Marshall Goldberg Marshall Goldberg ( October 25 , 1917 – April 3 , 2006 ) was an American football player . He played college football as a halfback and fullback at the University of Pittsburgh . At Pittsburgh Goldberg was twice recognized as a consensus All - American and played on two national championship teams under head coach Jock Sutherland . Goldberg played for the Chicago Cardinals of the National Football League for eight seasons between 1939 and 1948 with an interruption during World War II . He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1958 . Early life . Goldberg ' s father emigrated from Romania to Cumberland , Maryland in the United States , where he met and married the woman who later become Marshall ' s mother . The couple settled in the small mountain community of Elkins , West Virginia , some from Pittsburgh , where they set up a ladies clothing store . Goldberg was born in Elkins . He attended Elkins High School , where he was captain of the basketball , football , and track teams . He was named All - State in all three sports . College career . At the University of Pittsburgh , under coach Jock Sutherland , he led Pittsburgh Panthers to back - to - back national championships in 1936 and 1937 . Goldberg ' s 1936 team won the 1937 Rose Bowl . He finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting in 1937 and was runner - up for the Heisman in 1938 . He was also an All - American in both 1937 and 1938 , first as a halfback and then as a fullback . During his Pitt career he amassed 1 , 957 rushing yards , a school record that stood until 1974 when Tony Dorsett surpassed it . Professional career . After college Goldberg played in the National Football League for the Chicago Cardinals from 1939 to 1943 , interrupted by his service during World War II in the United States Navy , then again from 1946 to 1948 . The team won the NFL Championship in 1947 and won their division the next year . Goldberg was named second team All - Pro once , in 1942 . Goldberg joined Navy in 1943 and spent two years in the South Pacific earning the rank of lieutenant . He worked in the insurance industry after his football career ended . In 1965 he took over a machine parts company , Marshall Goldberg Machine Tools Ltd . , of Rosemont , Illinois . Honors and death . Goldberg was elected by " Sports Illustrated " to the 1930s College Football Team of the Decade . In 1958 he was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame and several other halls of fame , including that of the City of Pittsburgh and the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame . Goldberg died in 2006 at age 88 at a nursing home in Chicago . Following his death , his daughter , Ellen Tullos , and his widow , Rita Goldberg , helped to set up The Marshall Goldberg Traumatic Brain Injury Fund at The University of Illinois at Chicago . Goldberg had sustained a number of concussion s during his career , which the family felt contributed to difficulties later in his life . This fund has been instrumental in bringing attention to the problem of head injury in athletes . On August 24 , 2007 , Goldberg and Emmitt Thomas were selected by the Pro Football Hall of Fame ' s Seniors Committee as finalists for election into the Hall of Fame with the Class of 2008 . However , he was not selected with the class of 2008 .