17 Facts About Phil Handler

Philip Jacob Handler was an American football player and coach who spent his entire professional career in the city of Chicago.

Phil Handler had a seven-year, 53-game NFL playing career, during which he was named All-Pro four times.

On three separate occasions, Handler served as head coach of the Chicago Cardinals, and later as an assistant coach for the Chicago Bears.

Phil Handler served as an assistant coach for the Cardinals when they won the 1947 NFL Championship; and with the Bears when they won the 1963 NFL Championship.

Phil Handler was born in Fort Worth, Texas, and was Jewish.

Phil Handler's parents had immigrated to the United States from Lithuania.

Phil Handler played at TCU for three years beginning in 1927 under head coach Francis Schmidt.

Phil Handler served in a player-coach during the 1935 and 1936 seasons.

On July 3,1943, Phil Handler took over the Cardinals' head coaching duties when head coach Jimmy Conzelman accepted a front office position with baseball's St Louis Browns.

That season Phil Handler was an assistant coach on the Cardinals' NFL Championship team.

However Parker soon took over as sole coach when Phil Handler shifted to a front office role later that season.

Phil Handler's 0.105 winning percentage is the lowest in NFL history for coaches with at least five seasons.

In 1956 Phil Handler helped the team reach the NFL Championship game.

Several months after the 1967 NFL season had ended, Phil Handler was vacationing in Florida when he suffered the first of two heart attacks and spent several weeks in a hospital for treatment.

Phil Handler had two children and two grandchildren when he died, and was survived by his wife.

Phil Handler is a member of the Chicago Sports Hall of Fame, the Chicago Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, and the B'nai B'rith Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

All told, Phil Handler spent 39 years as a player and coach in the NFL.