Christopher O'Brien (October 23, 1881 – June 3, 1951) was a
Chicago, Illinois
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
pro
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
franchise owner. He was the owner of the Chicago Cardinals (later known as the St. Louis Cardinals, and now the
Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...
), and has been called the "Father of Professional Football in Chicago". O'Brien was also a co-founder of the American Professional Football Association (renamed the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
in 1922) by representing the Cardinals (then called the Racine Cardinals) at the September 17, 1920, league meeting at
Ralph Hay's
Hupmobile dealership in
Canton, Ohio
Canton () is a city in Stark County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, eighth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 70,872 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Canton–Massillo ...
.
Early Cardinals ownership
In 1898, O'Brien organized the Morgan Athletic Club. He and his brother Pat also played on the squad. Chris then changed the club's home games to nearby
Normal Field, prompting the new name the Normals. That same year O'Brien gave the team its longstanding moniker when he, finding a bargain, bought used football jerseys from the nearby
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
. Because the jerseys had long since faded from Chicago's traditional maroon color, O'Brien declared, "That's not maroon, it's Cardinal red!" He renamed the team the Racine Cardinals, because Normal Field was located on Racine Avenue in Chicago.
Football in the Chicago area was mostly amateur in the early 1900s, with opponents almost impossible to book, let alone find. This caused O'Brien to suspend the team from 1906 until 1913. By 1917, O'Brien was able to buy new uniforms as well as hire a coach,
Marshall Smith. That year the Cardinals won the Chicago City Championship. However,
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
forced the Cardinals to suspend operations again in 1918. After the war, the Cardinals were reorganized, and have played without interruption since then.
Founding the NFL
In 1919,
Ralph Hay and
George Halas
George Stanley Halas Sr. (February 2, 1895 – October 31, 1983), nicknamed "Papa Bear", was an American professional football end, coach, and executive. He was the founder and owner of the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL), ...
saw the popularity of O'Brien's Cardinals in the Chicago area as a boost to the new league. O'Brien saw this an opportunity to keep costs down and prevent players from jumping from team to team. He traveled to
Canton, Ohio
Canton () is a city in Stark County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, eighth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 70,872 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Canton–Massillo ...
in September 1920 and represented Racine (Chicago) at the league meeting. O'Brien's attendance made the Cardinals a charter member of the new league.
In the NFL
In
1920
Events January
* January 1
** Polish–Soviet War: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20.
** Kauniainen in Finland, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its ow ...
, O'Brien lured great
halfback John "Paddy" Driscoll to the Cardinals for $3,000 a year, a sum considered outlandish at the time. The following year, he moved the team's home games to
Comiskey Park
Comiskey Park was a ballpark in Chicago, Illinois, located in the Armour Square neighborhood on the near-south side of the city. The stadium served as the home of the Chicago White Sox of the American League from 1910 through 1990. Built by Wh ...
and the team officially became the Chicago Cardinals, so that they would not be confused with a new NFL franchise, the
Racine Legion from
Racine, Wisconsin
Racine ( ) is a city in Racine County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Root River (Wisconsin), Root River, south of Milwaukee and north of Chicago. It is the List ...
.
That same year, in 1920, with the
Chicago Tigers and Cardinals competing for the same fan dollar, O’Brien offered—and the Tigers’ boss
Guil Falcon agreed—to play for the right to represent the city of Chicago in the APFA. The winner would remain as the city's only professional team; the loser would fold operations. Driscoll scored the game's only touchdown on a 40-yard run and the Cardinals won 6–3. As promised, the Tigers dropped out of competition, becoming the first NFL/APFA team to fold and finished the season with a 2–5–1 record.
In 1921, George Halas, owner of the Decatur Staleys, requested permission from the NFL and from O'Brien to move his team to Chicago. Although the Cardinals win over the Tigers gave O'Brien the right to block any professional team from settling in Chicago, O'Brien approved the request for unknown reasons. With O'Brien's and NFL approval, Halas renamed his team the Chicago Staleys, changing the name again to the
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...
in 1922. This move would come back to haunt the Cardinals. The Bears quickly replaced the Cardinals as Chicago's favorite team. After years of futile attempts to compete with the Bears, the Cardinals moved to
St. Louis in 1960.
1925 Championship
O'Brien presided over the Cardinals' first NFL title in
1925
Events January
* January 1 – The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria (1925–1930), State of Syria.
* January 3 – Benito Mussolini m ...
. However, it still carries controversy. On December 6, 1925, the
Pottsville Maroons defeated the Cardinals, 21–7, to establish the best record in the league and seemed to all but officially clinch the NFL championship. NFL President
Joseph Carr then suspended the Maroons for playing a team of
University of Notre Dame All-Stars in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
(and winning 9–7) on the same day the
Frankford Yellow Jackets were scheduled to play a game in Philadelphia, violating Frankford's franchise rights. Pottsville was unable to complete its 1925 schedule because of the suspension and was stripped of their title. Chicago, with the second-best record in the league, was declared the 1925 champion by default. Two of Chicago's games against the
Hammond Pros and
Milwaukee Badgers
The Milwaukee Badgers were a professional American football team, based in Milwaukee, that played in the National Football League from 1922 to 1926. The team played its home games at Athletic Park, later known as Borchert Field, on Milwaukee ...
were also not played because the Pros disbanded and the Badgers were forced out of the league for using high school players.
Although the NFL attempted to officially award the 1925 NFL championship to the Cardinals, they refused the title. At the time, O'Brien felt his team did not deserve it over a team which had beaten them fairly, and thus the 1925 championship was never officially awarded to anyone.
Selling the Cards and legacy
After running the Cardinals for 28 years, O'Brien sold the team to Chicago physician
David Jones in 1929 for $25,000.
Despite his accomplishments as a pioneer and promoter for the early years of professional football, O'Brien has never been a finalist, let alone inducted in the
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional football (gridiron), professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, 1963, the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of profes ...
. In 2022, he was named one of the 10 inaugural members for the Football Learning Academy's Hall of Honor, which looks to acknowledge icons not currently inducted in the hall.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:OBrien, Chris
1881 births
1951 deaths
Chicago Cardinals head coaches
Chicago Cardinals owners
NFL founders
Businesspeople from Chicago