Customer Reviews

When Football Was Football: The Chicago Cardinals and the Birth of the NFL

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The author has done a great job of researching the history of the Cardinals and the NFL. He presents the historical facts along with human interest stories of the players and owners which result in a very comprehensive and enjoyable book. It is a must read, not just for Cardinal fans, but any fan of professional football.

This book was a fascinating read, documenting the rich football past of the Chicago Cardinals.

The author tells a great story chapter after chapter!

Before the players strikes, before the owner's greed, before the multi-million dollar salaries, and before players were specialized, the early days of football had a rich history. In WHEN FOOTBALL WAS FOOTBALL, Joe Ziemba carefully, methodically spins a tale of the Chicago Cardinals, the oldest continuous professional football franchise. His book is well-researched. I was surprised to find facts that I didn't know about my own family. After having met several of the players of the 1947 Champingship team 50 years later, I believe these men were great palyers and better men. A small point of contention,I did not think that the author interviewed Stormy Bidwill, Bill Bidwill's older brother. I would have liked to have heard a different perspective than the younger brother and current owner.

THIS BOOK CONTAINS A TON OF DETAILED FACTS AND STATISTICS CONCERNING THE HISTORY OF THE CHICAGO CARDINALS. I WAS OVER WHELMED WITH AMOUNT OF FACTS AND INFO COLLECTED ON THIS TEAM. A REAL COLLECTORS ITEM. THE BOOK IS A BIT TEDIOUS BUT YOU GET YOUR MONEY'S WORTH ON THIS SLICE OF FOOTBALL HISTORY. A MUST READ FOR FANS OF FOOTBALL HISTORY.

The football Cardinals are the NFL's equivalent of the long-suffering yet resilient cartoon character Charlie Brown. As a life-long fan of the Cards, this book shed a lot of light on the little known period of NFL history of leather (or no) helmets and before the era of big salaries, celebrity status of players, and the hype.

The anecdotes and narrative make for light reading, the kind of book you can put aside and pick up later without missing a beat. The crisp photos of the Cards playing and practicing on Chicago's South Side are priceless.

The book does happily note that the Arizona Cardinals finally broke the losing jinx in 1999, winning the team's first playoff game since the 1947!

Possible suggestions for improving the book would have been an index and a little more history on the Bidwell twins, including current Cardinals owner Bill Bidwell, who inherited the team from their father.

This book grabbed me from start to finish. Everything I wanted to know about those early Cardinals. What a difference from today's game. This was a real page-turner with loads of inside information from a day gone by. I'm looking forward to a followup!

I grew up in a family of Chicago Cardinals fans. I remember going to the games there last 2 years in Chicago.Although I enjoyed the book, which was long overdue, not much was said about the move to St. Louis. Out of absolutely nowhere, they just got up and moved to St. Louis. It surprised everybody in Chicago. In their final game in Chicago, they were advertising for Season Tickets in Chicago for the 1960 Season. The move to St. Louis was not only a surprise but it never made any sense to me. The Cardinals attendance for their home games was higher there last year in Chicago (28,425 per game) than it was the first year in St. Louis (23,336). As a matter of fact, their attendance was higher per game the last five years in Chicago than it was the first 5 years in St. Louis. I don't know they possibly bettered themselves by moving to St. Louis. Considering the team averaged 3 wins a year the last ten years they were Chicago, I never thought their attendance was all that bad here. NFL Football was not the national obsession in the 1950's as it is now. Back then, if you didn't win, your attendance was low. The Cardinals averaged 35,361 in 1947, their lone championship year in Chicago, which was alot of people back then. Former sportswriter Bill Gleason told me once that if former owner Charley Bidwell hadn't died young, the Cardinals would still be in Chicago today. Bidwells wife/widow and her second husband ran the team into the ground here in Chicago the last ten years they were in Chicago. I wish they would of sold the team to local owners who would of kept the team here in Chicago. Charley Bidwell probably turned over in his grave when his wife moved the team to St. Louis.

For those few remaining Chicago Cardinals fans or just somebody who likes sports history, it should be added to your collection. A bit heavy on game recaps, it covers the history of a team that heretofore has had little to no accounts. The last Super Bowl appearence luckily brought the old Cardinals back to life.

Tremendous history lesson for anyone intrested in learning the story of the NFL. I especially enjoyed the background information since I have Chicago roots. This book reminded me of Tom Brokaw's book "The Greatest Generation". Really enjoyed reading it and would recommend it to all sport and History followers.