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1947 Chicago Cardinals season

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1947 Chicago Cardinals season
Head coachJimmy Conzelman
Home fieldComiskey Park
Results
Record9–3
Division place1st NFL Western
Playoff finishWon NFL Championship
(vs. Eagles) 28–21

The 1947 Chicago Cardinals season was the franchise's 28th season in the National Football League. The Cardinals won the second NFL championship in team history against the Philadelphia Eagles. The team was led by its "Million Dollar Backfield" of Elmer Angsman, Charley Trippi, Paul Christman, and Pat Harder.[1] It was quite a turnaround for a franchise who was riding a 19-game losing streak just two years earlier.[2]

The Cards would win the Western Division again in 1948 but lose the Championship Game to the Eagles; it would be another 26 years until the now St. Louis Cardinals would win another division title. Also, it would be over half a century (and two franchise shifts) until the Cardinals would win another playoff game, in 1998; an NFL-record 51 years. As of the end of 2023, this remains the team's last NFL title, the longest active "championship drought" in American professional sports.

The last remaining active member of the 1947 Chicago Cardinals was Charley Trippi, who retired after the 1955 season.

Before the season

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Draft

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Main article: 1947 NFL Draft
1947 Chicago Cardinals draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 7 Tex Coulter *  T Army A member of the New York Giants
3 18 Ermal Allen  QB Kentucky Played with the Cleveland Browns (AAFC)
6 41 Ben Raimondi  TB Indiana Played with the New York Yankees (AAFC)
7 50 Howard Turner  B NC State
8 60 George Maddock  T Northwestern
9 70 Art Dufelmeier  B Illinois Returned to Illinois
10 82 Ray Ramsey  B Bradley
11 90 Dave Wallace  B Oklahoma
12 101 Charley Sarratt  QB Oklahoma
13 112 Harden Cooper  T Tulsa
14 120 Carl Russ  BB Rice
15 131 Buddy Mulligan  B Duke
16 142 Charles Smith  HB Georgia
17 150 Bob Ravensberg  E Indiana Played with the Cardinals in 1948–49
18 162 Barney Barnett  E Northeastern State
19 171 Scotty Deeds  B BYU
20 180 Clarence Esser  E Wisconsin
21 192 Shelton Ballard  C LSU
22 201 Wade Walker  T Oklahoma Returned to Oklahoma
23 210 Tom Carroll  T Minnesota
24 222 Tom Dorsey  B Brown
25 231 Otto Schnellbacher *  DB Kansas
26 240 Larry Joe  B Penn State
27 252 Dick Abrams  B Washington State
28 260 Joe Smith  E Texas Tech
29 270 Tony Rutunno  B St. Ambrose
30 282 Clyde Lindsley  E LSU
31 289 Bob Callahan  C Michigan
32 296 Johnny Karamigios  B Denver
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

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Regular season

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Schedule

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Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap
1 Bye
2 September 28 Detroit Lions W 45–21 1–0 Comiskey Park Recap
3 October 5 Chicago Bears W 31–7 2–0 Comiskey Park Recap
4 October 12 at Green Bay Packers W 14–10 3–0 City Stadium Recap
5 October 19 at Los Angeles Rams L 7–27 3–1 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Recap
6 October 26 Boston Yanks W 27–7 4–1 Comiskey Park Recap
7 November 2 Los Angeles Rams W 17–10 5–1 Comiskey Park Recap
8 November 9 at Detroit Lions W 17–7 6–1 Briggs Stadium Recap
9 November 16 Green Bay Packers W 21–20 7–1 Comiskey Park Recap
10 November 23 at Washington Redskins L 21–45 7–2 Griffith Stadium Recap
11 November 30 at New York Giants L 31–35 7–3 Polo Grounds Recap
12 December 7 at Philadelphia Eagles W 45–21 8–3 Shibe Park Recap
13 December 14 at Chicago Bears W 30–21 9–3 Wrigley Field Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Playoffs

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Round Date Opponent Result Venue Game
recap
Championship December 28 Philadelphia Eagles W 28–21 Comiskey Park Recap

Standings

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NFL Western Division
W L T PCT DIV PF PA STK
Chicago Cardinals 9 3 0 .750 7–1 306 231 W2
Chicago Bears 8 4 0 .667 4–4 363 241 L2
Green Bay Packers 6 5 1 .545 5–3 274 210 L1
Los Angeles Rams 6 6 0 .500 4–4 259 214 W2
Detroit Lions 3 9 0 .250 0–8 231 305 L3

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

Final roster

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1947 Chicago Cardinals roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists

  • None - Vacant

Practice squad

  • None - Vacant

rookies in italics

Postseason

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NFL Championship Game

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The 1947 NFL Championship Game was the 15th annual championship game and was held December 28, 1947, at Comiskey Park in Chicago. The game featured the Western Division champion Chicago Cardinals (9–3) and the Eastern Division champion Philadelphia Eagles (8–4). The Cardinals won the game by a score of 28–21.[4]

Awards and records

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  • Pat Harder, NFL scoring leader: 102 points [5]
  • Pat Harder, NFL record, most field goals in one game: 7 [6]

References

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  1. ^ "The Cards' Dream Season In '47". Pro Football Hall of Fame. January 1, 2005. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
  2. ^ If the woeful Card-Pitt (0-10 in 1944) season is included, the club actually lost an NFL-record 29 games in a row; however, the NFL considers the Cardinals and Card-Pitt to be separate franchises.
  3. ^ "1947 Chicago Cardinals Draftees". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
  4. ^ "Philadelphia Eagles Playoff History and Results". Archived from the original on January 15, 2008. Retrieved March 28, 2008.
  5. ^ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 447
  6. ^ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 449
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