League place 4th APFA Head coach Paddy Driscoll | Start date 1920 Home field Normal Park | |
 | ||
Record 7–2–2 overall
6–2–1 in APFA standings
3–2–1 against APFA teams People also search for 1921 Chicago Cardinals season | ||
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.
Contents
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. 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. They then 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, 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.
Standings
Awarded the Brunswick-Balke Collender Cup and named APFA Champions.
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.