1925 Chicago Cardinals–Milwaukee Badgers scandal

Many professional football teams during the first decade of the NFL would schedule some easy extra games to pad their record and place in the standing.

[4] The two extra games were scheduled against the inferior Milwaukee Badgers and Hammond Pros, both of which were NFL members but had disbanded for the year.

[4] Art Folz, a substitute quarterback for the Cardinals, convinced four players from Englewood High School, located in Chicago, into joining the Badgers for the game under assumed names, thereby ensuring that the Cardinals' opponent was not a pro caliber club.

[1] Meanwhile, the Cardinals' owner, Chris O'Brien, unaware of the roster tampering, but still sensing a mismatch, did not charge attendance to the few scattered spectators who turned up for the December 10, 1925, game.

[4] at Normal Field, Chicago, Illinois A few weeks later, when NFL President Joseph Carr learned high school players had been used, he told reporters the 58-0 Cardinals win would be stricken from the record.

Chris O'Brien was also fined $1,000 by Carr for allowing his team play a game against high schoolers, even though he claimed that he was unaware of the players' status.

[5] The Englewood players were also forgiven, and two of them, William Thompson and Charles Richardson, earned high school all-star recognition at the end of the season.

The Yellow Jackets, after hearing of the planned Notre Dame contest, filed a protest with the NFL.

However, Carr had the final say and on several occasions, he threatened the Pottsville team with suspension from the league if the game took place.

[6] However, the Pottsville fans still demand to know why Cardinals was awarded the title even though they too were found by Carr to have violated the NFL's rules.