Arizona Cardinals

Lore & Background

The franchise dates to 1898, when a neighborhood group gathered to play on the South Side of Chicago, calling themselves the Morgan Athletic Club. The team was established in Chicago in 1898 as the Morgan Athletic Club, and joined the NFL as a charter member on September 17, 1920. The Cardinals are the oldest continuously run professional football franchise in the United States, and, along with the Chicago Bears, are the only NFL charter member franchises still in operation.

The team has won two NFL championships, both while the team was in Chicago. The first, in 1925, was disputed by supporters of the Pottsville Maroons. Their second, and the first to be won in a championship game, came in 1947. They returned to the title game to defend in 1948, but lost the rematch 7–0 in a snowstorm in Philadelphia.

The team has since suffered many losing seasons and, as of 2025, has the longest active championship drought in North American sports at 78 seasons.

Reader's Guide

The Cardinals have won five division titles (1974, 1975, 2008, 2009, and 2015) since their 1947–48 NFL championship game appearances. They have been to the playoffs 11 times and have won seven playoff games, including three in the 2008–09 NFL playoffs. During that season, they won their only NFC Championship Game since the 1970 AFL–NFL merger, and reached Super Bowl XLIII, losing 27–23 to the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Cardinals are the only NFL team that has never lost a playoff game at home: their 5–0 record encompasses the 1947 NFL Championship Game, two games during the 2008–09 NFL playoffs, one during the 2009–10 playoffs, and one during the 2015–16 playoffs. In their 37 seasons since moving to Arizona in 1988, the Cardinals have a total of six playoff appearances, three division titles, and one NFC championship.