In 1925 - the Pottsville Maroons defeated the Cardinasl at Comiskey Park in Chicago - claiming the NFL Championship. A week later the Maroons played an exhibition game with the college national champion Notre Dame team - beating them 9 -7 in Philadelphia. The NFL took away the Maroon's title and attempted to give it to the then Chicago Cardinals - but the Cards refused out of honor. A few years later - the Bidwell family bought the Cardinals and decided to claim the title they did not earn. Since then - the Cardinals have never won a title. We call it the curse.
Today at 3 PM - the Philadelphia Eagles play the Cardinals in Phoenix for the NFC Championship. The winners go to the Super Bowl in Tampa. To keep the curse on the Cardinals - the Eagles must win the NFC today. So this game is even more important than the coming Super Bowl.
The Pottsville Maroons were only in the NFL for 3 years. The team was made up of working class coal miners that during the week built their muscles by hauling coal cars out of the mines by hand. They were a rough and tumble bunch that represented an area and era which was "different" even in their own time. For one game that season - the "entire town" chartered a train to Atlantic City for a game. They all attended church - then paraded to the train station. When arriving in Atlantic - they marched almost lock step down the main street to the stadium - and won.
For 55 years - I lived in Schuylkill County - about 15 miles from the place where the Maroons played their home games. The field is the parking lot of a shopping mall now. But as President Obama said of those middle Pennsylvania folks- they cling to their guns and religion - but they also cling to their coal cracker and football heritage.
When the mines closed down - many Pennsylvanian spread all over America looking for work. But for 4 hours today - our hearts and minds will be with the Eagles hoping they keep the curse on the Cardinals.
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