The Cardinals had a history as an amateur club with their origins in the latter part of the 19th century. They played as the Morgan Athletic Club for 22 years from 1898 to 1920.
In 1920, the team was one of the founder members of the NFL alongside the Green Bay Packers and the Bears, who were based in Decatur at the time.
The Cardinals spent 40 seasons in Chicago but played the 1944 NFL season under a different name, the Card-Pitt. The move was due to numerous football players drafted into active service. As a result, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Chicago Cardinals merged for a single season.
However, their abysmal performance led to them being labeled as "Car-Pitts" as they didn't win a single game and disbanded after the war ended in 1945.
Like the Bears, the Cardinals also switched their base of operations. The team moved to Missouri. From 1963, they had a state rival in the form of the Kansas City Chiefs.
In 1988, the franchise moved west to the state of Phoenix. Despite their move, they remained in the NFC's East Division until the 2002 NFL expansion. At this time, the league assigned them to the NFC West where they played alongside the San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks, and Los Angeles Rams.
The Arizona Cardinals finished the 2019 NFL season 2nd in the NFC West. As a result, their post-season drought has entered a 6th season, which the franchise will hope to end quickly. They finished the season at 8th in the overall NFC standings.
The Cardinal's 2020 campaign rounded out with an 8-8 record and the franchise placed 3rd in the NFC West. The Phoenix-based entity did not qualify; however, they managed to improve on their 5-10-1 record from the previous season.
The Cardinals are a family-owned team with ownership passing down the Bidwill family. The Bidwill's first involvement in the team came in 1933 when Bidwell purchased the team in Chicago.
Later, his son, Bill Bidwill, took control of the team for nearly 4 decades before passing on the baton of President and owner to his son Michael in 2007. This came after Bill oversaw the Cardinals' move from the Sun Devil Stadium to the University of Phoenix Stadium.
The Arizona Cardinals have tasted success with their NFL Championship wins in the pre-Super-Bowl era as the Chicago Cardinals. The franchise endured a 61-season drought before achieving success in the form of a maiden conference championship.
They clinched the NFC title in 2008 and earned a trip to the Super Bowl XLIII game to face the Pittsburgh Steelers. Besides these, the Cardinals have claimed 7 divisional titles and have made it to the Playoffs 10 times.
The franchise is starved of success on an individual level and is one of seven NFL sides to have not produced a single regular-season MVP winner.
The Cardinals' original logo featured the letter 'C' encircled by a larger C in all deep red. Later, when they merged with the Pittsburgh Steelers for a single season, the logo read out "Card-Pitt". For the next dozen seasons, the Cardinal was given a brown color, and it stood on the seam of a football.
In 1960, when the team departed Chicago, they created a crest featuring a beefed-up Cardinal sprinting towards the end zone with a football in hand.
The Cardinal football player became more prominent in the 1962 season as it sprinted through a loop.
In 1970, the Cardinals introduced a version of the logo that fans still see on the jersey today. It featured a Cardinal staring to the right.
The franchise retained the design but changed the brightened red face and yellow beak. 6 NFL seasons later, the team oversaw another minor change. As the team changed their name from Phoenix Cardinals to Arizona Cardinals, their colors red and yellow in their logo became a tad darker.
The franchise continued with this logo for eleven seasons before shaking things up ahead of the 2005 NFL season. Their new logo saw the Cardinal get a fierce glare.
Its beak appeared much more prominent than earlier. Furthermore, they changed the outline to give the impression of the staring downwards as though surveying the scene. What's more, the black line near the front of the Cardinal's face is sharper, thus adding to the mean look.
The Cardinals have partnered up with Gila River Hotels & Casinos in a 15-year deal. The partnership includes Cardinals-themed contests, custom Cardinals-designed hotel rooms, and other promotions throughout the NFL season. This move comes in after a longstanding ban against casino advertising in 2018.
