Facts and information about the Arizona Cardinals

• The oldest continuous professional football team in America, the Cardinals have gone through many locations and names; Morgan Athletic Club, Racine Normals, Racine Cardinals, Chicago Cardinals, St. Louis Cardinals, Phoenix Cardinals, and finally the Arizona Cardinals.

• The name of the Cardinals mascot is “Big Red”

• The team got its nickname Cardinals from the color of its uniforms, the uniforms in question were hand-me-down uniforms from the collegiate team the University of Chicago Maroons.

• Due to the ramifications of World War II, during the 1944 season the Cardinals and the Steelers merged, the combined team won no games that year.

• During their time in St. Louis, the Cardinals were one of the few professional sports franchises to have the identical sports mascot of another professional sports team in their city.

• In 1920, the Cardinals paid a franchise fee of $100 to join the league that would become the NFL.

• The Cardinals finished second to the Pottsville Maroons in the 1925 NFL season, Pottsville later had their franchise revoked for territorial violations thus giving the championship that year to the Cardinals.

• The Cardinal franchise has been in the Bidwell family since 1932

• One of the motives in the relocation of the Cardinals to St. Louis before the start of the 1960 season was as a way of blocking the AFL from putting a team in the city of St. Louis.

• In a 1967 game, Cardinals Kicker Jim Bakken set the NFL record by making 7 Field Goals in one game.

• In 1975 the Cardinals offensive line, consisting of Dan Dierdorf, Tom Banks, Conrad Dobler, Bob Young, and Roger Finnie, allowed just eight Quarterback sacks - setting the record for fewest sacks given up in a season up to that point.

• In 1976, the Cardinals became the first team to reach double digit victories, with ten wins, and not make the playoffs.

• The Cardinals were in St. Louis for 28 years and did not host one postseason game; they made the playoffs three times, each time as a road team.

• Before the team played in St. Louis, it didn’t have any logo on its helmets.

• Due to the Arizona heat, the team used to wear their white jerseys and pants at home, forcing the opponent to wear their dark jerseys. This practice was discontinued since play began in their new air conditioned stadium.

• The Cardinals have retired the jersey numbers of two players each from their days in St. Louis (Larry Wilson and J.V. Cain) and their days in Chicago (Stan Mauldin and Marshall Goldberg).

• Former Cardinals Running Back Terry Metcalf’s son Eric also played Running Back in the NFL.

• Dallas Cowboy great Emmitt Smith finished his career as Running Back for the Cardinals.

• Former Kicker Jim Bakken kicked for the Cardinals for 16 years and is in the University of Wisconsin sports Hall-of-Fame.

• Ernie Nevers had two different stints as Head Coach of the Cardinals; from 1929-1930 and the 1939 season.

• The Cardinals have retired the jersey number (40) of former player Pat Tillman who turned his back on his NFL career to enlist in the armed forces following the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center.

• After playing 18 seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, Quarterback Jim Hart played his final NFL season with the Washington Redskins in 1984.

• Hall-of-Fame Offensive Lineman and former Cardinal Dan Dierdorf was the second player ever to be elected to the Pro Football Hall-of-Fame and have been raised in Canton, Ohio where the Hall-of-Fame is located. The first was Minnesota Vikings great Alan Page.

• Former Quarterback Jim Hart is a member of the Missouri Sports Hall-of-Fame and also served as Athletic Director for Southern Illinois University in the 1990’s.

• Former Head Coach Don Coryell, known for his wide-open aerial attack, played Defensive Back for the University of Washington Husky football team.

• Former Head Coach Dony Coryell was the first coach to win more than 100 games at both the collegiate and professional levels.

• For three consecutive years (1976, 1977, 1978) Cardinal Offensive Lineman Dan Dierdorf was named Offensive Lineman of the Year by the NFL Players Association.

• Former Cardinal Offensive Lineman Dan Dierdorf is credited with not giving up even one sack during the 1976 and 1977 seasons.

• Dierdorf And Hart’s, a St. Louis steakhouse, is owned by former Cardinals players Dan Dierdorf and Jim Hart.

• J.V. Cain played Tight End for the Cardinals from 1974-1979, he died of congenital heart failure during the 1979 training camp. His jersey number 88 is retired.

• Head Coach Ken Whisenhunt had a 9 year NFL career with the Falcons, Redskins, and Jets. He was listed as a Tight End but also performed the functions of a blocking back.

• Hall-of-Fame, and Cardinals Fullback, Ernie Nevers also pitched shortly for the St. Louis Browns, giving up two home runs to Babe Ruth during the year he hit 60 home runs.

• In one game in 1929, Cardinals Fullback Ernie Nevers scored six touchdowns and kicked four extra points, accounting for every point his team scored in a victory over the Chicago Bears.

• Hall-of-Fame Dallas Cowboys Quarterback Roger Staubach described Cardinals Cornerback Roger Wehrli as the best Cornerback he’d ever played against.

• Defensive Back, and Hall-of-Famer, Roger Wehrli also was the holder for Field Goals and Extra Points. In the 1982 season he was able to score a Touchdown on a fake Field Goal.

• Hall-of-Fame Cardinals player Charley Trippi played Halfback, Quarterback, Defensive Back, Punter, and also returned punts and kickoffs.

• During the 1966 NFL season, Cardinals Cornerback Larry Wilson had an amazing streak of 7 consecutive games with an Interception.

• In 1987, the Cardinals used their first round pick on Colorado State Quarterback Kelly Stouffer. Stouffer could not come to terms with the Cardinals and sat out the entire year only to be traded to the Seattle Seahawks for the next season.

• In 1965, the St. Louis Cardinals used their first round draft pick on a Quarterback from the University of Alabama who ended up deciding to sign a contract with a rival league. That Quarterback was Joe Namath.

• Before the Cardinals’ Pat Tillman, the last professional football player to be killed in combat was the Buffalo Bills Bob Kalsu who died in 1970 during the Vietnam War.

• While playing at Arizona State during his senior year, future Cardinals player Pat Tillman was voted PAC-10 Player of the Year.

• Former Cardinals Halfback and Hall-of-Famer Ollie Matson also holds a bronze medal from the 400 meter race and a silver medal from the 4×400 meter relay race from the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, Finland.

• In one college game for Portland State University, former Cardinals great Quarterback Neil Lomax threw for seven touchdowns in one quarter.

• Cardinals Running Back Stump Mitchell’s real first name is Lyvonia.

• The Cardinals former Offensive Lineman Luis Sharpe was born in Havana, Cuba.

• Former Running Back and Kick Returner Vai Sikahema’s cousin Reno Mahe also played in the NFL.

• Former Running Back and Kick Returner Vai Sikahema’s nephew is Jon Heder, the star of Napoleon Dynamite and Blades of Glory.