Arizona Cardinals
| Arizona Cardinals | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Current season | |||
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Established 1898 Play in University of Phoenix Stadium Glendale, Arizona Headquartered in Tempe, Arizona | |||
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| League/conference affiliations | |||
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Current uniform | |||
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| Team colors |
Cardinal Red, White, Black, | ||
| Mascot | Big Red | ||
| Personnel | |||
| Owner(s) | Bill Bidwill | ||
| Chairman | Bill Bidwill | ||
| President | Michael Bidwill | ||
| General manager | Steve Keim | ||
| Head coach | Bruce Arians | ||
| Team history | |||
| Team nicknames | |||
| The Cards, Bird Gang, Big Red | |||
| Championships | |||
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League championships (2)
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Conference championships (1)
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Division championships (6) | |||
| Playoff appearances (9) | |||
| NFL: 1947, 1948, 1974, 1975, 1982, 1998, 2008, 2009, 2014 | |||
| Home fields | |||
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The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. They are currently members of the West division of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The Cardinals were founded in 1898, and are the oldest continuously run professional football team in the United States.[1]
The team was established in Chicago in 1898 and was a charter member of the NFL in 1920. 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 in 1921). The club then moved to St. Louis, Missouri in 1960 and played in that city through 1987 (sometimes referred to as the "Football Cardinals" or the "Big Red" to avoid confusion with the Major League Baseball St. Louis Cardinals). Other less commonly used nicknames were the "Gridbirds" (used only by a local newspaper columnist) or "Cardiac Cards" (used only to refer to the 1975 team). Before the 1988 NFL season, the team moved to Tempe, Arizona, a college suburb east of Phoenix, and played their home games for the next 18 years at Arizona State University's Sun Devil Stadium. In 2006, the club began playing all home games at the newly constructed University of Phoenix Stadium in the northwestern suburb of Glendale, although the team's training facility is in Tempe.
The franchise has 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 gotten the title. Their second title, and the first to be received through a championship game, came in 1947, two decades before the first Super Bowl game was played.
In the six-plus decades since winning the championship in 1947, the team suffered many losing seasons, and currently hold the league's longest active championship drought. They have been to the playoffs nine times and have won six 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. The team has also won four division titles (1974, 1975, 2008, and 2009) since their 1947–1948 NFL championship game appearances.
In 2012 the Cardinals became the first NFL franchise to lose 700 games since its inception. The franchise's all-time mark at the conclusion of the 2014 season is 522–721–39.
From 1988 through 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 University of Phoenix Stadium in 2013.
Franchise history
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 in Racine Avenue. The team was known as 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). By then the franchise was already known as Chicago Cardinals. Except for 1925, when they edged out the Pottsville Maroons for their first NFL championship, 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 - shortly after the death of owner Charles Bidwill - 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. 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 (nicknamed "Football Cardinals" due to sharing a name with the city's baseball team). 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 an old stadium, caused game attendance to dwindle, and owner Bill Bidwill decided to move the team. Not long after the 1987 NFL season, Bidwill agreed to move to the Phoenix metropolitan area on a handshake deal with state and local officials, and the team became the Phoenix Cardinals. On 1994, the franchise changed to its current name of Arizona Cardinals due to fan preference. The 1998 NFL season made the Cardinals break two long droughts, qualifying for the playoffs for the first time in 16 years, and by winning the Wild Card Playoffs, getting their first postseason win since the 1947 NFL Championship Game. Ten years later, the Cardinals would win the NFC Championship Game 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.[2][3]
The team has worn cardinal red jerseys since Chris O'Brien bought them for the club in 1898. For most of their history, the Cardinals have used the same basic uniform design of white helmets, white pants with red stripes on the sides, and either red or white jerseys.
Starting in 1947, the team had a logo of a cardinal bird perched on the stitches of a football. However, the club did not attach a logo to their helmets until they debuted a cardinal-head logo in 1960, the year the franchise moved from Chicago to St. Louis.
During their 28 years in St. Louis, the Cardinals frequently wore white at home, especially for games vs. the Dallas Cowboys, hoping to bring out the "blue jersey jinx" which supposedly follows the Cowboys. The Cardinals wore white at home at least twice in every season since 1964 and for every home game in 1964, 1965 and 1978. They wore white for their 1982 and 1983 home games vs. Dallas, but not at all from 1984 through 1987.
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 team has since changed to wearing 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 the two games, at Cleveland (Sept. 18) and home vs. Pittsburgh (Oct. 30).
The Cardinal head on the helmet was repeated on the white jersey from 1988 to 1995. In 1996, the state flag of Arizona was moved higher on the sleeve after the Cardinal head was eliminated, 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 called the previous version a "parakeet".[4] 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.
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 was not used in 2011.
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 University of Phoenix 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 in University of Phoenix 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 University of Phoenix 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.[5]
On many occasions, when hosting the Dallas Cowboys, the Cardinals would wear white in order to force the Cowboys to don their "jinxed" blue jerseys. They have not done this since moving into University of Phoenix Stadium, however.
