Finally, their time in the sun

Cardinals shine for first time in Arizona

The Cardinals came close in 1948, but lost to Steve Van Buren (15) and the Philadelphia Eagles. (File/Associated Press)

By Mike Reiss

Globe Staff / January 25, 2009

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Charley Trippi, one of the few living members of the Chicago Cardinals' NFL championship team from 1947, remembers wearing tennis shoes on the icy field that victorious day.

Roger Wehrli, a Pro Football Hall of Famer who played for the Cardinals from 1969-82, has fond memories of the "Big Red" era when the football and baseball teams in St. Louis shared a nickname.

John Omohundro, a retired athletic trainer, has 42 years of Cardinals stories - like the time he used adhesive tape to "line" a football field in the outfield at St. Louis's Busch Stadium for practice, or the uneasy day in 1988 when the trucks were loaded for the team's move to Arizona.

Together, Trippi, Wehrli, and Omohundro represent three chapters in the Cardinals' history, which mostly is defined by losing seasons, the search for a more permanent home, and a perceived lack of commitment from ownership.

Such history is front and center this week with the Arizona Cardinals preparing to play the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII next Sunday, in pursuit of their first NFL championship since '47.

"Our record hasn't always been what we wanted it to be, and it's been a long dry spell, but the ride here has been extremely enjoyable," said the 65-year-old Omohundro, now in his 42d season with the team and serving in an advisory role. "Finally, the reward has come. Patience has its virtue and this is a perfect example of it."

Prior to 2008, the Cardinals had produced one winning season and one playoff appearance since 1984, giving new meaning to being lost in the desert.

Yet with a stunning turnaround - sparked in part by a 40-point loss to the Patriots at snowy Gillette Stadium Dec. 21 - they are flying high once again, their presence in the title game representing a seismic shift in football's world order.

The last time the Cardinals were NFL champions, they were based in Chicago and their owner, 77-year-old Bill Bidwill, was working as a public address announcer for his father's team. He was 16 at the time.

"He used to stand on the sidelines with a microphone and provide a narration of what down it was and how many yards were needed, which was for the benefit of the fans in the stands," recalled Trippi, one of the Cardinals' all-time great running backs. "We had a scoreboard, but all it gave was the score."

Bidwill's father, Charles, a former vice president of the Chicago Bears, had purchased the Cardinals for $50,000 in the 1930s, and the franchise has been in the family since.

Following last Sunday's dramatic victory in the NFC Championship game over the Philadelphia Eagles, Bill Bidwill linked his emotions to his teenage years, when the Cardinals lost to the Eagles, 7-0, in a chilly 1948 NFL championship game.

"It beat the daylights out of the snow that was falling on us in Philadelphia," he said.

Few owners have such a strong connection to the past, although for the Cardinals - charter members of the NFL in 1920 - it's a history that has mostly been forgettable in terms of wins and losses.

Franchise on the move

Trippi, who was part of a dynamic "Million Dollar Backfield" in Chicago, recalled that the Cardinals stopped injecting young talent into the roster after the successful seasons in 1947 and '48, which led to a string of losing years through the 1950s.

In those days, the Cardinals played on the South Side of town at Comiskey Park, while the Bears called historic Wrigley Field home. Cardinals attendance declined in the '50s, which contributed to the team's decision - coupled with the NFL's influence - to relocate to St. Louis in 1960.

"Being in Chicago with the Bears was a handicap in a way," said the 86-year-old Trippi, who lives in Athens, Ga., where he starred at the University of Georgia. "The Bears built up a lot of football tradition over the years and had a reputation of being outstanding football teams. We had to fight that every time we played."

At the time of the move, the Cardinals were run by Violet Bidwill, the wife of Charles. She had assumed control of the franchise in 1947 after her husband died in the middle of the team's championship campaign.

When Violet Bidwill died in 1962, sons Charles Jr. (nicknamed "Stormy") and Bill took over. In 1972, Bill Bidwill gained sole ownership.

