Charles Bidwill
Encyclopedia
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
Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...

. He would accomplish neither during his lifetime, although his Cardinals would go on to win the 1947 NFL title only eight months after his death.

Before the Cardinals

Prior to his ownership of the Cardinals, Bidwill was a successful businessman and wealthy lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

 in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

, with ties to organized crime
Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...

 boss Al Capone
Al Capone
Alphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone was an American gangster who led a Prohibition-era crime syndicate. The Chicago Outfit, which subsequently became known as the "Capones", was dedicated to smuggling and bootlegging liquor, and other illegal activities such as prostitution, in Chicago from the early...

. He was owner of a racing stable, the president of the Chicago Stadium Operating Company
Chicago Stadium
The Chicago Stadium was an indoor sports arena and theater in Chicago. It opened in 1929, and closed in 1994.-History:The Stadium hosted the Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL from 1929–1994 and the Chicago Bulls of the NBA from 1967–1994....

 and owner of a printing company. Bidwill's only physical participation in athletics came only during his time at St. Ignatius High School
St. Ignatius College Prep
Saint Ignatius College Prep is a private, coeducational Jesuit high school located in Chicago, Illinois. The school was founded in Chicago in 1870 by Fr. Arnold Damen, S.J., a Belgian missionary to the United States. The school is coeducational, Catholic, college preparatory and sponsored by the...

 and Loyola University Chicago
Loyola University Chicago
Loyola University Chicago is a private Jesuit research university located in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1870 under the title St...

. After graduation in 1916, he began his law practice, serving as assistant prosecutor for Chicago and corporation counsel. As a businessman, Bidwill was often referred to as “Blue Shirt Charlie” because he sometimes favored a blue shirt and high boots instead of the traditional white shirt and businessman’s shoes.'

Purchase

One night in 1932, Dr. David Jones
David Jones (NFL owner)
Dr. David Jones was a Chicago physician who became the second owner of the National Football League's Chicago Cardinals . In 1929, Jones bought the Cardinals from the team's founder, Chris O'Brien for $25,000...

, the then-owner of the Cardinals, and his wife were guests at an informal dinner party aboard Bidwill's luxurious power-cruising yacht, The Ren-Mar. Bidwill spoke with Jones that night and the conversation turned to pro football, with Jones complaining of the poor state of his team. Half jokingly, Charles wife, Violet
Violet Bidwill Wolfner
Violet Bidwill Wolfner was owner of the Chicago/St. Louis Cardinals of the National Football League from 1947 to 1962. She inherited the team when her husband, longtime Cardinals owner Charles Bidwill, died before the 1947 season...

, asked Jones, "Why don't you sell the Cardinals to Charley?" Jones replied that he would sell anything he owned if the price was right. Bidwill soon turned to Jones and the two began to discuss an offer. Bidwill went on to buy the Cardinals from Jones for $50,000. Bidwill handed Jones a down payment of $2,000 and the two men shook hands. The sale was not announced until 1933 to allow Bidwill time to dispose of his stock in the Chicago Bears. It was well known that Bidwell would have much preferred to buy the Bears, but George Halas
George Halas
George Stanley Halas, Sr. , nicknamed "Papa Bear" and "Mr. Everything", was a player, coach, owner and pioneer in professional American football. He was the iconic longtime leader of the NFL's Chicago Bears...

 refused to sell.

As the owner

In spite of Bidwill's enthusiasm for the game, the Cardinals were not a successful club during the 1930s and early 1940s and were always completely overshadowed by the cross-town Bears. Despite Bidwill's wealth and enthusiasm, the Cardinals found the going difficult both on and off the field for most of his tenure as owner. In addition to the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

, they had the misfortune of sharing Chicago with the popular Bears. Bidwill had become so discouraged that by 1940 he made a try at buying the Detroit Lions
Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...

. When that effort fell through, he redoubled his efforts to rebuild the Cardinals. One move was to hire Jimmy Conzelman as coach. However, the Cards continued to lose, and Conzelman quit as coach to go into the front office of baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

's St. Louis Browns. It has been said that Bidwill remained a Bears fan for years after he purchased the Cardinals. He would often root for the Bears against the Cardinals when his old team was a contender and the Cards were perpetually stuck in last place. For example, in 1941 the Bears needed a victory over the Cardinals to force a playoff game, but trailed the 3–6–1 Cardinals by a score of 24–20 before pulling out two last-minute touchdowns to win, 34–24. After the game, instead of complimenting coach Jimmy Conzelman on the fine showing, the nervous Bidwill sighed, "Whew, that was a close one, wasn't it?"

