Tuesday, 03 December 2024

Charles Bidwell

Contest: The US Athletic Hall of Fame - Contributors 2024
Sport(s): Football Owner
Statistics: 1 NFL Championship (1947)
Member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame
In 1933, Charles Bidwell was a vice president and part-owner of the Chicago Bears. A conversation between Bidwell and Dr. David Jones, the owner of the Chicago Cardinals, resulted in Bidwell buying the franchise from Jones after he sold off his interest of the Bears.

It was well known that Bidwell would have preferred to own the Bears, the team he helped save by invigorating much-needed funding that saved the organization. Halas would never have relinquished the Bears to anyone, and Bidwell would again keep another team in Chicago, and with the Great Depression bankrupting business after business, the NFL needed a strong backer like Bidwell.

During World War II, many of the teams were decimated by personnel issues, and the Cardinals were no exception. Rather than forfeit a year, he and Art Rooney, the owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers pooled their team. After the war ended, Bidwell faced a new threat to his team, the All-American Football Conference.

The AAFC had a team in Chicago, the Rockets, and they made it known that the Windy City wasn’t big enough for three professional teams and openly stated that the Cardinals should fold or leave town. Incensed, Bidwell outbid the Rockets for All-American Charley Trippi by signing him to a $100,000 contract, a record at the time. Trippi was the anchor of Bidwell’s team that finally won the 1947 NFL Championship. Unfortunately, Bidwell would not live to see his triumph, as he died of pneumonia before the season started.

The Cardinals would move to St. Louis and then Phoenix long after Bidwell passed away, but had it not been for Bidwell, there would not be a team to relocate.

We are proud to nominate Charles Bidwell for the United States Athletic Hall of Fame.

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