John Leo "Paddy" Driscoll (January 11, 1895 – June 29, 1968) was an American professional football and baseball player and football coach. A triple-threat man in football, he was regarded as the best drop kicker and one of the best overall players in the early years of the National Football League (NFL). He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1965 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1974.
Driscoll played college football as a quarterback and halfback for the Northwestern football team in 1915 and 1916. In 1917, he played Major League Baseball as an infielder for the Chicago Cubs. He joined the United States Navy during World War I and played for the undefeated 1918 Great Lakes Navy Bluejackets football team that won the 1919 Rose Bowl.
Driscoll played professional football as a quarterback and halfback for the Hammond All-Stars (1917), Hammond Pros (1919), Racine/Chicago Cardinals (1920–1925), and Chicago Bears (1926–1929). He was the NFL's first All-Pro quarterback and its leading scorer in 1923 and 1926. He also led the 1925 Chicago Cardinals to an alleged NFL championship and was selected in 1969 for the NFL 1920s All-Decade Team.
Driscoll also worked for many years as a football coach. He was the head coach of Chicago Cardinals from 1920 to 1922 and at Marquette from 1937 to 1940. He spent the last 28 years of his life with the Chicago Bears as an assistant coach (1941–1955), head coach (1956–1957), and later as the director of the Bears research and planning unit.
Early years and Northwestern
Driscoll was born in Evanston, Illinois, in 1895. His father, Timothy Driscoll, was an Irish immigrant who worked as a stone cutter. His mother, Elizabeth, was born in Wisconsin to Irish parents. He attended Evanston Township High School.
Driscoll enrolled at Northwestern University in 1914. He played for the Northwestern football team in 1915 and 1916 and became a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.https://nicfraternity.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/fraternity_men_in_nfl_hall_of_fame-updated-6-18.pdf In 1916, Driscoll led the team to a 6–1 record and a second-place finish in the Western Conference. On October 21, 1916, Driscoll, who at the time weighed only 143 pounds, scored nine points on a touchdown and a field goal in a 10–0 victory over Chicago, Northwestern's first victory in 15 years over the Maroons. In 1916, he was selected as a first-team halfback on the 1916 All-Western Conference football team. He was also selected as a second-team All-American by the United Press and a third-team All-American by Walter Camp.
Driscoll also played for Northwestern's basketball and baseball teams. In December 1916, he was reportedly declared ineligible by Northwestern faculty investigating his standing.
Playing career Chicago Cubs During the summer of 1917, Driscoll played in Major League Baseball for the Chicago Cubs. He made his debut on June 12 and appeared in 13 games, 8 of them as a third baseman, for the Cubs. In 32 plate appearances, he compiled a .107 batting average with a double, three runs batted in, two bases on balls, and two stolen bases.
Hammond Clabbys Driscoll made his professional football debut in 1917 with the Hammond Clabbys. He led the team to the professional championship of Indiana and quickly became a star. Driscoll's 1917 season highlights including the following: On October 28, 1917, Driscoll scored all 20 Hammond points (three touchdowns and two extra points) in a 20–0 victory over Wabash. Driscoll's three touchdowns included a kickoff return in the third quarter. On November 4, 1917, before a crowd of 5,000, Driscoll scored all 13 Hammond points (two field goals, a touchdown, and an extra point) in a 13–0 victory over Pine Village. The result was only the second loss for Pine Village in 12 years. On November 11, 1917, Driscoll was knocked unconscious in the third quarter of a 13–3 victory over the Cornell Hamburgs. He returned to the game later in the quarter and drop-kicked a 55-yard field goal from beyond midfield. On December 2, 1917, Driscoll led Hammond to a 25–0 victory over the Fort Wayne Friars. Driscoll scored three touchdowns and kicked an extra point in the game.
At the end of the 1917 season, Driscoll was selected by Indiana sports writer Heze Clark as the quarterback on the 1917 All-Pro Team.
Great Lakes Navy In March 1918, Driscoll enlisted in the United States Navy during World War I and was given the rank of petty officer. He was assigned to Naval Station Great Lakes and played for the Great Lakes Navy Bluejackets football team in the fall of 1918. Driscoll's teammates on the 1918 Great Lakes team included George Halas, with whom Driscoll formed a lifelong friendship, and Jimmy Conzelman, all three of whom were later inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Due to protests from some opponents over Driscoll's professional status, he was not allowed to play in a number of early games. On November 16, 1918, Driscoll scored six touchdowns, including an 80-yard run, and kicked five extra points in the Naval Station's 54–14 victory over a Rutgers team starring Paul Robeson.
The 1918 Great Lakes football team compiled a 6–0–2 record and defeated the Mare Island Marines by a 17–0 score in the 1919 Rose Bowl. In the Rose Bowl, he drop-kicked a field goal and threw a touchdown pass to George Halas. After the game, the Los Angeles Times wrote: "Driscoll needs no praise. He is the greatest back-field star we have ever seen in Southern California and had at his command as fine a team of football players as any player could ask."
Los Angeles Angels Driscoll returned to professional baseball in 1919. In February 1919, weeks after his starring performance in the Rose Bowl, he was traded by the Cubs to the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League. The Angels planned to play Driscoll at shortstop, and the Los Angeles Times opined: "If he can dash around the diamond like he does across the tanbark there won't be a whole lot for the remainder of the Angel infield to do." He appeared in 39 games for the Angels and compiled a .264 batting average and .380 slugging percentage with three doubles, four triples, and a home run.