Cursed by Pottsville

Then-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,”...

, in 1925 did not attempt to publicly take credit for the Cardinals winning the 1925 NFL Championship. The 1925 NFL Championship was surrounded in a controversy, since the 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...

 won the championship that year only to have their title stripped after playing an illegal game in Philadelphia after they had finished the season with the NFL's best record. However Bidwill claimed the 1925 title after he took over the team in 1933. There are some who believe that a "curse" was place on the Cardinals as a result of the debacle, and that in an era where the NFL has implemented measures to ensure competitive parity, the curse is the reason for the failure of the Cardinals to win as many championships as would be expected with a team of such longevity (the Cardinals' only other championship came in 1947).

World War II years

Undoubtedly, the lowest point of Bidwill's tenure came in 1944
1944 NFL season
The 1944 NFL season was the 25th regular season of the United States National Football League. The Boston Yanks joined the league as an expansion team. Also, the Brooklyn Dodgers changed their name to Brooklyn Tigers. Meanwhile, both the Cleveland Rams and the Philadelphia Eagles resumed their...

. Due to World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, many players were serving in the United States military. This left a league-wide shortage of players. As a result, the Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...

 merged their teams for the season. The team's name Card-Pitt
Card-Pitt
Card-Pitt was the name for the team created by the temporary merger of two National Football League teams, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Chicago Cardinals, during the 1944 season. The teams were forced to merge, because both had lost many players to World War II military service...

 was quickly changed to the "Carpets" as "every team in the league walks over them". The team lost ten straight to post an 0–10 record.

Battle against the AAFC

The end of the war brought another problem when the upstart AAFC
All-America Football Conference
The All-America Football Conference was a professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many of the nation's best players, and introduced many lasting innovations...

 placed a team in Chicago, the Rockets
Chicago Rockets
The Chicago Rockets was an American football team that played in the All-America Football Conference from 1946 to 1949. During the 1949 season, the team was known as the Chicago Hornets...

. The new AAFC franchise publicly pushed for the Cardinals to leave town, since the city had three major football teams. Bidwill grew angry and vowed to turn his team into a profitable winner. He stunned the football world in 1947
1947 NFL season
The 1947 NFL season was the 28th regular season of the National Football League. The league expanded the regular season by one game from eleven games per team to twelve, a number that remained constant until the 1961 season....

 when he outbid the Rockets for the rights to All-American Charley Trippi
Charley Trippi
Charles Louis Trippi is a former professional American football player for the Chicago Cardinals. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1968.Mr. Trippi currently resides in Athens, Georgia...

, signing him to a then unprecedented $100,000 contract. Trippi was the final piece of what Bidwill called his "Million Dollar Backfield" of Paul Christman
Paul Christman
Paul Joseph Christman was an American football player and a member of the College Football Hall of Fame. He played college football for the University of Missouri and professionally for the Chicago Cardinals and Green Bay Packers.-Collegiate career:A St...

, Pat Harder
Pat Harder
Marlin M. "Pat" Harder was a college and professional football player, playing fullback and kicker. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1993....

, Marshall Goldberg
Marshall Goldberg
Marshall Goldberg was an American football halfback with the Chicago Cardinals in the National Football League.- Football career :Goldberg was born in Elkins, West Virginia...

, and Trippi. The quartet led the Cardinals to their first (and, to date, only) undisputed NFL championship in 1947.

Death and legacy

Bidwill was not around to see his Million Dollar Backfield win the 1947 title; he had died of pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...

 shortly after signing Trippi. His widow, Violet, inherited the team and ran it until her own death in 1962. During Violet's tenure as the Cardinals owner, she relocated the franchise to St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...

 in 1960. In 1962, she left the team to their sons, Charles Jr. and 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,...

. Bill has owned the team outright since 1972.
He is a member of the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame
Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame
The Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame, located in the Hawthorne Race Course, in Stickney/Cicero, near Chicago, Illinois, honors sports greats associated with the greater Chicago area. It was founded in 1979 as a trailer owned by the Olympia Brewing Company parked at Soldier Field in Chicago. The...

 and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...

 in 1967.

External links

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