notre Dame. The team is currently coached by Brian Kelly.Notre Dame competes as an Independent at the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision level, and is a founding member of the Bowl Championship Series coalition. It is an...
. To this day, Pottsville residents and supporters still demand to know why Chicago was awarded the title even though they too were found by Carr to have violated the NFL's rules. According to Bob Carroll
Bob Carroll (author)
Robert Nuehardt Carroll, Jr. was an American historian and author.Carroll was best known for his contributions to American football research. He was the founder and executive director of the Professional Football Researchers Association , and edited the group's newsletter, The Coffin Corner until...
of the Professional Football Researchers Association
Professional Football Researchers Association
The Professional Football Researchers Association is an organization of researchers whose mission is to preserve and, in some cases, reconstruct professional football history. It was founded on June 22, 1979 in Canton, Ohio by writer/historian Bob Carroll and six other football researchers and is...
, "The Cardinals didn't defy the league," Carroll said. "Pottsville did. It was a great team, but the owner made a mistake." However, it is still not entirely known if O'Brien knew of the high school players on the Badgers team.
For his part, Cardinals owner Chris O'Brien refused to accept the championship title for his team. At the owners' meeting after the season was over, he argued team did not deserve to take the title over a team which had beaten them fairly. It appears that his reasons for scheduling the Milwaukee and Hammond games had been not to take the title, but rather to convince the cross-town Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
to play his team again – the Bears, with Red Grange
Red Grange
Harold Edward "Red" Grange, nicknamed "The Galloping Ghost", was a college and professional American football halfback for the University of Illinois, the Chicago Bears, and for the short-lived New York Yankees. His signing with the Bears helped legitimize the National Football League...
in their roster, were a very lucrative draw. The NFL said it would revisit the issue later, but never did. It was only later, under the ownership of Charles Bidwill
Charles Bidwill
Charles W. Bidwill , sometimes known as Charley Bidwill, was an owner of the NFL's Chicago Cardinals. He owned the team for 14 seasons from 1933 until 1947. His interest in sports was demonstrated by his two aims in life: to win an NFL Championship and the Kentucky Derby...
and his son Bill Bidwill
Bill Bidwill
William V. "Bill" Bidwill, Sr. is the principal owner and chairman of the board of the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League. He was part-owner from 1962 to 1972 with his brother Charles, Jr. and has been sole owner since 1972.-Education:Bidwill went to Georgetown Preparatory School,...
, that the Cardinals began claiming the championship title.
Regular season
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| - | September 20, 1925 | Harvey, Illinois Harvey, Illinois Harvey is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, near Chicago. The population was 30,000 at the 2000 census.Harvey is bordered by Dixmoor, Riverdale and Blue Island to the north, Posen and Markham to the west, South Holland, Phoenix, and Dolton to the east, and East Hazel Crest to the... |
W 14-6 |
| 1 | September 27, 1925 | Hammond Pros Hammond Pros The Hammond Pros from Hammond, Indiana played in the National Football League from 1920 to 1926 as a traveling team.-History:The Pros were established by Paul Parduhn and Dr. Alva Young who was a boxing promoter, owner of a racing stable and a doctor and trainer for a semi-pro football team... |
L 10-6 |
| 2 | October 4, 1925 | Milwaukee Badgers Milwaukee Badgers The Milwaukee Badgers were a professional American football team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that played in the National Football League from 1922 to 1926. The team played its home games at Athletic Park, later known as Borchert Field, on Milwaukee's north side... |
W 34-0 |
| 3 | October 11, 1925 | Columbus Tigers | W 19-9 |
| 4 | October 18, 1925 | Kansas City Cowboys Kansas City (NFL) Kansas City, Missouri had a National Football League team prior to the Chiefs that operated under two different names: The Blues in 1924 and the Cowboys from 1925-1926. The Blues competed as a traveling team, playing all of their NFL games in other cities' stadia in their only year under that name... |
