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The original was posted on /r/nfl by /u/Brix001 on 2025-02-18 15:57:05+00:00.

The Pottsville Maroons Curse is a near-100-year-old curse affecting the Cardinals because they allegedly stole the 1925 NFL Championship.

Back then, there was no NFL Championship game; the team with the best record was declared champions. On December 6, 1925, the Pottsville Maroons beat the Cardinals 21-7 in Chicago to clinch the best record in the NFL and therefore, were the unofficial NFL champions. But the Maroons were suspended by the league for playing an exhibition game against Notre Dame in Philadelphia, on the grounds that this exhibition game violated the Frankford Yellow Jackets’ territorial rights. As a result, the Cardinals scheduled 2 more games against the Milwaukee Badgers and Hammond Pros (the Badgers had substituted high school players onto their roster), letting them clinch the best record in the league, and therefore NFL championship.

After the season, Cardinals owner Chris O’Brien refused to accept the 1925 championship, saying it was awarded unfairly. But when the Bidwills bought the team in the 1930s, they accepted the championship. To this day, the Cardinals have been one of the least successful teams in NFL history, having only 7 playoff wins since 1925 (3 of which came in 2008), leading to the speculation that the people of Pottsville have cursed the Cardinals after being robbed of the 1925 league title.