1944 Card - Pitt season Card - Pitt was the name for 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 . The teams were forced to merge , because both had lost many players to World War II military service . After the season , the merger was dissolved and with the war over by the start of the following season , traditional operations resumed for both teams . Together , the two teams did poorly as the combined team finished with a 0 - 10 record in the . Sportswriters called the team the " Car - Pitts " ( carpets ) . Previously in 1943 , the Steelers had combined with the Philadelphia Eagles as the " Steagles " . Sixty - five years after merging for a season , the Steelers and Cardinals ( now based in Arizona ) met in Super Bowl XLIII . History . Origins . In 1944 , the Boston Yanks joined the NFL . The Cleveland Rams had just re - joined the league , after finding themselves unable to field a team in 1943 . This left the NFL with 11 teams . The league found it impossible to come up with a schedule that would meet the approval of all teams . So NFL commissioner Elmer Layden contacted Art Rooney and Bert Bell of the Steelers and requested that their team merge again . Rooney agreed , on the condition that at least half of the team ’ s home games were played in Pittsburgh at Forbes Field . Finding a partner . Finding a merger partner proved challenging . Before the NFL ’ s annual meetings in April 1944 , rumors had Pittsburgh joining up with either Cleveland or the Brooklyn Tigers . Cleveland would have been a logical geographic choice ; however , Layden didn ’ t think it was fair to the Steelers to ask them to merge with a team that had been defunct a year earlier . Rooney rejected a proposal to merge with Brooklyn and was hesitant to the idea of merging with the new Boston Yanks . Finally , Rooney agreed to combine his Steelers with the Cardinals , who had gone winless in 1943 . The merger would compete in the tougher Western Division , which included the perennial powerhouses , Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears . Pre - Season . Training camp began August 15 , 1944 , in Waukesha , Wisconsin , under the direction of the team ’ s co - coaches , Walt Kiesling of Pittsburgh and Phil Handler of Chicago . Before the start of camp , the coaching staff made the questionable decision of going with a T formation offense . Some of the Steelers ' players had been exposed to the ‘ T ’ a year earlier , while with the Steagles ; but the Cardinals had used it very little . Card - Pitt also lacked a dependable quarterback for the season . However , everyone went into the season optimistic . During the team ' s first exhibition game against the Philadelphia Eagles , at Shibe Park with Babe Ruth in attendance , the Eagles ripped off three first quarter touchdowns on their way to a 22 - 0 victory . The following week , the team regained its footing , but still lost to the Washington Redskins , 3 - 0 . It should be noted though that Washington was predicted to win the game by three touchdowns . 1944 season . Slow start . Card - Pitt opened the regular season portion of its schedule on September 24 , 1944 , at Forbes Field against the Cleveland Rams , who were led by former Steelers head coach Aldo Donelli . The team played in front of a crowd of 21 , 000 spectators . During the game , Cleveland started with a 16 - 0 score , however , Card - Pitt came back and took the lead . However , late in the fourth quarter , with the game in hand , a bad punt resulted in a Cleveland touchdown and win with a final score of 28 - 23 . The very next week at Forbes Field , Card - Pitt won an exhibition game against the New York Giants for a final score of 17 - 16 . However , two days before the team ' s second regular season game against Green Bay , quarterback Coley McDonough was drafted into the U . S . Army . The " Pittsburgh Press " gave the team little chance of defeating the Packers . The Packers and Don Hutson ended up defeating Card - Pitt , 34 - 7 . However , the quarterback that replaced McDonough , a 155 - pound rookie named John McCarthy , from Saint Francis University , Loretto , Pennsylvania , flourished at the position during the loss . Fines controversy . The third game of the season saw the team against fellow Western Division bottom dwellers , the Chicago Bears . Injuries and war had ravaged the Bears ' roster , depriving them of MVP quarterback Sid Luckman and coach George Halas . Card - Pitt had a good chance of winning this game . However , according to the Pittsburgh Post - Gazette , Card - Pitt ' s effort throughout the game could be summed up as " pitiful " . In fact , the coaching staff became so irate over the Chicago game , that Kiesling and Handler fined Johnny Butler , John Grigas and Eberle Schultz , $ 200 apiece for " indifferent play " . The players , already fed up with the coaches ' strict , dictatorial style , rallied around their teammates and basically went on strike , refusing to practice on Tuesday , until the fined players received a fair hearing . These actions led to a meeting between the players and Rooney . The outcome of the meeting resulted in Grigas and Schultz agreeing to pay their fines and return to practice . Butler was suspended indefinitely and eventually waived , to be claimed by Brooklyn . Rooney later rescinded those fines , except for Butler ' s . That week , " Pittsburgh Post - Gazette " sports editor , Al Abrams , helped slap the team with a fitting , memorable nickname . In his column , Abrams quoted a disgusted fan as writing , " Why don ' t they call themselves the Car - Pits ? I