The 2010 season saw the Cardinals debut a new, alternate black jersey. Prior to its introduction, the Cardinals were the only NFL team without an alternate jersey or throwback kit, save for the NFL's 75th anniversary program in 1994.[6]
Season-by-season records
Single-season records
Points Scored: 427 (2008)
Passing
- Passing Yards: 4,614 Neil Lomax (1984)
- Passing Touchdowns: 30 Kurt Warner (2008)
- Passes Completed: 401 Kurt Warner (2008)
- Passes Attempted: 598 Kurt Warner (2008)
- Longest Completed Pass Thrown: 98 Yards Doug Russell (1932) / Ogden Compton (1957) / Jim Hart (1972)
- Consecutive Games With a Touchdown Pass: 22 Kurt Warner (2007–2008)
Rushing
- Rushing Yards: 1,605 Ottis Anderson (1979)
- Rushing Attempts: 337 Edgerrin James (2006)
- Rushing Touchdowns: 14 John David Crow (1962)
- Rushing Touchdowns (Rookie): 10 Tim Hightower (2008)
- Longest Rushing Attempt: 83 yards John David Crow (1958)
- Rushing Yards Per Game: 100.3 yards Ottis Anderson (1979)
Receiving
- Receptions: 103 Larry Fitzgerald (2005)
- Receiving Yards: 1,598 David Boston (2001)
- Receiving Touchdowns: 15 Sonny Randle (1960)
Returns
- Punt Returns in a Season: 44 Vai Sikahema (1987)
- Longest Punt Return: 99 yards Patrick Peterson (2011)
- Longest Kickoff Return: 106 yards Roy Green (1979)
Kicking
- Field Goals: 40 Neil Rackers (2005)
- Extra Points Made: 53 Pat Harder (1948)
Cardinals career records
- Passing Yards: 34,639, Jim Hart (1966–1983)
- Passing Touchdowns: 209, Jim Hart (1966–1983)
- Rushing Yards: 7,999, Ottis Anderson (1979–1986)
- Receptions: 881, Larry Fitzgerald (2004–current)
- Receiving Yards: 11,880, Larry Fitzgerald (2004–current)
- Pass Interceptions: 52, Larry Wilson (1960–1972)
- Field Goals Made: 282, Jim Bakken (1962–1978)
- Points: 1,380, Jim Bakken (1962–1978)
- Total Touchdowns: 89, Larry Fitzgerald (2004–current)
- Punt Return Average: 13.7, Adrian Trippi (1947–1955)
- Kickoff Return Average: 28.5, Ollie Matson (1952, 1954–1958)
- Punting Average: 44.9, Jerry Norton (1959–1961)
- Sacks: 66.5, Freddie Joe Nunn (1985–1993)
BirdGang
Current roster
| colspan="10" style="background-color: #7D0008; color: white; border:2px solid black;" text-align: center;" | Arizona Cardinals roster | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quarterbacks
Running backs
Wide receivers
Tight ends
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Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen
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Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams
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Reserve lists
Unrestricted FAs
Restricted FAs
Rookies in italics | ||||||
Retired numbers
| Arizona Cardinals retired numbers | ||||
| N° | Player | Position | Tenure | Team based in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | Larry Wilson | S | 1960–1972 | St. Louis |
| 40 | Pat Tillman 1 | S | 1998–2001 | Arizona |
| 77 | Stan Mauldin 1 | OT | 1946–1948 | Chicago |
| 88 | J. V. Cain 1 | TE | 1974–1978 | St. Louis |
| 99 | Marshall Goldberg | HB | 1939–1943, 1946–1948 | Chicago |
Notes:
- 1 Posthumously retired.
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Pro Football Hall of Famers
| Chicago Cardinals | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Player | Position(s) | Seasons as a Cardinal | Year Inducted |
| 1 | John "Paddy" Driscoll | Quarterback Coach | 1920–1925 1920–1922 | 1965 |
| 2 | Walt Kiesling | Guard / DT Coach | 1929–1933 1944 | 1966 |
| 4 | Ernie Nevers | Fullback Coach | 1929–1931 1930–1931, 1939 | 1963 |
| 13 | Guy Chamberlin | End & Coach | 1927–1928 | 1965 |
| 33 | Ollie Matson | Running back | 1952, 1954–1958 | 1972 |
| 62, 2 | Charley Trippi | Running back | 1947–1955 | 1968 |
| 81 | Dick "Night Train" Lane | Cornerback | 1954–1959 | 1974 |
| Jim Thorpe | Running back | 1928 | 1963 | |
| – | Charles Bidwill | Team Owner | 1933–1947 | 1967 |
| – | Jimmy Conzelman | Coach | 1940–1942 1946–1948 | 1964 |
| – | Earl "Curly" Lambeau | Coach | 1950–1951 | 1963 |
| – | Stydahar, JoeJoe Stydahar | Coach | 1953–1954 | 1967 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | ||||
| 8 | Larry Wilson | Safety | 1960–1972 | 1978 |
| 13 | Don Maynard | WR | 1973 | 1987 |
| 22 | Roger Wehrli | Cornerback | 1969–1982 | 2007 |
| 72 | Dan Dierdorf | Offensive tackle | 1971–1983 | 1996 |
| 81 | Jackie Smith | Tight end | 1963–1977 | 1994 |
| Arizona Cardinals | ||||
| 22 | Emmitt Smith | Running back | 2003–2004 | 2010 |
| 35 | Aeneas Williams | Cornerback | 1991–2000 | 2014 |
italics = played a portion of career with the Cardinals and enshrined representing another team
Dierdorf, Smith, Wehrli and Wilson are members of the St. Louis Football Ring of Fame in the Edward Jones Dome, home of the St. Louis Rams.
