The Different Phases Of The Cardinals

After a year, O’Brien moved the team to Normal Park in Chicago and named them the Racine Normals. In 1901, he bought some used and faded uniforms from the University of Chicago which were supposed to be maroon. When he saw them, he thought they looked “cardinal red”. Therefore, he renamed them yet again, the Racine Cardinals.

In 1920, the team became a member of the American Professional Football Association later to be known as the National Football League in 1922. The same year the team was renamed once again as the Chicago Cardinals. In 1925, the Chicago Cardinals won their first NFL championship.

In 1932, the team was bought by Charles Bidwill whose brother William is their owner at present. The Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers had to merge during World War II and were known as the Card-Pitt. They did not win any game in that season.

Bidwill moved the Cardinals to St Louis in 1960. There were two Cardinal teams in the city then, a football team and a baseball team. They were therefore distinguished as the St Louis Football Cardinals. The team left the city after 28 years, when Bidwill was unable to get a new stadium built there.

They shifted next to Arizona where they were known as the Phoenix Cardinals for a while and played at the Sun Devil Stadium. William Bidwill decided to change the name of the team for the final time to the Arizona Cardinals to get a fan following which would be statewide. The team currently plays their home games in the University of Phoenix Stadium which was built in 2006. This stadium has a retractable roof and a grass surface which slides out. It also has state of the art air conditioning.

Retired Numbers Of The Cardinals

The Cardinals have retired five jersey numbers. Two were from the Chicago Cardinals, Stan Mauldin #77 and Marshall Goldberg #99. There were two from the St Louis Cardinals too, Larry Wilson #8 and J.V.Cain #88. One was from the Cardinals, Pat Tillman #40.

William Bidwill is the current owner of the Cardinals. Since 1932, the ownership of the Cardinals has been in the hands of the same family. The current head coach is Ken Whisenhunt who joined in 2007. The Cardinals being the oldest team in the NFL has not yet been able to reach the Super Bowl.