Bears Vs. Cardinals: The Nfl's Oldest Rivalry

In their early years, the Chicago Bears and the Chicago Cardinals-- the two oldest teams in the National Football League --travelled the country with only rare mention in the newspapers. Both teams later saw their official records destroyed by fire. Most of what is now known about those initial seasons is based on often inaccurate statements made many years later.

Reconstructing their missing history, this book draws on newly available resources to document the battles and brawls on and off the field, the cunning backroom deals, the financial woes and the 40-year rivalry that endured while both teams were in Chicago. Figures like Al Capone, Red Grange, Jim Thorpe and Bronko Nagurski make appearances in the lore of two old adversaries whose uneasy alliance helped ensure the survival of the fledgling NFL.

Joe Ziemba first became interested in the history of pro football after discovering that his father was a draft choice of the Chicago (now Arizona) Cardinals in the 1940s. Because of his knowledge of the early days of the professional game, he has been a resource for articles or reports in Sports Illustrated, New York Times, Chicago Sun-Times, Arizona Republic, Chicago Tribune, Daily Southtown, NBC Sunday Night Football, and many others. He hosts the podcast "When Football Was Football" on the Sports History Network which focuses on the history of the Chicago Bears and the Chicago Cardinals, and is a frequent guest on numerous other sports podcasts. In 2022, he was the recipient of the Ralph Hay Award presented by the Professional Football Researchers Association for lifetime achievement in pro football research and historiography. Recently, his book "Bears vs. Cardinals: The NFL's Oldest Rivalry" was awarded the "2023 Certificate of Excellence" by the Illinois State Historical Society. That same publication has been named as one of the three finalists for the Chicago Writers Association "Traditional Non-Fiction Book of the Year" which will be awarded in January of 2024. Joe lives with his wife, Carol, in Frankfort, IL.