1944 Chicago Cardinals season
| 1944 Chicago-Pittsburgh Cardinals-Steelers season | |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Phil Handler, Walt Kiesling |
| Home field | Comiskey Park, Forbes Field |
| Results | |
| Record | 0-10 |
| Division place | 5th NFL Western |
| Playoff finish | did not qualify |
Card-Pitt was the team created by the temporary merger of two National Football League (NFL) teams, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Chicago Cardinals, during the 1944 season. It was the second such merger for the Steelers, who had combined with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1943 to form the "Steagles". The arrangement was made necessary by the loss of numerous players to World War II military service, and was dissolved upon completion of the season. The war ended before the start of the 1945 season, and both teams resumed normal operations.
Card-Pitt finished with a 0–10 record in the Western Division, which led sportswriters to derisively label the team the "Car-Pitts", or "carpets".
The Boston Yanks joined the NFL in 1944, while the Cleveland Rams, who had been unable to field a team in 1943, re-joined the league. This resulted in an 11-team league, and the NFL was unable to devise a schedule that was amenable to all registered teams. NFL commissioner Elmer Layden contacted Art Rooney and Bert Bell of the Steelers to request that their team again merge as a potential solution for the scheduling issue. Rooney agreed, on the condition that at least half of the team’s home games would be played at Pittsburgh's Forbes Field.
The choice of a merger partner for the Steelers proved to be a challenging task. Rumors prior to the NFL’s annual April meeting indicated that either Cleveland or the Brooklyn Tigers would be the selected partner. Cleveland was considered a logical choice based solely on geographic location, but Layden felt it unfair to ask the Steelers to merge with a team that had been defunct a year earlier. Rooney rejected a proposal to merge with Brooklyn, and was hesitant to merge with the new Boston Yanks. He eventually agreed to combine his Steelers with the Cardinals, who had gone winless in 1943 along with having lost 16 straight games since their last win in October 18, 1942. The merged team would compete in the tougher Western Division, which included the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears.
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