Arizona Cardinals

The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The team was founded as the Morgan Athletic Club in 1898, and is the oldest continuously run professional football team in the United States.[1] The Cardinals play their home games at State Farm Stadium, which opened in 2006 and is located in the northwestern suburb of Glendale.

Arizona Cardinals
Current season
Established 1898 (1898)
Play in State Farm Stadium
Glendale, Arizona
Headquartered in Tempe, Arizona
Arizona Cardinals logo
Arizona Cardinals wordmark
LogoWordmark
League/conference affiliations

National Football League (1920present)

  • Western Division (1933–1949)
  • American Conference (1950–1952)
  • Eastern Conference (1953–1969)
    • Century Division (1967–1969)
  • National Football Conference (1970–present)
Current uniform
Team colorsCardinal red, white, black[1][2][3]
     
MascotBig Red
Personnel
Owner(s)Michael Bidwill
ChairmanMichael Bidwill
PresidentMichael Bidwill
Head coachKliff Kingsbury
General managerSteve Keim
Team history
Since 1920:[4]
Team nicknames
  • The Cards
  • The Redbirds
  • The Big Red
Championships
League championships (2)
Conference championships (1)
Division championships (7)
Playoff appearances (10)
Home fields
Since 1920:

The team was established in Chicago in 1898 as an amateur football team and joined the NFL as a charter member on September 17, 1920.[4] Along with the Chicago Bears, the club is one of two NFL charter member franchises still in operation since the league's founding (the Green Bay Packers were an independent team until they joined the NFL a year after its creation in 1921). The club then moved to St. Louis in 1960 and played in that city through 1987 (sometimes referred to locally in St. Louis as the "Football Cardinals", the "Gridbirds" or the "Big Red" to avoid confusion with the Major League Baseball team of the same name). Before the 1988 season, the team moved west to Tempe, Arizona, a college suburb east of Phoenix, and played their home games for the next 18 seasons at Sun Devil Stadium on the campus of Arizona State University. In 2006, the club moved to their current home field in Glendale, although the team's executive offices and training facility remain in Tempe.

The franchise has won two NFL championships, both while it was based in Chicago. The first occurred in 1925, but is the subject of controversy, with supporters of the Pottsville Maroons believing that Pottsville should have won the title. Their second title, and the first to be won in a championship game, came in 1947, nearly two decades before the first Super Bowl. They returned to the title game to defend in 1948, but lost the rematch 7–0 in a snowstorm in Philadelphia.

Since winning the championship in 1947, the team suffered many losing seasons, and currently holds the longest active championship drought of North American sports at 72 consecutive seasons. In 2012 the Cardinals became the first NFL franchise to lose 700 games since its inception. The franchise's all-time win-loss record (including regular season and playoff games) at the conclusion of the 2020 season is 573–780–41 (566–771–41 in the regular season, 7–9 in the playoffs).[5] They have been to the playoffs ten times and have won seven playoff games, three of which were victories during their run in the 2008–09 NFL playoffs. During that season, they won their only NFC Championship Game since the 1970 AFL–NFL merger, and reached Super Bowl XLIII (losing 27–23 to the Pittsburgh Steelers). The team has also won five division titles (1974, 1975, 2008, 2009 and 2015) since their 1947–48 NFL championship game appearances. The Cardinals are the only NFL team who have never lost a playoff game at home, with a 5–0 record: the 1947 NFL Championship Game, two postseason victories during the aforementioned 2008–09 NFL playoffs, one during the 2009–10 playoffs, and one during the 2015–16 playoffs.

From 1988 to 2012 (except 2005, when they trained in Prescott), the Cardinals conducted their annual summer training camp at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. The Cardinals moved their training camp to State Farm Stadium (then known as University of Phoenix Stadium) in 2013. The stadium was the site of the 2015 Pro Bowl, unlike in past years, where it was held at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii. The stadium also played host to Super Bowls XLII and XLIX, and will host Super Bowl LVII in 2023.