Ring of Honor
The Cardinals' Ring of Honor was started in 2006 to mark the opening of University of Phoenix 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.
- Charles Bidwill, Owner (August 12, 2006)
- Jimmy Conzelman, Coach (August 12, 2006)
- Dan Dierdorf, T (October 16, 2006)
- John "Paddy" Driscoll, QB (August 12, 2006)
- Marshall Goldberg, HB (August 12, 2006)
- Dick "Night Train" Lane, DB (August 12, 2006)
- Ollie Matson, HB (August 12, 2006)
- Ernie Nevers, FB (August 12, 2006)
- Charley Trippi, HB/QB (August 12, 2006)
- Roger Wehrli, CB (October 14, 2007)
- Larry Wilson, S (September 10, 2006)
- Pat Tillman, S (November 12, 2006)
- Aeneas Williams, CB (November 10, 2008)
- Kurt Warner, QB (June 18, 2014)
First-round draft picks
Current staff
| Arizona Cardinals staff | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Radio and television
The Cardinals' flagship radio station was KMVP, "ESPN Radio 860." KMVP assumed the broadcast rights in 2006 after many years on KSLX-FM and KDUS. Dave Pasch, Ron Wolfley, and Paul Calvisi handle the radio broadcast. Most preseason games are televised on KNXV, channel 15, the local ABC affiliate. Pasch and Wolfley are also the TV announcers.
On New Year's Day 2007, KMVP began a simulcast of KTAR, which switched to an all-sports format (the news/talk station became 92.3, KTAR-FM). For the 2007 season, KTAR was the official flagship station; however, some broadcasts were also heard on 92.3 FM because of conflicts with Arizona Diamondbacks baseball games on 620 AM.
Radio affiliates
| City | Call Sign | Frequency |
|---|---|---|
| Phoenix, Arizona | KTAR-AM | 620 AM |
| Phoenix, Arizona | KTAR-FM | 92.3 FM |
| Safford, Arizona | KATO-AM | 1230 AM |
| Sedona, Arizona | KAZM-AM | 780 AM |
| Lake Havasu City, Arizona | KNTR-AM | 980 AM |
| Prescott, Arizona | KQNA-AM | 1130 AM |
| Prescott, Arizona | KDDL-FM | 94.3 FM |
| Flagstaff, Arizona | KVNA-AM | 600 AM |
| Holbrook, Arizona | KZUA-FM | 92.1 FM |
| Yuma, Arizona | KBLU | 560 AM |
| Springerville, Arizona | KRVZ-AM | 1400 AM |
| Miami, Arizona | KIKO-AM | 1340 AM |
| Tucson, Arizona | KCUB-AM | 1290 AM |
| Kingman, Arizona | KGMN-FM | 100.1 FM |
Miscellaneous
Due to Phoenix's high temperature and strong sunshine in early September, eight of the team's first 13 home openers in Arizona were held, at earliest, in week three. In 1990 and 1991, the Cardinals opened with three consecutive road games before finally coming home in week four. For the same reason, the team's home opener was a nationally-televised night game (two Monday Night Football games and 12 Sunday Night Football games) from 1988 to 2001. The team hosted ten straight home openers as Sunday Night Football games from 1989 to 1998.
Patrick Daniel "Pat" Tillman (November 6, 1976 – April 22, 2004) was an American football player who left his professional career while with the Arizona Cardinals and enlisted in the United States Army in June 2002 in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. His service in Iraq and Afghanistan, and subsequent death, were the subject of much media attention.
References
- ↑ "Franchise History". Arizona Cardinals. March 17, 2015. Retrieved March 17, 2015.
- ↑ azcardinals.com - Team History
- ↑ Team: Arizona Cardinals
- ↑ "Arizona brushes up logo of outdated bird", MSNBC.com January 29, 2005
- ↑ "blogs – Kent Somers – Is white out for the Big Red?". Azcentral.com. October 29, 2009. Retrieved September 3, 2012.
- ↑ "There’s No Service Like Wire Service, Vol. 6". Archived from the original on February 12, 2010. Retrieved February 22, 2010.
- ↑ "Hall of Famers by Franchise". Profootballhof.com. Retrieved December 24, 2011.
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
External links
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