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Marshall ‘‘Biggie’’ Goldberg

Athlete Marshall ‘‘Biggie’’ Goldberg (October 25, 1918-April 3, 2006) was born in Elkins. At age 15, he became both an all-state football and all-state basketball player at Elkins High School. He also served as captain of the football, basketball, and baseball teams. After graduating, he went on to become a two-time All-American at the University of Pittsburgh, leading Pitt to the 1937 national football championship. As a senior, Goldberg asked to be moved from tailback to fullback. The famous Pitt coach, Jock Sutherland, told him it would be hard to repeat as an All-American at a new position, but Goldberg did it.

In 1939, he joined the National Football League’s Chicago Cardinals. He missed the 1944 and 1945 seasons while serving in the military, then returned to lead the Cardinals to the NFL championship in 1947—the franchise’s first in its 28th season in the league. Goldberg was a member of two famous backfields, at Pitt (with Harold Stebbins, Dick Cassiano, and John Chickerneo) and with the Cardinals (with Elmer Angsman, Paul Christman, and Pat Harder). He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame (1958), West Virginia Sports Writers Hall of Fame (1963), and International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame (1980). After his football days ended, he became a successful businessman in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.

Written by Louis E. Keefer and Donald L. Rice