Franchise history

Chicago

The franchise's inception dates back to 1898, when a neighborhood group gathered to play in the Chicago South Side, calling themselves Morgan Athletic Club. Chicago painting and building contractor Chris O'Brien acquired the team, which he relocated to Normal Field on Racine Avenue. The team was known as the Racine Normals until 1901, when O'Brien bought used jerseys from the University of Chicago. He described the faded maroon clothing as "Cardinal red" and the team became the Racine Street Cardinals. The team eventually became in 1920 a charter member of the American Professional Football Association (APFA), which two years later was rechristened to National Football League (NFL). The team entered the league as the Racine Cardinals, however the name was changed in 1922 to Chicago Cardinals to avoid confusion with the Horlick-Racine Legion, who entered the league the same year.[6] Except for 1925, when they were awarded the championship after the Pottsville Maroons were suspended, the Cardinals experienced only minimal success on the playing field during their first 26 seasons in the league. During the post-World War II years, the team reached two straight NFL finals against the Philadelphia Eagles, winning in 1947 eight months after Charles Bidwill's death and losing the following year. After years of bad seasons and losing fans to the cross-town rivals Chicago Bears, by the late 1950s the Cardinals were almost bankrupt, and owner Violet Bidwill Wolfner became interested in a relocation.

St. Louis

Due to the formation of the rival American Football League, the NFL allowed Bidwill to relocate the team to St. Louis, Missouri, where they became the St. Louis Cardinals (locally, they were called the "Big Red", the "Gridbirds" or the "Football Cardinals" in order to avoid confusion with the baseball team of the same name).[7] During the Cardinals' 28-year stay in St. Louis, they advanced to the playoffs just three times (1974, 1975 & 1982), never hosting or winning in any appearance. The overall mediocrity of the Cardinals, combined with a then-21-year-old stadium, caused game attendance to dwindle, and owner Bill Bidwill decided to move the team to Arizona.

Phoenix

Not long after the 1987 NFL season, Bidwill agreed to move to Phoenix on a handshake deal with state and local officials, and the team became the Phoenix Cardinals.[8] The franchise changed its geographic name from Phoenix to Arizona on March 17, 1994.[4][9] (The franchise has never played in the city of Phoenix proper; however, there are several NFL teams which do not play in their market's central cities.) The 1998 NFL season saw the Cardinals break two long droughts, qualifying for the playoffs for the first time in 16 years. The team got their first postseason win since 1947 by defeating the Dallas Cowboys 20–7 in the Wild Card Playoffs.[10] In 2008, the Cardinals, led by quarterback Kurt Warner, won the NFC Championship Game against the Philadelphia Eagles to advance to the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history. They lost Super Bowl XLIII 27–23 to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the final seconds.[9]

After their historic 2008 season, the Cardinals posted a 10–6 record in 2009, their first season with 10 wins in Arizona. The Cardinals clinched their second consecutive NFC West title, and were defeated by eventual Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints 45–14 in the divisional playoffs. The next time they would make the playoffs would be in 2014, when they ended up as a wild card. They set the best regular-season record in the team's history in Arizona at 11–5, but were defeated by the 7–8–1 NFC South champions Carolina Panthers.

The next year, the Cardinals set a franchise-best 13–3 record, and clinched their first-ever first-round playoff bye as the NFC's second seed. They defeated the Green Bay Packers 26–20 in overtime, giving quarterback Carson Palmer his first playoff victory. The Cardinals then advanced to their second NFC Championship Game in their history, but were blown out by the top-seeded 15–1 Panthers 49–15, committing seven turnovers.[11]

Logos and uniforms

Phoenix Cardinals uniform: 1989–1995
Arizona Cardinals uniform: 1996–2004
Chicago Cardinals logo.

Starting in 1947, the team had a logo of a cardinal bird perched on the laces of a football.

The Cardinals moved to Arizona in 1988, and the flag of Arizona was added to the sleeves the following year. In 1990, the team began wearing red pants with their white jerseys, as new coach Joe Bugel wanted to emulate his former employer, the Washington Redskins, who at the time wore burgundy pants with their white jerseys (the Redskins later returned to their 1970s gold pants with all their jerseys).

