1. John Leo "Paddy" Driscoll was an American professional football and baseball player and football coach.
39 Facts About Paddy Driscoll
1. 2.
Paddy Driscoll was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1965 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1974.
3.
Paddy Driscoll 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.
4.
Paddy Driscoll was the NFL's first All-Pro quarterback and its leading scorer in 1923 and 1926.
5.
Paddy Driscoll led the 1925 Chicago Cardinals to an NFL championship and was selected in 1969 for the NFL 1920s All-Decade Team.
6.
Paddy Driscoll was the head coach of Chicago Cardinals from 1920 to 1922 and at Marquette from 1937 to 1940.
7.
Paddy Driscoll spent the last 28 years of his life with the Chicago Bears as an assistant coach, head coach, and later as the director of the Bears research and planning unit.
8.
Paddy Driscoll's father, Timothy Driscoll, was an Irish immigrant who worked as a stone cutter.
9.
Paddy Driscoll's mother, Elizabeth, was born in Wisconsin to Irish parents.
10.
Paddy Driscoll played for the Northwestern football team in 1915 and 1916 and became a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.
11.
Paddy Driscoll was selected as a second-team All-American by the United Press and a third-team All-American by Walter Camp.
12.
Paddy Driscoll made his professional football debut in 1917 with the Hammond Clabbys.
13.
Paddy Driscoll led the team to the professional championship of Indiana and quickly became a star.
14.
In March 1918, Paddy Driscoll enlisted in the United States Navy during World War I and was given the rank of petty officer.
15.
Paddy Driscoll was assigned to Naval Station Great Lakes and played for the Great Lakes Navy Bluejackets football team in the fall of 1918.
16.
Paddy Driscoll 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.
17.
Paddy Driscoll drop-kicked a field goal from the 35-yard line, returned a punt 50 yards for a touchdown, and kicked three extra points.
18.
In September 1920, Paddy Driscoll signed to play with and captain the Racine Cardinals in the newly formed American Professional Football Association.
19.
Paddy Driscoll was selected as the first-team quarterback on the 1920 All-Pro Team, making the first All-Pro quarterback in NFL history.
20.
In 1921, Paddy Driscoll returned to the Cardinals as the team's quarterback and captain, he did "most of the coaching".
21.
Paddy Driscoll scored a touchdown and kicked an extra point in the game.
22.
Paddy Driscoll was the team's leading scorer with 67 points on 11 field goals, four touchdowns, and 10 extra points.
23.
Paddy Driscoll was the NFL's second highest scorer in 1925, trailing only Charlie Berry.
24.
In September 1926, Paddy Driscoll was sold by the Cardinals to the Chicago Bears.
25.
Paddy Driscoll signed a contract with the Bears at a reported salary of $10,000.
26.
Paddy Driscoll broke his own NFL records with 12 field goals in a single season.
27.
From 1924 to 1936, Paddy Driscoll was the athletic director and basketball and football coach at St Mel High School in Chicago.
28.
On November 3,1936, Paddy Driscoll was hired as an assistant coach for the Chicago Cardinals.
29.
In March 1937, Paddy Driscoll was hired as the head football coach at Marquette University in Milwaukee.
30.
In July 1941, Paddy Driscoll was hired as an assistant coach of the Chicago Bears.
31.
Paddy Driscoll remained as an assistant coach under George Halas for the next 15 years through the 1955 season.
32.
In February 1956, Paddy Driscoll was hired by George Halas as his successor as head coach of the Chicago Bears.
33.
Paddy Driscoll remained employed by the Bears in an administrative capacity, serving as team vice president.
34.
Paddy Driscoll received multiple honors and awards arising out of his accomplishments as a football player, including the following:.
35.
Paddy Driscoll married Mary Loretta McCarthy in June 1928 at St Ita's Catholic Church in Chicago.
36.
Paddy Driscoll lived in his later years in Park Ridge, Illinois, with his son John.
37.
Paddy Driscoll died in 1968 at Chicago's Illinois Masonic Hospital at the age of 73.
38.
Paddy Driscoll had entered the hospital for treatment of a leg ailment.
39.
Paddy Driscoll was buried at the All Saints Catholic Cemetery in Des Plaines, Illinois.