Did you know that the Arizona Cardinals are actually the oldest franchise in the NFL? They were first established 123 years ago, back in 1898, and were one of the league’s charter teams. Today, the franchise plays at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. Here are five fun facts about the Arizona Cardinals, the 3-time NFC West Champions.
5 Facts About the Arizona Cardinals
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- The Cardinals have changed home cities twice. (source) It was in 1920 that the then-Chicago Cardinals became one of the charter members of the National Football League. The franchise played in Chicago for 40 seasons before making the move to St. Louis in 1960. Nearly thirty years after that, the St. Louis Cardinals moved to Phoenix. The club was called the Phoenix Cardinals from 1988 through 1993, before renaming the franchise as the Arizona Cardinals in 1994.
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- The Cardinals are one of 12 NFL teams who haven’t won a Super Bowl. (source) The Arizona Cardinals have only appeared in the Super Bowl once, which was a 27-23 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII. The Cardinals are one of 12 teams who are yet to win a Super Bowl, a group of franchises that also consists of the Atlanta Falcons, Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars, Los Angeles Chargers, Minnesota Vikings and Tennessee Titans.
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- The first Cardinals player to ever be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame was Ernie Nevers in 1963. (source) Ernie Nevers was a Fullback who played for both the Duluth Eskimos and the Chicago Cardinals in the NFL. As a 5-time All-Pro (1926, 1927, 1929-1931), Nevers made the NFL 1920s All-Decade Team, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963, and is also part of the Arizona Cardinals Ring of Honor.
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- During the franchise’s 28-year stay in St. Louis, the Cardinals never won a playoff game. (source) There wasn’t much success for the Cardinals in St. Louis. During their time in St. Louis, the franchise advanced to the playoffs only three times (1974, 1975 and 1982), but lost in all three playoff games. The losses in these playoff games were to the Minnesota Vikings in 1974, the Los Angeles Rams in 1975 and the Green Bay Packers in 1982.
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- The Cardinals played in the highest attended regular season game ever contested outside of the United States. (source) An NFL-record 103,467 fans saw the Arizona Cardinals go up against the San Francisco 49ers at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City. The game, which was played on October 2nd, 2005, saw the Cardinals get the win 31-14.
If you have any other Arizona Cardinals facts to share (the oldest franchise in the National Football League), share them with us in the comments below.
Featured image photo credit: Jeffrey Beall, 2013. Originally found on Wikimedia. Image was resized and cropped. Creative Commons 2.0.