In 1994, the Cardinals participated in the NFL's 75th anniversary throwback uniform program. The jerseys were similar to those of the 1920s Chicago Cardinals, with an interlocking "CC" logo and three stripes on each sleeve. The uniform numbers were relocated to the right chest. The pants were khaki to simulate the color and material used in that era. The Cardinals also stripped the logos from their helmets for two games: at Cleveland and home vs. Pittsburgh.

The Cardinal head on the helmet also appeared on the sleeve of the white jersey from 1982 to 1995. In 1996, the state flag of Arizona was moved higher on the sleeve after the Cardinal head was eliminated as sleeves on football jerseys became shorter, and black was removed as an accent color, instead replaced with a blue to match the predominant color of the state flag. In 2002, the Cardinals began to wear all-red and all-white combinations, and continued to do so through 2004, prior to the team's makeover.

In 2005, the team unveiled its first major changes in a century. The cardinal-head logo was updated to look sleeker and meaner than its predecessor. Numerous fans had derisively called the previous version a "parakeet".[12] Black again became an accent color after an eight-year absence, while trim lines were added to the outside shoulders, sleeves, and sides of the jerseys and pants. Both the red and white jerseys have the option of red or white pants.[13]

Hoping to break a six-game losing streak, the Cardinals wore the red pants for the first time on October 29, 2006, in a game at Lambeau Field against the Green Bay Packers. The Packers won 31–14, and the Cards headed into their bye week with a 1–7 mark. Following the bye week, the Cardinals came out in an all-red combination at home against the Dallas Cowboys and lost, 27–10. Arizona did not wear the red pants for the remainder of the season and won four of their last seven games. However, the following season, in 2007, the Cardinals again wore their red pants for their final 3 home games. They wore red pants with white jerseys in games on the road at the Cincinnati Bengals and Seattle Seahawks. They paired red pants with red jerseys, the all-red combination, for home games against the Detroit Lions, San Francisco 49ers, Cleveland Browns, and St. Louis Rams. The red pants were not worn at all in 2008, but they were used in home games vs. Seattle, Minnesota, and St. Louis in 2009. The red pants were paired with the white road jersey for the first time in three years during a 2010 game at Carolina, but the white jersey/red pants combination were not used again until 2018, when they broke out the combination against the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Cardinals' first home game in Arizona, in 1988, saw them play in red jerseys. Thereafter, for the next 18 years in Arizona, the Cardinals, like a few other NFL teams in warm climates, wore their white jerseys at home during the first half of the season—forcing opponents to suffer in their darker jerseys during Arizona autumns that frequently see temperatures over 100 °F (38 °C). However, this tradition did not continue when the Cardinals moved from Sun Devil Stadium to State Farm Stadium in 2006, as early-season games (and some home games late in the season) were played with the roof closed. With the temperature inside at a comfortable 70 °F (21 °C), the team opted to wear red jerseys at home full-time. The Cardinals wore white jerseys at home for the first time at State Farm Stadium on August 29, 2008, in a preseason game against the Denver Broncos.

The Cardinals wore white at home for the first time in a regular season game at State Farm Stadium against the Houston Texans on October 11, 2009. In October 2009, the NFL recognized Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and players wore pink-accented items, including gloves, wristbands, and shoes. The team thought the pink accents looked better with white uniforms than with red.[14]

From 1970 through 1983, and again in many seasons between 1989 and 2002, the Cardinals would wear white when hosting the Dallas Cowboys in order to force the Cowboys to don their "jinxed" blue jerseys. They have not done this since moving into State Farm Stadium, however.

The 2010 season saw the Cardinals debut a new, alternate black jersey.[15] In 2017, the Cardinals debuted an all-black set for the NFL Color Rush program. While the regular black alternates featured white lettering and are paired with white pants, the Cardinals' Color Rush alternates used red lettering and black pants for the occasion.