Dignity Health clinched the naming rights for the Arizona Cardinals Training Center. The naming rights were handed over to the practice facility and main office in a 10-year agreement that changed the name from Cards’ Tempe house. Moreover, the franchise has been working at the Tempe facility since 1989 and recently underwent $15 million worth of various upgrades.
Quarterbacks | #16 Jarrett Guarantano #12 Colt McCoy #19 Trace McSorley #1 Kyler Murray |
Running Backs | #26 Eno Benjamin #6 James Conner #30 Keaontay Ingram #29 Jonathan Ward #24 Darrel Williams |
Wide Receivers | #82 Andre Baccellia #38 Victor Bolden #2 Marquise Brown #83 Greg Dortch #18 A.J. Green #10 DeAndre Hopkins #17 Andy Isabella #31 Jontre Kirklin #4 Rondale Moore #32 JaVonta Payton #13 Antoine Wesley |
Tight Ends | #89 Stephen Anderson #86 Zach Ertz #85 Trey McBride #49 Chris Pierce Jr. #80 Bernhard Seikovits #87 Maxx Williams |
Offensive Linemen | #68 Kelvin Beachum #73 Rashaad Coward #72 Cody Ford #64 Sean Harlow #78 Marquis Hayes #76 Will Hernandez #61 Rodney Hudson #74 D.J. Humphries #63 Danny Isidora #79 Josh Jones #65 Greg Long #60 Koda Martin #66 Joshua Miles #71 Justin Murray #67 Justin Pugh #54 Lecitus Smith |
Defensive Linemen | #94 Zach Allen #91 Michael Dogbe #93 Jonathan Ledbetter #99 J.J. Watt #95 Leki Fotu #75 Manny Jones #90 Rashard Lawrence #70 Christian Ringo #92 Antwaun Woods |
Linebackers | #25 Zaven Collins #56 Ben Niemann #9 Isaiah Simmons #47 Ezekiel Turner #51 Tanner Vallejo #57 Nick Vigil #59 Joe Walker #50 Chandler Wooten #52 Victor Dimukeje #45 Dennis Gardeck #44 Markus Golden #42 Devon Kennard #43 Jesse Luketa #41 Myjai Sanders #97 Cameron Thomas |
Defensive Backs | #33 Antonio Hamilton #36 Josh Jackson #35 Christian Matthew #7 Byron Murphy Jr. #39 Jace Whittaker #20 Marco Wilson #3 Budda Baker #48 Tae Daley #22 Deionte Thompson #34 Jalen Thompson #28 Charles Washington #38 James Wiggins |
Special Team | #5 Matt Prater #46 Aaron Brewer #14 Andy Lee |
Cardinals Charities support programs to enhance opportunities for children, women, and minorities in the state of Arizona. Since its inception, Cardinals Charities has distributed more than $9.1 million to hundreds of worthy charitable organizations on behalf of the Arizona Cardinals and the NFL. The grants are awarded on an annual basis in response to applications from various qualified non-profit organizations.
Additionally, the Cardinals made a $1 million funding donation to the AZ Coronavirus relief fund, which is meant to give financial support to multiple organizations trying to deal with the impact of COVID-19. Moreover, the Cardinals license plate system comes in to bring a portion of the cost that will benefit Cardinals charities.
Founded | 1988 |
Owner | Michael Bidwill |
CEO | Michael Bidwill |
Head Coach | Kliff Kingsbury |
General Manager | Steve Keim |
Stadium | State Farm Stadium |
Location | Glendale, Arizona, west of Phoenix |
Sponsors | Gila River Hotels & Casinos, Dignity Health, Mountainside Fitness, Cox Communications, |
Championships | League championships (2) NFL Championships (pre-1970 AFL-NFL merger) (2) 1925, 1947 Conference championships (1) NFC: 2008 Division championships (7) NFL Western: 1947, 1948 NFC East: 1974, 1975 NFC West: 2008, 2009, 2015 |
Official Website | Arizona Cardinals- www.azcardinals.com |