Marshall Goldberg, circa 1941 as a
member of the Chicago Cardinals

The AP write-up is in all the papers today.

From today’s Post-Gazette:

Mr. Goldberg died at a Chicago nursing home after spending several years battling the effects of brain injuries caused by numerous concussions during his playing days, his wife, Rita Goldberg, said yesterday..

Mr. Goldberg’s high point as a professional player came in 1947 when he intercepted a pass against the Philadelphia Eagles that clinched the Cardinals’ only NFL championship.

As a high school sophomore, Mr. Goldberg weighed just 110 pounds and was dubbed “Biggie” by his friends.

“Sports Illustrated’s Dan Jenkins, one of the greatest college football writers ever, once wrote an article looking back at all the Heisman Trophy winners and tried to figure out who should have won it each year,” said Beano Cook, a college football historian and former sports information director at Pitt. “He believes Marshall should have won it in 1937 [he finished third in the balloting] based on the season he had. But that tells you how great he was for his time and in comparison to players of his era.

“Tony Dorsett was Pitt’s greatest runner, but Marshall was one of the greatest football players because he played at a time where he played on both offense and defense, and he also threw the ball,” Mr. Cook said.

The Chicago Tribune:

The Cardinals won the NFL title in 1947, breaking the Bears’ stranglehold on the decade and increasing a city rivalry that lasted until Bears owner George Halas helped nudge the Cardinals out of town and to St. Louis after the 1959 season.

Former Chicago sport columnist Bill Gleason, who covered the Cardinals, said Goldberg would have been a cinch for the Hall of Fame had he played for Halas.

“A pro football Hall without Goldberg is absurd,” Gleason wrote.

Goldberg is a member of the college Hall of Fame and remains a legend at Pitt, where former quarterback Dan Marino recalls being told Goldberg was Pitt’s all-time best player.

“Marshall Goldberg?” Marino asked.

“Yeah, and after him Mike Ditka,” said the Pitt backer. “And then you’re third, Danny. And you ain’t never gonna be no better than third.”

Goldberg led Pitt to a national championship in 1937, was runner-up for the Heisman Trophy in 1938 and amassed 1,957 rushing yards, a school record that stood until Tony Dorsett broke it in 1974.

Goldberg hosted a Cardinals TV sports show with Mike Wallace and after retirement settled in Chicago, where he owned a machine tool company.

He is survived by his wife; a son, Marshall; a daughter, Ellen Tullos; two grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame never called.