Seasons and overall records

Single-season records

Points Scored: 489 (2015)

Passing

Rushing

Receiving

Returns

Kicking

Career records

Players of note

Current roster

Arizona Cardinals roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists

Unrestricted FAs

Restricted FAs

Exclusive-Rights FAs

Rookies in italics

Roster updated February 4, 2021

32 active, 23 inactive, 31 free agent(s)

AFC rostersNFC rosters

Retired numbers

Chicago / St. Louis / Arizona Cardinals retired numbers
Player Position Tenure Retired
8Larry WilsonS1960–19721970
40Pat Tillman 1S1998–2001September 19, 2004
77Stan Mauldin 1OT1946–1948
88J. V. Cain 1TE1974–19781979
99Marshall GoldbergHB1939–1943
1946–1948
Source(s):[4][21]

Notes:

  • 1 Posthumously retired.

Pro Football Hall of Famers

Chicago / St. Louis / Arizona Cardinals in the Pro Football Hall of Fame
Players
No. Player Position(s) Tenure Inducted
4Ernie NeversFB
Coach
1929–1931
1930–1931, 1939
1963
Jim ThorpeRB19281963
13Guy ChamberlinEnd & Coach1927–19281965
1John "Paddy" DriscollQB
Coach
1920–1925
1920–1922
1965
2Walt KieslingG / DT
Coach
1929–1933
1944
1966
62, 2Charley TrippiRB1947–19551968
33Ollie MatsonRB1952, 1954–19581972
81Dick "Night Train" LaneCB1954–19591974
8Larry WilsonS1960–19721978
13Don MaynardWR19731987
81Jackie SmithTE1963–19771994
72Dan DierdorfT1971–19831996
22Roger WehrliCB1969–19822007
22Emmitt SmithRB2003–20042010
35Aeneas WilliamsCB1991–20002014
13Kurt Warner^ QB2005–20092017
32Edgerrin JamesRB2006–20082020
16Duke SlaterT1926–19312020
66Alan FanecaG20102021
Coaches and Contributors
Name Position(s) Tenure Inducted
Earl "Curly" LambeauCoach1950–19511963
Jimmy ConzelmanCoach1940–1942
1946–1948
1964
Charles BidwillTeam Owner1933–19471967
Joe StydaharCoach1953–19541967
Source(s):[22]

italics = played a portion of career with the Cardinals and enshrined representing another team
Dierdorf, Smith, Wehrli and Wilson were members of the St. Louis Football Ring of Fame in The Dome at America's Center when the Rams played there from 1995 to 2015.

Ring of Honor

Pat Tillman's portrait – Faces of the Fallen gallery – Arlington National Cemetery.

The Cardinals' Ring of Honor was started in 2006 to mark the opening of State Farm Stadium. It honors former Cardinal greats from all eras of the franchise's history. Following is a list of inductees and the dates that they were inducted.

Elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame
Arizona Cardinals Ring of Honor
No. Name Position(s) Seasons Inducted
Charles BidwillOwner1933–1947August 12, 2006
Jimmy ConzelmanCoach1940–1942
1946–1948
1John "Paddy" DriscollQB
Coach
1920–1925
1920–1922
99Marshall GoldbergHB1939–1943
1946–1948
81Dick "Night Train" LaneDB1954–1959
33Ollie MatsonHB1952, 1954–1958
4Ernie NeversFB
Coach
1929–1931
1930–1931, 1939
62, 2Charley TrippiHB/QB1947–1955
8Larry WilsonS1960–1972September 10, 2006
72Dan DierdorfT1971–1983October 16, 2006
40Pat TillmanS1998–2001November 12, 2006
22Roger WehrliCB1969–1982October 14, 2007
35Aeneas WilliamsCB1991–2000November 10, 2008
13Kurt WarnerQB2005–2009June 18, 2014
22, 24Adrian WilsonS2001–2012September 27, 2015
25, 81Roy GreenWR1979–1990October 2, 2016
7, 17Jim HartQB1966–1983December 3, 2017
3Carson PalmerQB2013–2017September 29, 2019
Source(s):[23][24]

