The 1925 National Football League (NFL) Championship, awarded to the Chicago Cardinals, has long been the subject of controversy, centering on the suspension of the Pottsville Maroons by NFL commissioner Joseph Carr, which prevented them for a chance at taking the title. The Maroons were one of the dominant teams of the 1925 season, and after defeating the Chicago Cardinals 21–7 on December 6, they came away with the best record in the league. However, Carr suspended and removed the team from the NFL after they played an unauthorized exhibition game in Philadelphia, on the grounds that they had violated the territorial rights of the Frankford Yellow Jackets. Chicago played and won two more games against weak NFL opponents, but were sanctioned because Cardinals player Art Folz hired four Chicago high school football players to play for the Milwaukee Badgers under assumed names to ensure a Cardinals victory.
Pottsville supporters argue that the suspension was illegitimate because the NFL did not grant exclusive territory rights at the time, and that in any event, they had oral league approval to play the game in Philadelphia. Further, they argue that the Maroons, who were reinstated the next year, would have had the best record had they not been suspended. Others claim that Chicago was the legitimate champion based on the rules of the time. In 1963, the NFL investigated and rejected Pottsville's case, refusing to reopen the case in 2003. Both the NFL and the Pro Football Hall of Fame continue to list the Cardinals as the 1925 NFL champions.[2][3]
- ^ Selway, Tim. "Stolen Glory: The Pottsville Maroons". Pennsylvania Center for the Book. The Pennsylvania State University. Archived from the original on September 22, 2020. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
- ^ "Arizona Cardinals Team Facts". ProFootballHOF.com. NFL Enterprises, LLC. Archived from the original on September 23, 2020. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
NFL Championships: 1925, 1947
- ^ "Chronology of Professional Football" (PDF). 2019 Official National Football League Record and Fact Book. NFL Enterprises, LLC. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 26, 2019. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
Pottsville and the Chicago Cardinals were the top contenders for the league title, with Pottsville winning a late-season meeting 21-7. Pottsville scheduled a game against a team of former Notre Dame players for Shibe Park in Philadelphia. Frankford lodged a protest not only because the game was in Frankford's protected territory, but because it was being played the same day as a Yellow Jackets home game. Carr gave three different notices forbidding Pottsville to play the game, but Pottsville played anyway, December 12. That day, Carr fined the club, suspended it from all rights and privileges (including the right to play for the NFL championship), and re-turned its franchise to the league. The Cardinals, who ended the season with the best record in the league, were named the 1925 champions.