What is the Longest Championship Drought in Professional Sports?

In honor of Super Bowl week, in this episode of “When Football Was Football,” we’ll take you back to explore the last championship of the team now known as the Arizona Cardinals. Back in 1947, the team was still in Chicago and was taking advantage of a talented crop of returning veterans along with some … Read more

Greatest Christmas Moments In Chicago Cardinals’ History

Unlike Thanksgiving, football games on Christmas Day were few and far between in the early days of the Cardinals. So, before we celebrate the big holiday this year (no—not the Super Bowl!), we’ll slip back in time to discover when the Cards were actually busy on December 25th. Read the whole story or listen to … Read more

Best High School Football Team No One Ever Heard About?

This week we dig into the dusty archives and share some interesting stories about the early days of professional football in the Chicago area. But for this episode, we’ll move away from the pro game and examine what we consider the most dominant program in the history of Illinois high school football…and one that most … Read more

The First NFL Grudge Match: Decatur Staleys vs. Rock Island Independents

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a grudge match as “a contest or fight between players, teams, etc…..who dislike each other.”  There have been many grudge matches over the course of the league’s 100+ year history, but what about the first one?  For the answer, we get to go all the way back to the first season … Read more