Staff

Kliff Kingsbury (pictured in 2017), is the current head coach of the Arizona Cardinals

The Cardinals have had 42 head coaches throughout their history. Their first head coach was Paddy Driscoll, who compiled a 17–8–4 record with the team from 1920 to 1922. Jimmy Conzelman, Jim Hanifan and Ken Whisenhunt are tied as the longest-serving head coaches in Cardinals history.[25]

Current staff

Arizona Cardinals staff
Front office
  • Owner – Michael Bidwill
  • Chairman/President – Michael Bidwill
  • General Manager – Steve Keim
  • Director of player personnel – Quentin Harris
  • Assistant Director of Player Personnel – Dru Grigson
  • Vice President of Player Personnel – Terry McDonough
  • Director of College Scouting – Chris Culmer
  • Director of Pro Scouting – Adrian Wilson
  • Director of Football Administration – Matt Harriss
  • Director of Football Operations – Matt Caracciolo
Head Coaches
Offensive Coaches
 
Defensive Coaches
Special teams coaches
  • Assistant Special Teams – Vacant
Strength and Conditioning
  • Strength and Conditioning – Buddy Morris
  • Assistant Strength and Conditioning – Mark Naylor

Coaching staff
Management
More NFL staffs

AFC East
BUF
MIA
NE
NYJ
North
BAL
CIN
CLE
PIT
South
HOU
IND
JAX
TEN
West
DEN
KC
LV
LAC
NFC East
DAL
NYG
PHI
WAS
North
CHI
DET
GB
MIN
South
ATL
CAR
NO
TB
West
ARI
LAR
SF
SEA

Radio and television

The Cardinals' flagship radio station is KMVP-FM; Dave Pasch, Ron Wolfley, and Paul Calvisi handle the radio broadcast. Spanish-language radio broadcasts are heard on the combo of KQMR/KHOV-FM "Latino Mix" under a contract with Univisión, signed in 2015.[26] Prior to 2015, they were heard on KDVA/KVVA-FM "José FM", as well as co-owned KBMB AM 710. The Cardinals were the first NFL team to offer all 20 preseason and regular season games on Spanish-language radio, doing so in 2000. Gabriel Trujillo and Rolando Cantú are the Spanish broadcast team. The Cardinals have the most extensive Mexican affiliate network in the NFL, with contracts with Grupo Larsa (in the state of Sonora) and Grupo Radiorama (outside Sonora) and stations in 20 cities, including Hermosillo, Guadalajara and Mexico City.

As of the 2017 season, NBC affiliate KPNX broadcasts the team's preseason games on television (which, that year, included the Hall of Fame Game broadcast by NBC), called by Pasch and Wolfley, with station anchor Paul Gerke as sideline reporter. The broadcasts are syndicated regionally to KTTU and KMSB-TV in Tucson, and KVVU-TV in Las Vegas.[27][28]

English radio affiliates

City (all in Arizona)Call signFrequency
PhoenixKTAR AM620 AM
KMVP-FM98.7 FM
SaffordKATO AM1230 AM
SedonaKAZM AM780 AM
Lake Havasu CityKNTR AM980 AM
PrescottKQNA AM1130 AM
KDDL FM94.3 FM
FlagstaffKVNA AM600 AM
HolbrookKZUA-FM92.1 FM
YumaKBLU560 AM
PinetopKNKI FM106.7 FM
MiamiKIKO AM1340 AM
TucsonKEVT AM1210 AM
KingmanKGMN-FM100.1 FM