Hammond All-Stars In the fall of 1919, Driscoll and George Halas (along with Paul Des Jardien and Bert Baston) played for the Hammond All-Stars, which became one of the founding teams in the National Football League one year later. On November 23, 1919, Driscoll led Hammond to a 33–0 victory over Toledo at Wrigley Field. He drop-kicked a field goal from the 35-yard line, returned a punt 50 yards for a touchdown, and kicked three extra points. Four days later, Hammond lost to the Canton Bulldogs who won the professional championship; Driscoll's fumble of the opening kickoff set up a touchdown run by Jim Thorpe for the game's only scoring.
Racine/Chicago Cardinals 1920 season In September 1920, Driscoll signed to play with and captain the Racine Cardinals (so named because the team's home field, Normal Park, was located on Racine Avenue in Chicago) in the newly formed American Professional Football Association (later renamed the National Football League). The 1920 season is recognized as the inaugural season of the NFL. Highlights of Driscoll's 1920 season include: On October 17, 1920, "long runs" by Driscoll led the Cardinals to a 33–3 victory over the Moline Universal Tractors. On October 31, 1920, the Cardinals defeated the Detroit Heralds, the club's first victory over an APFA opponent. The Detroit Free Press reported: "Driscoll kicked all three goals and had the Heralds in their own territory most of the time with his long kicks and passes." On November 7, 1920, Driscoll returned a punt for the winning touchdown in a 6–3 victory over the Chicago Tigers before a crowd of 7,000 spectators at Wrigley Field. On November 14, 1920, Driscoll scored a touchdown and kicked three extra points as the Cardinals defeated the Cincinnati Celts, 20–0. On November 21, 1920, Driscoll scored a touchdown and kicked two extra points in a 14–0 victory over the Lansing Oldsmobile team. The Lansing State Journal noted that Driscoll appeared "unimpressive" in his uniform but proved to be the "luminous" star of the game who was "always on the move and as elusive as the well known rabbit." On November 29, 1920, the Cardinals defeated the heavily favored Decatur Staleys, 7–6, giving the Staleys their first loss of the season. According to the Chicago Tribune, Driscoll kicked the extra point that was the margin of victory and was "the big star of the game." On December 19, 1920, the Cardinals played the semipro Chicago Stayms (who were reinforced for the occasion by four Decatur Staleys' players, including George Halas) to a 14–14 tie at Pyott Field. According to the Chicago Tribune, "McInerney and Driscoll were the whole show for the Cardinals, Driscoll giving his usual clever exhibition of open field running."
The Cardinals finished the 1920 season with a 7–2–2, good for fourth place out of 14 teams in the NFL's inaugural season. Driscoll was selected as the first-team quarterback on the 1920 All-Pro Team, making the first All-Pro quarterback in NFL history.
1921 season In 1921, Driscoll returned to the Cardinals as the team's quarterback and captain, he also did "most of the coaching". Highlights of Driscoll's 1921 season include: On October 2, 1921, Driscoll led the Cardinals to a 20–0 victory over the Minneapolis Marines. He ran for a touchdown, threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to Marquardt, kicked two extra points, and had long runs of 30 and 45 yards. On October 23, 1921, Driscoll was carried off the field in the first quarter of a game with the Columbus Panhandles. Driscoll reportedly sustained "a couple smashed ribs." On November 6, 1921, Driscoll returned to the Cardinals in a 7–0 victory over the Hammond Pros. The Chicago Tribune praised Driscoll's accurate forward passing in a game in which he accounted for all points scored on a touchdown run and an extra point. On November 20, 1921, Driscoll drop-kicked a field goal from the 35-yard line with less than four minutes remaining to secure a 3–3 tie with the Green Bay Packers. On December 18, 1921, the Cardinals played the APFA champion Chicago Staleys to a scoreless tie. According to the Chicago Tribune, Driscoll's "brilliant playing" resulted in the Staleys' only loss of the season.
The Cardinals finished their 1921 season with a 6–3–2 record (3–3–2 against APFA opponents). Driscoll was not selected as an All-Pro.
1922 season
As quarterback and coach, Driscoll led the 1922 Chicago Cardinals to an 8–3 record, good for third place in the NFL. Highlights of Driscoll's 1922 season include: On October 15, 1922, Driscoll led the Cardinals to a 16–3 victory over the Green Bay Packers. After the game, the Green Bay Press-Gazette wrote: "Paddy Driscoll is just as brilliant a football player as ever. He never seems to get old and in Sunday's game, he stood out as the mainstay of the Cardinal machine. Driscoll ran back punts brilliantly, he skirted outside of right tackle frequently for long gains and, as usual, his trusty kicking toe was very much in evidence." On October 30, 1922, in a 37–6 victory over Columbus, Driscoll scored a rushing touchdown, kicked two extra points, and added "a pretty dropkick from a difficult angle on the 47-yard line." On Thanksgiving Day, the Cardinals defeated the Chicago Bears, 6–0, before a crowd of 14,000. Driscoll drop-kicked a field goal in the game. On December 10, 1922, Driscoll drop-kicked three field goals to account for all the scoring in a 9–0 victory, the second victory over the Bears in two weeks. The game drew 12,000 spectators.
At the end of the 1922 season, Driscoll was picked as a first-team All-Pro at the halfback position.
1923 season