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The Cardinals are the oldest existing football
club in the United States, beginning as an amateur athletic
club team in Chicago. They began to field a pro team even
before the founding of the NFL. Located on Racine Avenue in
Chicago, they were known for a while as the "Racine Cardinals".
They were often confused with Racine, Wisconsin, by fans in
other cities. As the "Chicago Racine Cardinals"
and then as the "Chicago Cardinals", they entered
the NFL and fought with the crosstown rival Chicago Bears
for years before moving to St. Louis.
In
1944, owing to player shortages caused by World War II, the
Cardinals and Pittsburgh Steelers merged for one year and
were known as the "Car-Pitts", or "Carpets".
The
Cardinals won their only NFL championship game in 1947 with
their "dream backfield" which included quarterback
Paul Christman and halfback Charlie Trippi.
Between
1960 and 1987, St. Louis was home to the Cardinals, a period
when two big-league teams of that name existed in the city.
Sports fans and local news coverage got into the habit of
calling them "the football Cardinals" or "the
baseball Cardinals" to distinguish the two. They left
St. Louis when owner Bill Bidwill was unable to convince the
city to build a new stadium.
The
team has started construction on a new stadium in the Phoenix
suburb of Glendale. This stadium, which will feature a retractable
roof and a slide-out grass surface, is scheduled to open for
the 2006 season.
Founded:
1898
Formerly known as: Chicago Cardinals, 1920-1959;
St. Louis Cardinals, 1960-1987; Phoenix Cardinals, 1988-1993.
Home stadium: Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, Arizona
Uniform colors: Cardinal red and White
Helmet design: white helmet, the silhouette
of a cardinal's head
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Arizona
Cardinals
