NFL franchise story

Arizona Cardinals

The league's oldest continuously operating franchise has crossed Chicago, St. Louis and Arizona, pairing rare championship peaks with generations of singular stars.

Every era · The defining players · Five essential games

The franchise timeline

Every era of the Arizona Cardinals.

Move through the franchise chronologically. The jerseys identify each chapter’s central cast, and every card opens the complete story of that era.

Historical reference: Arizona Cardinals official NFL team page ↗

The beginning

Franchise era

1920—1946

Paddy Driscoll

Ernie Nevers

Charley Trippi

One of pro football's original clubs

The Chicago foundation

The Cardinals helped form the league in Chicago and survived its unstable first decades while building an identity around versatile backs and hard-nosed defense.

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Chapter 01

1920—1946

Franchise era

1947—1959

Charley Trippi

Pat Harder

Ollie Matson

The 1947 title becomes Chicago's final peak

Champions, then a long goodbye

The Million Dollar Backfield delivered the 1947 championship and another title-game trip before declining attendance led the franchise west.

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Chapter 02

1947—1959

Franchise era

1960—1987

Jim Hart

Dan Dierdorf

Terry Metcalf

The Cardiac Cardinals make drama a habit

The St. Louis Football Cardinals

St. Louis produced explosive, entertaining contenders in the 1970s but never found the postseason breakthrough needed to secure the franchise's future there.

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Chapter 03

1960—1987

Franchise era

1988—2003

Aeneas Williams

Jake Plummer

Larry Centers

A new market waits for a stable winner

Finding a home in Arizona

The move to the desert brought only one playoff appearance in sixteen seasons, though Williams became an all-time defender and Plummer authored a memorable upset in Dallas.

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Chapter 04

1988—2003

Franchise era

2004—2012

Larry Fitzgerald

Kurt Warner

Anquan Boldin

A Hall of Fame receiver carries Arizona to the Super Bowl

Fitzgerald and the impossible run

Warner's revival and Fitzgerald's extraordinary 2008 postseason sent the Cardinals to their first Super Bowl and within one late drive of a championship.

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Chapter 05

2004—2012

Franchise era

2013—2017

Carson Palmer

Larry Fitzgerald

Patrick Peterson

Aggressive offense meets an elite secondary

The Arians contender

Bruce Arians unlocked Palmer's best late-career football and built a 13-win team that reached the 2015 NFC Championship Game.

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Chapter 06

2013—2017

Franchise era

2018—present

Kyler Murray

Budda Baker

James Conner

A new quarterback restarts the search

The Kyler Murray reset

Murray's rare movement and arm talent produced a rapid playoff return, but the franchise has continued rebuilding around him through coaching and roster changes.

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Chapter 07

2018—present

Present day

The essential watchlist