References

  1. "Franchise History" (PDF). 2019 Arizona Cardinals Media Guide. NFL Enterprises, LLC. July 30, 2019. Retrieved May 18, 2020.
  2. "Cardinals' Red & White Practice Set For Saturday". AZCardinals.com. NFL Enterprises, LLC. August 1, 2018. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
  3. "Arizona Cardinals Team Capsule" (PDF). 2019 Official National Football League Record and Fact Book. NFL Enterprises, LLC. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
  4. "Arizona Cardinals Team Facts". ProFootballHOF.com. NFL Enterprises. Retrieved October 2, 2017.
  5. "All-Time Records of Current NFL Franchises" (PDF). Pro Football Hall of Fame. February 10, 2017. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  6. Griffith, R.D. (2012). To the NFL: You Sure Started Somethin': A Historical Guide of All 32 NFL Teams and the Cities They've Played In. Dorrance Publishing. p. 2. ISBN 978-1434916815.
  7. Wyche, Steve (June 29, 2011). "Before coming to desert, Cards were substandard in St. Louis". SuperBowl.com. NFL Enterprises, LLC. Retrieved June 11, 2016. Having grown up in St. Louis, I was always resigned to the fact that the football Cardinals, regardless of where they were located, would never play in a Super Bowl.
  8. Eskenazi, Gerald (March 16, 1988). "N.F.L. Approves Team Shift". The New York Times. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
  9. "Arizona Cardinals Team History". ProFootballHOF.com. NFL Enterprises, LLC. Retrieved May 18, 2020.
  10. Gurnick, Ken (December 28, 1998). "PRO FOOTBALL; Last-Second Field Goal Ends Cardinals' Playoff Drought". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
  11. Wesseling, Chris (January 24, 2016). "Arizona Cardinals' biggest stars fall flat in Carolina". NFL.com. NFL Enterprises, LLC. Retrieved August 21, 2017.
  12. "Cards Brush Up Bird". AZCardinals.com. NFL Enterprises, LLC. January 27, 2005. Archived from the original on November 22, 2005. Retrieved August 26, 2015.
  13. "Cards Unveiled New Uniforms". AZCardinals.com. NFL Enterprises, LLC. April 21, 2005. Archived from the original on April 21, 2005. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
  14. Somers, Kent (October 29, 2009). "Is white out for the Big Red?". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
  15. Urban, Darren (April 22, 2010). "Cards Unveil Third Jerseys". AZCardinals.com. NFL Enterprises, LLC. Retrieved June 30, 2019.
  16. "Chicago/St. Louis/Arizona Cardinals Single-Season Passing Leaders". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Sports-Reference. Retrieved August 7, 2018.
  17. "Chicago/St. Louis/Arizona Cardinals Single-Season Rushing Leaders". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Sports-Reference. Retrieved August 7, 2018.
  18. "Chicago/St. Louis/Arizona Cardinals Single-Season Receiving Leaders". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Sports-Reference. Retrieved August 7, 2018.
  19. "Chicago/St. Louis/Arizona Cardinals Single-Season Kick & Punt Returns Leaders". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Sports-Reference. Retrieved August 7, 2018.
  20. "Chicago/St. Louis/Arizona Cardinals Single-Season Kicking & Punting Leaders". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Sports-Reference. Retrieved August 7, 2018.
  21. "Retired Uniform Numbers in NFL" (PDF). 2019 Official National Football League Record & Fact Book. NFL Enterprises. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  22. "Hall of Famers by Franchise". ProFootballHOF.com. NFL Enterprises. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  23. "Ring of Honor members". AZCardinals.com. NFL Enterprises. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  24. Root, Jess (June 7, 2019). "GALLERY: The 18 members of the Cardinals Ring of Honor". cardswire.usatoday.com. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  25. "Chicago/St. Louis/Arizona Cardinals Coaches". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 6, 2020.
  26. Villafañe, Veronica (August 28, 2015). "Univision Arizona radio signs deal with Arizona Cardinals". MediaMoves.com. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  27. "Cardinals Preseason Games Will Air On NBC". AZCardinals.com. NFL Enterprises, LLC. July 19, 2017. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  28. Cox, Seth (July 19, 2017). "Arizona Cardinals preseason games to be available on NBC locally". Revenge of the Birds. Retrieved August 21, 2017.

Further reading

  • Ziemba, Joe (2010). When Football Was Football: The Chicago Cardinals and the Birth of the NFL. Chicago: Triumph Books ISBN 1-57243-317-5
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