1961 St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) season

The 1961 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 42nd season in the National Football League (NFL) and their second in St. Louis. The team improved on their previous year's 6–5–1 record, winning seven games.^[1] Despite the improvement, they finished fourth in the seven-team Eastern Conference and failed to qualify for the playoffs (NFL title game) for the thirteenth consecutive season. The Cardinals were led by fourth-year head coach Pop Ivy, who was replaced after a 5–7 start by the tandem of Chuck Drulis, Ray Prochaska, and Ray Willsey.

1961 St. Louis Cardinals season
Owner	Violet Bidwill Wolfner
Head coach	Pop Ivy (first 12 games) Chuck Drulis, Ray Prochaska, and Ray Willsey
Home field	Busch Stadium
Results
Record	7–7
Division place	4th NFL Eastern
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
← 1960 Cardinals seasons 1962 →

This was the final season of ownership by Violet Bidwill Wolfner, who died in January 1962 at age 62.^[2]

Roster

1961 St. Louis Cardinals final roster

	Quarterbacks 14 Sam Etcheverry 3 Ralph Guglielmi 12 Charley Johnson Running backs 22 Prentice Gautt 44 John David Crow 36 Frank Mestnik FB 31 Mal Hammack FB 20 Ken Hall Wide receivers 88 Sonny Randle 40 Bobby Joe Conrad 0 Dick Lage Tight ends 86 Hugh McInnis 85 Taz Anderson		Offensive linemen 64 Ken Gray G 23 Charley Granger T 75 Ed Cook T/G 68 Mike McGee G 61 Bob DeMarco C/G 55 Charley Ellzey C/LB 50 Don Gillis C 74 Ken Panfil T 78 Dale Memmelaar 73 Ernie McMillan T Defensive linemen 70 Don Owens DT 80 Ed Henke DE 84 Joe Robb DE 66 Ron McDole DE 72 Frank Fuller DT 65 Tom Redmond DE/DT 78 Luke Owens		Linebackers 62 Dale Meinert 34 Bill Koman 51 Ted Bates 55 Bob Griffin 33 Monte Lee Defensive backs 49 Willie West CB/PR 41 Jimmy Hill CB 25 Jerry Norton S/P 8 Larry Wilson S 24 Billy Stacy CB 45 Joe Driskill 37 Pat Fischer CB Special teams 79 Gerry Perry K/T		Reserve lists Practice squad Rookies in italics

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 17	at New York Giants	W 21–10	1–0	Yankee Stadium	58,059
2	September 24	at Cleveland Browns	L 17–20	1–1	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	50,443
3	October 1	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 30–27	2–1	Franklin Field	59,399
4	October 8	New York Giants	L 9–24	2–2	Busch Stadium	23,713
5	October 15	Philadelphia Eagles	L 7–20	2–3	Busch Stadium	20,262
6	October 22	at Washington Redskins	W 24–0	3–3	D.C. Stadium	28,037
7	October 29	Cleveland Browns	L 10–21	3–4	Busch Stadium	26,696
8	November 5	at Dallas Cowboys	W 31–17	4–4	Cotton Bowl	20,500
9	November 12	Detroit Lions	L 14–45	4–5	Busch Stadium	20,320
10	November 19	at Baltimore Colts	L 0–16	4–6	Memorial Stadium	56,112
11	November 26	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 27–30	4–7	Forbes Field	17,090
12	December 3	Washington Redskins	W 38–24	5–7	Busch Stadium	16,204
13	December 10	Dallas Cowboys	W 31–13	6–7	Busch Stadium	15,384
14	December 17	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 20–0	7–7	Busch Stadium	16,298
Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text.

Game Summaries

Week 1 at NY Giants

the Cardinals, supposedly crippled beyond repair, came roaring through with a fine display of offensive firepower to upset the New York Giants. The Cards razzle-dazzle offense was on display despite losing John David Crow and Joe Childress. But Sam Etcheverry, another cripple, cranked up Frank Ivy's offense and sent fullback Mal Hammack on a 28-yard touchdown run that overcame a 10-7 Giants lead, then fired a five-yard screen pass to another fullback Frank Mestnik, for another score. The Cards defense also was effective. The Giants' "new look" offense was badly frustrated and surrendered the first St. Louis Cardinals touchdown when halfback Bob Gaiters fumbled in the end zone and Willie West recovered for a touchdown. The Giants only scoring was a 44-yard field goal by Pat Summerall and a Larry Hayes return of a block punt for a touchdown.

Standings

NFL Eastern Conference
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
New York Giants	10	3	1	.769	9–2–1	368	220	T1
Philadelphia Eagles	10	4	0	.714	8–4	361	297	W1
Cleveland Browns	8	5	1	.615	8–3–1	319	270	T1
St. Louis Cardinals	7	7	0	.500	7–5	279	267	W3
Pittsburgh Steelers	6	8	0	.429	5–7	295	287	L1
Dallas Cowboys	4	9	1	.308	2–9–1	236	380	L4
Washington Redskins	1	12	1	.077	1–10–1	174	392	W1

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

References

1. 1961 St. Louis Cardinals
2. "Mrs. Wolfner, Cardinals' owner, dies". Chicago Daily Tribune. Associated Press. January 30, 1962. p. 1, part 3.

External links

• 1961 St. Louis Cardinals at Pro-Football-Reference.com
• 1961 St. Louis Cardinals Football Highlights at youtube.com