 Goldberg with the Pittsburgh Panthers in 1938 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 42, 89, 99 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Positions | Back Return specialist | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1917-10-24)October 24, 1917 Elkins, West Virginia, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | April 3, 2006(2006-04-03) (aged 88) Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 190 lb (86 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| High school | Elkins | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| College | Pittsburgh (1936–1938) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1939: 2nd round, 12th overall pick | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Marshall "Biggie" Goldberg (October 24, 1917 – April 3, 2006) was an American professionalfootballback andreturn specialist who played for theChicago Cardinals of theNational Football League (NFL). He playedcollege football as ahalfback andfullback for thePittsburgh Panthers. At Pittsburgh, Goldberg was twice recognized as a consensusAll-American, and played on twonational championship teams under head coachJock Sutherland. Goldberg played for the Cardinals for eight seasons from 1939 to 1948, with an interruption duringWorld War II, and was a four-timeAll-Pro. He was inducted into theCollege Football Hall of Fame in 1958.
Goldberg was born inElkins, West Virginia, to a Jewish family.[1][2][3] Goldberg's father Sol emigrated fromRomania toCumberland, Maryland, where he met and married Rebecca (Becky) Fram, daughter of a Cumberland shoemaker.[4] Family lore has it that Sol Goldberg and Becky's brother, Benjamin, were friends.[5] The couple settled in the small mountain community ofElkins, West Virginia, some 170 miles (270 km) from Pittsburgh, where they set up a ladies clothing store.
Goldberg attendedElkins High School, where he was captain of the basketball, football, and track teams.[6] He was named All-State in all three sports.
At theUniversity of Pittsburgh, under coachJock Sutherland, he led thePitt Panthers to back-to-backnational championships in 1936 and 1937. Goldberg's 1936 team won the1937 Rose Bowl. He finished third in theHeisman Trophy voting in 1937 and was runner-up for the Heisman in 1938. He was also anAll-American in both 1937 and 1938, first as ahalfback and then as afullback. During his Pitt career he amassed 1,957 rushing yards, a school record that stood until 1974 whenTony Dorsett surpassed it. Goldberg was part of Pitt's legendary Dream Backfield along with Dick Cassiano, John 'Chick' Chickerneo, & Curly Stebbins. Some experts consider Pitt's Dream Backfield superior to the more famous Four Horsemen of Notre Dame.
Goldberg was drafted in the second round of the 1939 NFL Draft.[7] After college Goldberg played in theNational Football League for theChicago Cardinals from 1939 to 1943, interrupted by his service during World War II in theUnited States Navy, then again from 1946 to 1948. The team won the NFL Championship in 1947, and won their division the following year. Goldberg was a four-time NFLAll-Pro.[2]
Goldberg joined the Navy in 1943 and spent two years in theSouth Pacific rising to 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., ofRosemont, Illinois.
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Won theNFL Championship | |
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | Games | Rushing | Receiving | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | ||
| 1939 | CRD | 10 | 8 | 56 | 152 | 2.7 | 2 | 5 | 90 | 18.0 | 1 |
| 1940 | CRD | 11 | 7 | 87 | 325 | 3.7 | 2 | 2 | 29 | 14.5 | 1 |
| 1941 | CRD | 11 | 10 | 117 | 427 | 3.6 | 3 | 16 | 313 | 19.6 | 1 |
| 1942 | CRD | 11 | 7 | 116 | 369 | 3.2 | 1 | 9 | 108 | 12.0 | 0 |
| 1943 | CRD | 1 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 1.0 | 0 | 4 | 31 | 7.8 | 1 |
| 1946 | CRD | 10 | 8 | 43 | 210 | 4.9 | 3 | 17 | 152 | 8.9 | 1 |
| 1947 | CRD | 12 | 10 | 51 | 155 | 3.0 | 0 | 7 | 52 | 7.4 | 0 |
| 1948 | CRD | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 77 | 51 | 476 | 1,644 | 3.5 | 11 | 60 | 775 | 12.9 | 5 | ||
Goldberg was elected bySports Illustrated to the 1930s College Football Team of the Decade. In 1958, he was enshrined in theCollege Football Hall of Fame and several other halls of fame, including that of the City ofPittsburgh, theWest Virginia Sports Writers Hall of Fame, and theNational Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.[6]
Goldberg died in 2006 at age 88 at a nursing home inChicago. Following his death, his daughter, Ellen Tullos, and his widow, Rita Goldberg, helped to set up The Marshall Goldberg Traumatic Brain Injury Fund at TheUniversity of Illinois at Chicago. Goldberg had sustained a number ofconcussions 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 andEmmitt Thomas were selected by thePro Football Hall of Fame's Seniors Committee as finalists for election into the Hall of Fame with the Class of 2008 but was not selected. TheProfessional Football Researchers Association named Goldberg to the PFRA Hall of Very Good Class of 2007.[8]
His jersey number 99 was retired by theArizona Cardinals, and he is in theArizona Cardinals Ring of Honor. On March 2, 2021, Goldberg's daughter gave her blessing to formerHouston Texans defensive endJ. J. Watt to wear the previously retired number 99.[9]
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