The Arizona Cardinals are professional football’s oldest franchise. The team was founded in 1898, as the Morgan Athletic Club in Chicago, and eventually became the Chicago Cardinals in 1920 as a co-charter member of the NFL.
Since, the franchise has called two other locations home (St. Louis, Arizona), won one NFL championship (1947), and came within fingertips of a Super Bowl victory.
Eighteen members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame played for the Cardinals franchise in some capacity. Let’s rank the top five, based on their accomplishments with the Cards.
5. Aeneas Williams (CB, 1991-2000)
After two seasons at Southern College, Williams was ready for Sunday upon his debut in 1991. He finished second in the league in interceptions as a rookie en route to tallying 46 picks during his Arizona tenure (and 55 overall for his career). His nine pick-sixes are amongst the all-time leaders. He earned six straight Pro Bowls and four First-Team All Pro selections as a Cardinal, and was inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2014.
4. Charley Trippi (QB/HB, 1947-55)
Trippi is only player in franchise history who can claim to have been the best player on a championship Cardinals team. With his $100,000 deal, Trippi was the highest-paid member of Chicago’s distinguished “Million Dollar Backfield” of the late 1940s. He was considered a quintuple-threat due to his ability to play multiple positions, including quarterback, punter and kick returner. He rushed for 3,506 yards, threw for 2,547, and caught 1,321 in his career.
3. Dan Dierdorf (OT, 1971-83)
These days, Dierdorf is more familiar to football fans as a longtime broadcaster, but he shined on the Cardinals offensive line during the 1970s. He made the Pro Bowl each year from 1974-78, and was named a First-Team All Pro from 1976-78. He was named Offensive Lineman of the Year by the players' association for three straight seasons, and didn’t allow a single sack between 1976 and 1977. In 1975, he was the cog of an offensive line that set a record by surrendering just eight sacks in the 14-game season. Dierdorf was inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1996.
2. Larry Wilson (S, 1960-72)
Wilson starred for the St. Louis Cardinals for 13 seasons — his entire career — and made eight Pro Bowls and five All-Pro first teams. He nabbed 52 interceptions, and what he lacked in size he made up for in enthusiasm and spirit. He was named the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year in 1966, and made the NFL’s All-Decade Team for the 1960s and 1970s. Unfortunately, Wilson never got the chance to compete in the postseason. He was inducted into Canton in 1978.
1. Larry Fitzgerald (WR, 2004-Present)
Fifteen seasons in and Fitzgerald is still going strong. The 11-time Pro Bowler is the Cardinals franchise leader in receiving yards, at 17,083, which is also good for second in NFL history, receptions (1,378, also second in NFL history) and receiving touchdowns (120, sixth in NFL history). Plus, he’s been dominant in the playoffs, racking up 57 receptions, 942 yards and 10 touchdowns in nine games, peaking with his memorable run with Kurt Warner in the 2008 playoffs.
More importantly, Fitzgerald has been about as good of an ambassador as a franchise, and sport, could want. In addition to being football's oldest franchise's most prolific player, he also may be its most beloved.
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