The Phoenix metro region is home to the Arizona Cardinals, a professional American football team. The Cardinals play their home games at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, an area northwest of Phoenix, where they participate in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Cardinals are the only NFL charter member franchise remaining in existence since the league’s formation and the longest continually operating professional football team in the United States.
Brief History of the Franchise:
- Chicago Cardinals (1920–1959): When a neighbourhood group known as the Morgan Athletic Club got together to play on Chicago’s South Side in 1898, that is when the franchise was first established. Chris O’Brien, a painting and construction company owner in Chicago, bought the team and moved it to Normal Field on Racine Avenue. Prior to O’Brien purchasing second-hand uniforms from the University of Chicago in 1901, the squad was known as the Racine Normals. The squad was renamed the Racine Street Cardinals when he called the worn-out maroon uniforms “Cardinal red.” The American Professional Football Association (APFA), which was eventually renamed the National Football League (NFL) two years later, accepted the team as a foundation member in 1920. The team originally joined the league under the name Racine Cardinals, but in 1922 they switched to Chicago Cardinals to avoid being confused with the Horlick-Racine Legion, who had joined the league two years before.
- NFL Champions (1925): The Pottsville Maroons were suspended for playing a game in what was regarded as “another team’s territory” and as a result, the Cardinals won the NFL Championship in 1925. The Pottsville Maroons finished the year with the same record as the Cardinals because of their victory against the Cardinals in their previous season’s head-to-head matchup and their victory over the University of Notre Dame in their additional game. In addition, the Cardinals violated NFL regulations by scheduling two additional games against the Milwaukee Badgers and the Hammond Pros, both of which had already finished their respective season. The Badgers’ use of four high school players to fill out their roster in violation of NFL regulations during the game against them caused a scandal. Throughout the Cardinals’ first 26 seasons in the league, they had some on-field success.
- NFL Champions (1947): The squad faced the Philadelphia Eagles in two consecutive NFL championship games during the years following World War II. In 1947, eight months after Charles Bidwill’s passing, the team prevailed, but the Philadelphia Eagles prevailed the following year. The Cardinals were on the verge of bankruptcy in the late 1950s following a string of unsuccessful campaigns and fan apathy towards their crosstown rivals, the Chicago Bears, and owner Violet Bidwill Wolfner started to consider relocating.
- St. Louis Cardinals (1960–1987): The NFL permitted Bidwill to move the franchise to St. Louis, Missouri, where they became the St. Louis Cardinals as a result of the rival American Football League’s creation (they were locally called the “Big Red”, the “Gridbirds” or the “Football Cardinals” to avoid confusion with the baseball team of the same name). Only three times (1974, 1975, and 1982) during their 28-year stint in St. Louis did the Cardinals reach the postseason; they never hosted or prevailed in any outing. Game attendance for the Cardinals began to decline due to their general mediocrity and their then-21-year-old stadium, so owner Bill Bidwill decided to relocate the team to Arizona.
- Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals (1988–present): In a handshake agreement with state and local officials shortly after the 1987 NFL season, Bidwill agreed to relocate, and the team became the Phoenix Cardinals (the franchise has never played in the actual city of Phoenix; several NFL teams do not play in their market’s central cities, though). On March 17, 1994, the group adopted the moniker Arizona Cardinals for their home state. The Cardinals ended two lengthy dry spells during the 1998 NFL season, making the playoffs for the first time in 16 years. The squad defeated the Dallas Cowboys 20-7 in the playoff wild-card round to earn its first postseason victory since 1947. The club finally made improvements, going from various winning and losing streaks to 5-10-1 in 2019 and 8-8 in 2020. The Cardinals finished 2021 with an 11-6 record, a winning record, and a postseason appearance for the first time since 2015.
Overall, the Arizona Cardinals, a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metro region, have made strides since its founding and have had tremendous success over the years.
Also Read: NFC Team: Arizona Cardinals Team Rivalries of the Club with Other Teams (sportsdigest.in)
“Get more sports news, cricket news, and football updates, log on to sportsdigest.in. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter and Subscribe to our YouTube Channel.”
