Coach Jimmy Conzelman with Elmer Angsman left and Charley Trippi right FEELING LIKE A MILLION DOLLARS Long before the Cardinals landed in Arizona they were the Chicago Cardinals In December 1947 they faced the Philadelphia Eagles at Shibe Park The winner would be the National Football League NFL champion The Cardinals featured their famous Million-Dollar Backfield It included quarterback Paul Christman and halfback Elmer Angsman Churning fullback Pat Harder led the league in scoring The fourth member was rookie Charley Trippi He had received a 100,000 contract It was the largest in NFL history at that time 9
Trippi soon earned his salary His 44-yard burst gave the Cardinals an early lead Then Angsman raced 70 yards for a touchdown The Eagles narrowed the score to 14 7 before halftime Trippi scored with a long punt return in the third quarter The Pittsburgh Press described it as an amazing display of running and dodging The Cardinals Marshall Goldberg intercepted a pass in the game’s final moments That sealed the victory It was a close hard fought rock em sock em struggle with a fair share of thrills the New York Times reported The team got its start in 1898 Chicago contractor Chris O’Brien organized a football team It was called the Morgan Athletic Club The team moved to Normal Park on Racine Avenue a year later It became the Racine Normals In 1901 O’Brien bought a set of used maroon left Running back ollie matson 10
GRIDIRON GREATS A CONTROVERSIAL CHAMPIONSHIP In the NFL’s early days the team with the best season record was the league champion The Pottsville Pennsylvania Maroons beat the Cardinals 21 7 on December 6 1925 They believed their 10 2 record gave them the title over 9 2 1 Chicago But league president Joseph Carr suspended the Maroons before their final game Cardinals owner Chris O’Brien promptly scheduled two more games These were against two of the league’s worst teams Chicago easily won both The Cardinals finished 11 2 1 They were awarded the championship Pottsville fans protested The NFL has reviewed the issue twice Each time it voted to let the Cardinals keep the 1925 title 11