The Cardinals' high point in St. Louis came in the mid-1970s under fiery coach Don Coryell, who later coached in San Diego, where he became known for the "Air Coryell" passing attack led by quarterback Dan Fouts.

Coryell's Cardinals teams - which included quarterback Jim Hart, running back Terry Metcalf, receiver Mel Gray, tight end Jackie Smith, and offensive lineman Dan Dierdorf - won NFC East championships in 1974 and '75, the team's first titles since moving to St. Louis. In both years, the Cardinals lost in the first round of the playoffs.

"In the mid-'70s, we really had a great team; our offense was called the 'Cardiac Cardinals' and Coach Coryell had some big weapons to work with," recalled Wehrli, a ball-hawking cornerback who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2007. "The baseball team was a little down at that time, so we were the toast of the town during those years."

Because the football and baseball teams shared a nickname, the football Cardinals were referred to by many in the city as the "Big Red." Both teams played in Busch Stadium, which sometimes put the football Cardinals in a tough spot.

"The facility wasn't conducive for football, there wasn't enough seating, and there were a lot of crossover situations that kept us from practicing when it was baseball season," recalled Omohundro, who joined the team in 1967. "It was very difficult for coaches to get continuity when we had to go on buses and practice elsewhere or practice earlier in the morning.

"If we practiced in the stadium, we basically had to tape a field in the outfield with adhesive tape - we made hash marks and numbers with the tape so we didn't ruin the infield. When we were done, we'd take the tape up, wad it up, and throw it away so the baseball team could practice."

The Cardinals made their third and final playoff appearance while in St. Louis during the 1982 strike-shortened season. Feeling his team was in need of a new facility, and unable to come to an agreement he desired in St. Louis, Bidwill moved the team to Arizona in 1988.

For those in St. Louis, the sting of the move was eased when the Rams relocated to the city from Los Angeles in 1995.

Calling a reverse

Meanwhile, in Arizona, the Cardinals continued on a similar road as to the one they had traveled in Chicago and St. Louis - mostly filled with losses and seasons that sometimes showed early promise, only to spiral downward. The team was referred to as the Phoenix Cardinals from 1988-93, before Bidwill had the name changed to the Arizona Cardinals in 1994.

Still, unlike other teams that relocate for the opportunity to play in state-of-the-art stadiums with more luxury boxes and increased revenue streams, the Cardinals called Arizona State's Sun Devil Stadium home from 1988-2005.

Much like old Foxboro Stadium, Sun Devil Stadium had aluminum-bench seating that sizzled in the early-season heat, as well as narrow aisles. In 2006, the sparkling retractable-roof University of Phoenix Stadium was finished in suburban Glendale, Ariz., which team officials now credit as a key part of the franchise's rise.

Prior to this season, the Cardinals' lone playoff appearance in Arizona came in the 1998 season, when they won a wild-card game before losing in the divisional round.

With such a long string of losing, some have looked at Bidwill as the primary reason for the franchise's struggles, stating that he has been more concerned with making money than winning games.

Omohundro defiantly defends his boss.

"I think a lot of him is misunderstood, that the perception isn't necessarily indicative of the man," he said. "He has his own charitable causes that he supports very strongly, but that he likes to keep private. He's a very honorable man who served in the Navy, and he's very proud of that.

"He's also very loyal to the league, and comes in to the office every day and works. There is a perception that he doesn't care, and that's 180 degrees opposite of what is true. He cares very deeply about the National Football League and the Arizona Cardinals. He's finally getting some just reward for all his work and time and effort."

And now, from Chicago, through St. Louis, and in Arizona, words that haven't been uttered often are rolling off the tongues of those who have been associated with the franchise.

"The players from the '40s have talked about how proud they are, and I'm getting a lot of e-mails and voice mails from players as far back as the '50s, '60s, and '70s - all good thoughts and kind wishes," Omohundro said. "It's a wonderful time, a great time to be a Cardinal."