The play is clearly seared into Chester Bulger’s mind: The Chicago Cardinals are leading 28-21, but the Philadelphia Eagles have the ball and are driving as time is winding down.
The Eagles quarterback drops back “and somebody fell down” as the Cardinals move into pass defense, said Bulger. The ball arcs through the air–and miraculously is picked off by Cardinals defender Marshall Goldberg, who seemingly comes out of nowhere to seal the Cardinal victory. It was the only time the team ever has won an NFL championship.
The victory came 50 years ago, and 21 surviving members of the team will be feted this week to mark the occasion. At a dinner celebration Friday night at Sportsman’s Park in Cicero, the long-retired players will receive NFL championship rings and also will be honored Saturday night during half-time of the Bears-Arizona Cardinals pre-season game.
Bulger, who lives in Carol Stream, clearly is delighted about receiving the custom-made ring, but said he understands why he didn’t get one back in 1947.
“I don’t think Charlie Bidwill could afford it,” he said of the late Charles Bidwill Sr., who owned the Cardinals at the time.
Bulger, who played both offensive and defensive tackle on the Cardinals and was in his sixth year with the team in 1947, chuckled ruefully at the amount of money that both owners and players now get in pro sports.
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He said that when his pro career began, he received $220 for each of the two pre-season and eight regular season games that were played. He ended his nine-year career with the Detroit Lions in 1950, earning $10,000 for the season.
But greed on the part of owners and players isn’t the ruination of sports today, said Bulger.
“It’s loyalty,” he said. “There isn’t any. When I was playing, I played with the same guys all the time. We knew each other. We might have a rookie or two, but mostly it was the same team. Now we have guys jumping all over the place.
“And Charles Bidwill was the most loyal guy in the world,” he said of the Chicago Cardinals owner.
Bulger, who turns 80 next month, said he was crestfallen when the Cardinals moved from Chicago in 1960. “I used to go to the games in Comiskey Park,” he said wistfully. “But there were empty seats. They’ll never move back to Chicago.”