W 20-7 |
| 5 | October 25, 1925 | Chicago Bears Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League... |
W 9-0 |
| 6 | November 1, 1925 | Duluth Kelleys | W 10-6 |
| 7 | November 8, 1925 | Green Bay Packers Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions... |
W 9-6 |
| 8 | November 15, 1925 | Buffalo Bisons Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons are a minor league baseball team based in Buffalo, New York. They currently play in the International League and are the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets... |
W 23-6 |
| 9 | November 22, 1925 | Dayton Triangles Dayton Triangles The Dayton Triangles were an original franchise of the American Professional Football Association in 1920. The Triangles were based in Dayton, Ohio, and took their nickname from their home field, Triangle Park, which was located at the confluence of the Great Miami and Stillwater Rivers in north... |
W 14-0 |
| 10 | November 26, 1925 | at Chicago Bears Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League... |
T 0-0 |
| 11 | November 29, 1925 | Rock Island Independents Rock Island Independents The Rock Island Independents were a professional American football team based in Rock Island, Illinois. One of the first professional football teams, they were founded in 1907 as an independent club. They later played in what is now the National Football League from 1920 to 1925. They joined the... |
W 7-0 |
| 12 | December 6, 1925 | Pottsville Maroons Pottsville Maroons The Pottsville Maroons were an American football team based in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1920, they went on to play in the National Football League for four seasons, from 1925–1928... |
L 21-7 |
| 13 | December 10, 1925 | Milwaukee Badgers Milwaukee Badgers The Milwaukee Badgers were a professional American football team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that played in the National Football League from 1922 to 1926. The team played its home games at Athletic Park, later known as Borchert Field, on Milwaukee's north side... |
W 59-0 |
| 14 | December 12, 1925 | Hammond Pros Hammond Pros The Hammond Pros from Hammond, Indiana played in the National Football League from 1920 to 1926 as a traveling team.-History:The Pros were established by Paul Parduhn and Dr. Alva Young who was a boxing promoter, owner of a racing stable and a doctor and trainer for a semi-pro football team... |
W 13-0 |
- Game in italics was against a non-NFL team.
- Game in bold signify that associated with the 1925 Chicago Cardinals – Milwaukee Badgers scandal.
Standings
| NFL | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | STK | |
| Chicago Cardinals | 11 | 2 | 1 | .846 | 230 | 65 | W-2 |
| Pottsville Maroons 1925 Pottsville Maroons season The 1925 Pottsville Maroons season was their inaugural season in the National Football League. The team finished a 10-2 league record and a 13-2 overall record.... |
10 | 2 | 0 | .833 | 270 | 45 | W-5 |
| Detroit Panthers 1925 Detroit Panthers season The 1925 Detroit Panthers season was their third in the league and first season as the Panthers. The team improved on their previous output of 1-5-1, winning eight games. They finished third in the league.-Schedule:-Standings:-References:... |
8 | 2 | 2 | .800 | 129 | 39 | W-1 |
| Frankford Yellow Jackets 1925 Frankford Yellow Jackets season The 1925 Frankford Yellow Jackets season was their second in the National Football League. The team improved on their previous output of 11-2-1, winning thirteen league games to finish the season in sixth place... |
10 | 4 | 0 | .714 | 190 | 169 | L-2 |
| New York Giants 1925 New York Giants season The 1925 New York Giants season was the first season for the club in the National Football League. The team finished with a record of 8–4 against league opponents.-Schedule:* Games in italics are against non-NFL teams.-Standings:-External links:... |
8 | 4 | 0 | .667 | 122 | 67 | W-1 |
| Akron Pros 1925 Akron Pros season The 1925 Akron Pros season was their sixth in the league and last season before becoming the Indians. The team improved on their previous output of 2-6, winning six games. They finished fourth in the league.-Schedule:-Standings:-References:... |
4 | 2 | 2 | .667 | 65 | 51 | L-2 |
