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Top 50 Arizona Cardinals

The most tenured team in the National Football League, the Arizona Cardinals have taken a long road, traversed multiple cities, and seen more hard times than good.

Formed in 1898 as the Morgan Athletic Club, they would be renamed the Racine Normals for two years before becoming the Racing Cardinals.  Twenty years later, they were charter members of the National Football League as the Chicago Cardinals.

In the Windy City, the franchise won two titles, the first in 1925, disputed by the Pottsville Maroons, but there was no NFL Championship Game back then.  The second title is undisputed, as with their "Million Dollar Backfield," they won the Championship Game in 1947, the last title they have won.

Taking a backseat to the Bears in Chicago, the Cardinals relocated to St. Louis in 1961.  They only made the playoffs thrice in St. Louis and relocated again in 1987, becoming the Phoenix Cardinals.  That name would change again to the Arizona Cardinals, and with Kurt Warner as their Quarterback, they made it to their first Super Bowl in the 2008 Season.  They did not win but appear to have a permanent home in the desert.

Note: Football lists are based on an amalgamation of tenure, traditional statistics, advanced statistics, playoff statistics, and post-season accolades.

This list is up to the end of the 2022 Season.

Long Beach State does not produce many draft choices, let alone NFL Pro Bowlers, but Terry Metcalf would break those molds and become a brief star of the St. Louis Cardinals offense. Metcalf joined the Cardinals as a Third Round Pick in 1973 and saw immediate action as a rusher and returner with just over 1,000 All-Purpose Yards.  Metcalf would…
Bill Koman arrived in Chicago after a trade from the Philadelphia Eagles, and it was as a Cardinal the Linebacker enjoyed his greatest success. Koman’s first season was in 1959, and as the team relocated to St. Louis, Koman’s profile rose and became one of the team's top Linebackers.  A Pro Bowler in 1962 and 1964, Koman was the team's…
In 2002, Carson Palmer was the best Quarterback in College Football, winning multiple awards and going number one overall in the Draft.  Fast forward a decade later, and Palmer was on his third team (Arizona), and despite the two Pro Bowls, was considered a minor disappointment based on the initial hype.  It was with the Cardinals that he eventually had…
With the Fifth Overall Pick in the 1981 Draft, the St. Louis Cardinals selected E.J. Junior, who was the second Linebacker taken behind someone you may have heard of; Lawrence Taylor.  Junior did not have Taylor’s career (who could?) but the Cardinals got a lot of good football from the eventual College Football Hall of Fame inductee. Junior won the…
The first man to win back-to-back Sun Bowl MVPs and have his number retired at New Mexico State, Charley Johnson was drafted late (10th Round) of the 1960 Draft, seeing limited action in his rookie year, but became the Cardinals starter in his second season.  Johnson may not have ever appeared in a playoff game, but in '63 and '64,…
A First Round Pick from Mississippi, Freddie Joe Nunn seemed to bounce from Defensive End to Linebacker depending on the need in his first nine years in the NFL as a Cardinal. A really good player but never was named a Pro Bowler or All-Pro, Nunn was at his best as a pass rusher, as shown by his 14-Sack year…
Irv Goode was a beast at the University of Kentucky, which led to his high selection by the St. Louis Cardinals, who nabbed him 12th Overall in 1961.  Goode accomplished a rare feat as a rookie, earning Rookie of the Year votes (4th), and though St. Louis was not impressive in the 1960s, the versatile lineman (he played at Left…
A football player rarely has three runs with a football team, but Karlos Dansby did just that with the Arizona Cardinals. Dansby’s first stint in Arizona was his longest and most traditional, arriving as a 2nd Round Pick in 2004.  Receiving All-Rookie honors, Dansby blossomed into a solid interior Linebacker who was capable of a big play at any time. …
In Bob Reynolds, we have another forgotten player from the 1960s, who was one of the best Offensive Lineman in Bowling Green history. Taken in the Second Round in 1963, Reynolds became the starting Left Tackle for St. Louis in his second year.  While the Cardinals struggled in the '60s, Reynolds did not, impressing enough to go to the Pro…
There was a time when Sports Illustrated mattered, and in one of their weekly publications, they named Conrad Dobler "Pro Football's Dirtiest Player."  Dobler was more infamous than he was good, but that should not take away from his skills as an Offensive Guard.  A Pro Bowler three years in a row from 1975 to 1977, the vicious Lineman was…
As good as Pat Fischer was at Nebraska, he stood at only 5' 9" and fell all the way to the 17th Round (232nd Overall) in the 1961 Draft.  Fischer was barely expected to make the team, let alone win a starting job, but once he did, he would become one of the most seasoned Cornerbacks in NFL history.  Fischer…
John David Crow won the 1957 Heisman Trophy, becoming the first player from Texas A&M to win the accolade.  The legendary Bear Bryant often referred to Crow as one of the best players he ever had, and that type of hype will propel a player to the number two pick of the Draft, which the Cardinals had and used on…