think it ' s very appropriate as every team in the league walks over them . " The brawl . After losing a rematch against the Giants , the team played Washington . Wearing bizarre blue jerseys , instead of the normal Chicago Cardinal ones , the entire Card - Pitt team found themselves in brawl with the Redskins , midway through the game . Soon , police stormed the field , to break up what had become a near - riot . Coaches Kiesling and Handler found themselves in the middle of the brawl , while Rooney , a former boxer , dashed about halfway across the field to join his team , before it dawned on him that for an NFL owner to get into a fight with opposing players would be a breach of protocol . The Redskins would go on to win the game , 42 - 20 . Card - Pitt ' s Cliff Duggan found himself with a $ 200 fine for his role in the fist fight . However , an upset Rooney volunteered to pay Duggan ' s fine for him . 0 - 10 . After losses against the Rams , Packers and Lions , Grigas left the team to go home to Massachusetts . He had gone 0 - 2 , in winning the league rushing title . During 1944 , while in the running for yet another title , he discovered that years of losing had taken its toll and retired . His team was left to be defeated by the Bears , 49 - 7 . Grigas , despite his sudden departure , was named to the " New York Daily News " all - pro team . Shouldering almost the entire offensive burden for much of the year , Grigas rushed for 610 yards , an average of 3 . 3 yards per carry . The team had gone 0 - 10 for the season , tying the Brooklyn Tigers for the league ' s worst record . The day after the season ended , the merger of the Chicago Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers was dissolved . Since 1944 , only four teams have gone winless in the NFL for an entire season : the 1960 Dallas Cowboys ( 0 - 11 - 1 ) , the 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers ( 0 - 14 ) , the 1982 Baltimore Colts ( 0 - 8 - 1 ) and the 2008 Detroit Lions ( 0 - 16 ) . In the case of the Colts , the season was shortened by the 1982 NFL Players Association strike . Both the Cowboys and Buccaneers were expansion team s in the years they went winless . Aftermath . How bad were they ? Card - Pitt punters averaged just 32 . 7 yards per kick , an NFL record for futility that still stands today . The team was 0 - 2 in field goals ; Conway Baker missed 4 of his 15 extra point tries . Card - Pitt completed only 31 percent of their passes , resulting in just 8 touchdowns . They also threw 41 interceptions in 1944 , which is still the third highest total in NFL history . McCarthy threw 13 of those interceptions and completed 0 touchdown passes . His QB rating was only 3 . 0 . They were also the worst run defense in the league and opponents outscored them , 328 - 108 . Life after Card - Pitt . Eberle Schultz ' s fortunes turned most quickly , he went from a winless 1944 season to a NFL championship with Cleveland , the following year . John Grigas , after going AWOL , finished his career by spending three years with the Boston Yanks , leading the team in rushing in 1946 . Don Currivan , played alongside Grigas for those three seasons , ranking third in the league in receiving in 1947 . He also saw action with the Los Angeles Rams club , which lost to Philadelphia in the 1949 NFL Championship game . Tackle Chet Bulger and center Vince Banonis would be a part of the 1947 Chicago Cardinals championship team , while Banonis would also help the Detroit Lions to league titles in 1952 and 1953 . Card - Pitt ' s assistant coach , Buddy Parker , coached those teams . Regular season . Game summaries . Week 1 ( Saturday September 24 , 1944 ) : Cleveland Rams . " at Forbes Field , Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania " Scoring Drives : Week 2 ( Sunday , October 8 , 1944 ) : Green Bay Packers . " at East Stadium , Green Bay , Wisconsin " Scoring Drives : Week 3 ( Sunday October 15 , 1944 ) : Chicago Bears . " at Wrigley Field , Chicago , Illinois " Scoring Drives : Week 4 ( Sunday October 22 , 1944 ) : New York Giants . " at Polo Grounds , New York , New York " Scoring Drives : Week 5 ( Sunday October 29 , 1944 ) : Washington Redskins . " at Griffith Stadium , Washington , D . C . " Scoring Drives : Week 6 ( Sunday November 5 , 1944 ) : Detroit Lions . " at Forbes Field , Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania " Scoring Drives : Week 7 ( Sunday November 12 , 1944 ) : Detroit Lions . " at Briggs Stadium , Detroit , Michigan " Scoring Drives : Week 8 ( Sunday November 19 , 1944 ) : Cleveland Rams . " at Comiskey Park , Chicago , Illinois " Scoring Drives : Week 9 ( Sunday November 26 , 1944 ) : Green Bay Packers . " at Comiskey Park , Chicago , Illinois " Scoring Drives : Week 10 ( Sunday December 3 , 1944 ) : Chicago Bears . " at Forbes Field , Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania " Scoring Drives : Roster . Conway Baker , G < br > Vince Banonis , C < br > Clarence Booth , OT < br > Tony Bova , LE < br > Chet Bulger , RT < br > John Butler , HB < br > Don Currivan , E < br > Ted Doyle , OT < br > Cliff Duggan , OT < br > John Grigas , FB < br > Walt Kichefski , E < br > George Magulick , HB < br > Lou Marotti , G < br > Johnny Martin , WB < br > Walt Masters , B < br > John McCarthy , QB < br > Coley McDonough , QB < br > Elmer Merkovsky , G < br > John Perko , G < br > John Popovich , HB < br > Walt Rankin , QB < br > Marshall Robnett , C < br > Eddie Rucinski , E < br > Elbie Schultz , LG < br > Bernie Semes , HB < br > Bob Thurbon , HB < br > Clint Wager , E < br > Al Wukits , C < br >