| Chicago Bears 1925 Chicago Bears season The 1925 Chicago Bears season was their sixth regular season completed in the National Football League. The club posted a 9-5-3 record under head coach George Halas earning them a seventh place finish in the team standings, their worst showing to that date... |
9 | 5 | 3 | .643 | 158 | 96 | W-3 |
| Rock Island Independents 1925 Rock Island Independents season The 1925 Rock Island Independents season was their sixth and final season in the league. The team failed to improve on their previous league record of 5-2-2, losing three NFL games. They finished eighth in the league.-Schedule:... |
5 | 3 | 3 | .625 | 99 | 58 | L-1 |
| Green Bay Packers 1925 Green Bay Packers season The 1925 Green Bay Packers season was their fifth season in the National Football League. The club posted a 8-5 record under player/coach Curly Lambeau earning them a ninth place finish... |
8 | 5 | 0 | .615 | 151 | 110 | W-1 |
| Providence Steam Roller 1925 Providence Steam Roller season The 1925 Providence Steam Roller season was their inaugural season in the National Football League. The team finished with a 6-5-1 record against NFL teams, finishing tenth in the league.-Schedule:*Game in italics is against a non-NFL team.-Standings:... |
6 | 5 | 1 | .545 | 111 | 101 | L-1 |
| Canton Bulldogs 1925 Canton Bulldogs season The 1925 Canton Bulldogs season was their fifth in the National Football League and their first season since 1923. The team failed to improve on their previous record against NFL opponents of 11-0-1, winning only four NFL games. They finished eleventh in the league.-Schedule:* Games in italics are... |
4 | 4 | 0 | .500 | 50 | 73 | L-1 |
| Cleveland Bulldogs 1925 Cleveland Bulldogs season The 1925 Cleveland Bulldogs season was their second in the league. The team failed to improve on their previous record against NFL opponents of 7-1-1, winning only five league games. They finished twelfth in the league.-Schedule:... |
5 | 8 | 1 | .385 | 75 | 135 | L-1 |
| Kansas City Cowboys 1925 Kansas City Cowboys season The 1925 Kansas City Cowboys season was their second in the league and first as the Cowboys. The team improved on their previous output of 2-7, losing only five games. They finished thirteenth in the league.-Schedule:-Standings:-References:... |
2 | 5 | 1 | .286 | 65 | 97 | W-1 |
| Hammond Pros 1925 Hammond Pros season The 1925 Hammond Pros season was their sixth in the league. The team failed to improve on their previous record against league opponents of 2-2-1, winning only one game. They finished fourteenth in the league.-Schedule:... |
1 | 4 | 0 | .200 | 23 | 87 | L-3 |
| Buffalo Bisons 1925 Buffalo Bisons (NFL) season The 1925 Buffalo Bisons season was their sixth in the league. The team failed to improve on their previous record against league opponents of 6-5, winning four games... |
1 | 6 | 2 | .143 | 33 | 113 | L-4 |
| Rochester Jeffersons 1925 Rochester Jeffersons season The 1925 Rochester Jeffersons season was their sixth and final season in the National Football League. The team improved on their previous record against league opponants of 0–7, losing only six games and logging a tie... |
0 | 6 | 1 | .000 | 26 | 111 | L-5 |
| Dayton Triangles 1925 Dayton Triangles season The 1925 Dayton Triangles season was their sixth in the league. The team failed to improve on their previous output of 2-6, losing seven games. They tied for sixteenth place in the league.-Schedule:* Game in italics is against a non-NFL team.... |
0 | 7 | 1 | .000 | 3 | 84 | L-7 |
| Duluth Kelleys 1925 Duluth Kelleys season The 1925 Duluth Kelleys season was their third in the National Football League and final season as the Kelleys. The team failed to improve on their previous record against league opponents of 5-1, losing three games. They tied for sixteenth place in the league.... |
0 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 6 | 25 | L-3 |
| Milwaukee Badgers 1925 Milwaukee Badgers season The 1925 Milwaukee Badgers season was their fourth in the National Football League. The team failed to improve on their previous league record of 5-8, losing all their games. They tied for sixteenth place in the league.... |
0 | 6 | 0 | .000 | 7 | 191 | L-6 |
| Columbus Tigers 1925 Columbus Tigers season The 1925 Columbus Tigers season was their sixth in the National Football League. The team failed to improve on their previous record against league teams of 4-4, losing nine games. They tied for sixteenth place in the league.-Schedule:... |
0 | 9 | 0 | .000 | 28 | 124 | L-9 |