In the early days of the NFL, one of the league’s biggest
stars was John “Paddy” Driscoll. At a time when versatility was highly valued,
the 5’11”, 160-pound Driscoll could run and pass effectively out of the
quarterback, halfback, or tailback positions, was a good defensive player, and
an excellent punter and drop-kicker. After playing collegiately at Northwestern
and having a brief major league baseball career, Driscoll was with the Great
Lakes Naval Training Station football team that won the 1919 Rose Bowl (and
included George Halas, later the long-time head coach and owner of the Bears).
After playing professionally in the pre-NFL year of 1919 with Hammond , he joined the Chicago Cardinals of
the new league (then called the American Professional Football Association) for
1920.
From then through 1925, Driscoll scored 17 touchdowns,
kicked 37 field goals and 31 extra points, and scored 244 points while
receiving All-Pro recognition in five of the six years. He led the league in
scoring in 1923 and in field goals on three occasions, including 1925 as the
Cardinals won the NFL Championship. Driscoll also tended to be particularly
effective against the cross-town rivals of the Cards, the Chicago Bears.
In 1926, a rival league, the first to be called the American
Football League, was formed and Driscoll received a salary offer from that
circuit’s Chicago
franchise that the Cardinals could not match. Not wanting to see Driscoll go to
the other circuit, the Cards sold him to Halas and the Bears for $3500.
Driscoll proved to be a good pickup for the Bears, and on October
17, 1926 they faced the Cardinals. It was a big game – both teams had yet to
lose (the Cards were 4-0 and the Bears 3-0-1). There were 12,000 fans in
attendance at Normal
Park
Three minutes into the first quarter, Driscoll dropkicked a
38-yard field goal following his fair catch of a punt. Early in the second
quarter, Driscoll passed to Halas, an end as well as the owner and coach, for a
40-yard gain to the Cardinals’ 20. He followed up with a run around end for 11
yards and shortly thereafter went off tackle for a five-yard touchdown. The
multitalented back added the extra point to make it 10-0.
Later in the same period, center George Trafton of the Bears
intercepted a pass in Cardinals territory, and while they weren’t able to move
the ball on offense, Driscoll booted a 25-yard field goal. Before the end of
the half, Driscoll completed the scoring with a 50-yard field goal and that was
it. While the Cardinals drove into Bears territory on several occasions during
the second half, fumbles kept them from scoring and the halftime score of 16-0
ended up being the final tally.
The Bears accumulated 10 first downs to 8 for the Cards. Paddy
Driscoll accounted for all of the points against his former team as he kicked
three field goals, scored a touchdown, and added the extra point. Backs Roy
Lamb and Red Dunn were the top ground gainers for the Cardinals.
The first defeat of the season for the Cardinals moved the
Bears into undisputed possession of first place. They didn’t hold onto it in
the end, however, finishing second in the division-less, 22-club NFL with a
12-1-3 record. The only team to defeat them, the Frankford Yellow Jackets,
claimed the league title at 14-1-2. The Cardinals slumped to 5-6-1, winning
just one more game after the initial loss to the Bears (they played them twice
more and suffered another defeat along with a tie). They placed tenth in the
final standings.
Paddy Driscoll led the NFL in scoring for the second time
with 86 points and also was the leader in touchdown passes (6, tied with Eddie
Scharer of the Detroit Panthers) and field goals (12) – both were league
records, the scoring mark lasting until 1941 and the field goal total remaining
the standard until 1950. He also scored a total of six touchdowns and kicked 14
extra points and was named first-team All-NFL by Collyers Eye Magazine, the
Chicago Tribune, and the Green Bay Press-Gazette.
Driscoll stayed with the Bears until 1929, when his playing
career ended. At the time, he was the NFL’s career scoring leader with 402
points and, not surprisingly, the career leader in field goals with 51. His 63
extra points were also a record and he was named to at least one all-league
team in eight of his nine years in the NFL. Driscoll went on to become a
long-time assistant coach for the Bears and was head coach in 1956 and ’57,
when Halas took a hiatus. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in
1965.
