Which Year Did the NFL’s Cardinals Move to Arizona?

arizona cardinals, arizona cardinals super bowl

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The NFL’s Cardinals franchise may not have a Super Bowl title to its name, but it is nonetheless one of the most tradition-rich franchises the league has. The Cardinals are the oldest team, in terms of continuous operation, in professional football history. The franchise traces its history all the way back to 1898, when Chris O’Brien formed the Morgan Athletic Club. A few years later, he bought used jerseys from the University of Chicago. He described the faded maroon clothing as “Cardinal red” and the team became the Racine Street Cardinals.

The Cardinals were a charter member of the NFL upon its inaugural season in 1920, and won two NFL Championships in 1925 and 1947 in Chicago. The team stayed in the Windy City all the way until 1960, when it moved to St. Louis. The franchise finally moved to Phoenix, Arizona for the 1988 season, and changed its name to the Arizona Cardinals in 1994.

A fan-run Twitter account pays tribute and remembers the franchise’s original days in The Second City:

The Cardinals franchise’s all-time regular season record sits at 535-724-39 over the course of its illustrious history.