As the Arizona Cardinals prepare for the 2024 NFL season, it is time to examine the team's long and compelling history. The franchise's NFL tenure began in Chicago in 1920 as one of the league's founding members. But, the team itself dates back to 1898 — making it the oldest continuously operating pro football franchise in the United States.
The Cardinals played in Chicago until 1959 before moving to St. Louis, where they would spend the next 27 years. One final move west occurred in 1988 as the franchise ended up in Arizona, first as the Phoenix Cardinals (1988-1993) before taking on its current moniker in 1994.
Historically, the team has not achieved much on-field success. The team won NFL titles in 1925 and 1947 but went from 1947 to 1998 without winning a playoff game. The Cardinals' six playoff wins since the AFL-NFL merger are the third-fewest of any franchise active at the merger.
Still, with so much history, the Cardinals' franchise has seen some of the NFL's best suit up in Cardinal red. These are the 10 greatest Arizona Cardinals players of all time.
10 Greatest Arizona Cardinals players of all time
Honorable Mention:
Kurt Warner, Jim Hart, Adrian Wilson, Budda Baker, Charley Trippi
10) Jackie Smith
Cardinals honors: Five-time Pro Bowler, one-time Second Team All-Pro, Pro Football Hall-of-Fame inductee
After years of playing second-fiddle to wide receivers, tight ends are finally enjoying their time in the spotlight. Tight ends like Travis Kelce, Mark Andrews, and Rob Gronkowski have proven they can be a team's leading receiver while thriving in a pass-heavy league.
Historically, few tight ends can boast the type of production that this modern crop of players regularly records. Before 1980, tight ends were rarely receiving threats, that is, unless you were Jackie Smith of the St. Louis Cardinals. Smith began his career in 1963, back in the day of flankers and split ends. When NFL quarterbacks threw more interceptions than touchdowns and could make the Pro Bowl with 1,800 passing yards and 16 picks.
Yet Jackie Smith is one of just eight tight ends in NFL history with at least 1,200 receiving yards in a season — a total Hall-of-Famers Shannon Sharpe and Antonio Gates never reached. Smith managed a distinguished 16-year NFL career, earning five Pro Bowl nominations. He is also a Pro Football Hall of Famer who is tenth all-time in receiving yards among tight ends.
9) Paddy Driscoll
Cardinals honors: Four-time First Team All-Pro, one-time Second Team All-Pro, Pro Football Hall of Fame 1920s All-Decade Team, Pro Football Hall-of-Fame inductee
When the Chicago Cardinals played their inaugural game in 1920, the team needed a boost — both on the field and in the box office. So they signed Paddy Driscoll, formerly a star for the Hammond All-Stars, for $300. Driscoll scored the game's only touchdown in a 6-0 and became a franchise cornerstone for the next half-decade.
At first glance, Paddy Driscoll's career stats are not overly impressive. In five seasons with the Cardinals, Driscoll accounted for 17 total touchdowns, 37 field goals, and 31 extra points. But Driscoll was regarded as one of the best all-around players of the 1920s and was known for his prowess with his boot, establishing himself as one of the best drop-kickers the league has ever seen.
8) Patrick Peterson
Cardinals honors: Eight-time Pro Bowler, three-time First Team All-Pro
Though he is slowly phasing out of the league, Patrick Peterson is just a few years removed from being one of the NFL's elite corners. Peterson was a Pro Bowler in each of his first eight seasons and earned First Team All-Pro honors three times during this stretch. Peterson also tied the NFL record with four punt returns for touchdowns as a rookie in 2011, including a 99-yard game-winner in overtime.
NFL.com’s Gil Brandt ranked Peterson as the 17th-best cornerback ever in 2017, and he came in at 54th on Pro Football Focus’ list of the top 101 players of the 2010s — helping earn him a spot among the best Cardinals players of all time.
7) Ollie Matson
Cardinals honors: Five-time Pro Bowler, five-time First Team All-Pro, Pro Football Hall of Fame 1950s All-Decade Team, Pro Football Hall-of-Fame inductee
Long before the infamous Herschel Walker trade that involved six players and 12 draft picks, Chicago Cardinals running back Ollie Matson was involved in one of the first big blockbuster deals in NFL history, heading to the Los Angeles Rams in 1959 in exchange for eight players and a draft pick. Just how good was Matson at the time of the trade?
The offensive playmaker earned First Team All-Pro Honors in the first five years of his career, offering production from nearly every spot on the field. In his second year, Matson recorded 1,117 yards from scrimmage (in just 12 games), scoring seven offensive touchdowns, managing two special teams scores, plus recovering three fumbles and intercepting a pass on defense. Equally dangerous as a rusher and receiver, the speedster eclipsed 1,000 yards from scrimmage three times with Chicago while finishing with nine kick and punt returns for touchdowns during his six years with the Cardinals.
Opponents tracked him so closely on the field that Cardinals head coach Frank “Pop” Ivy once remarked: “They'd double-team him if he were sitting up in the grandstand eating hot dogs, just to make sure.” And for good reason. Before beginning his NFL career, Matson was an Olympic sprinter. At the 1952 Summer Olympics in Sweden, he won a bronze medal in the 400 meters and a silver medal as a United States 4×400 relay team member.
6) Dan Dierdorf
Cardinals honors: Six-time Pro Bowler, three-time First Team All-Pro, three-time Second Team All-Pro, Pro Football Hall of Fame 1970s All-Decade Team, Pro Football Hall-of-Fame inductee
While he is now known mainly for his time as a broadcaster, before he was behind the mic, Dan Dierdorf was one of the NFL's elite offensive tackles. During his prime, Dierdorf was an All-Pro and Pro Bowler in six consecutive full seasons, and his three First Team All-Pro nominations are still the most of any Cardinals offensive lineman. He also earned the National Football League Players Association Offensive Lineman of the Year award in three consecutive seasons from 1976 to 1978
Those 1970s teams coached by Don Coryell were the precursors to the “Air Coryell” squads the Hall-of-Fame coach engineered with the San Diego Chargers just a few years later, and Dierdorf's play at tackle helped quarterback Jim Hart become one of the league's most prolific passers during this stretch. The 1975 Cardinals allowed only eight sacks in a 14-game season, the second-fewest since the AFL-NFL merger, helping cement Dan Dierdorf as Hall of Fame player.
5) Dick “Night Train” Lane
Cardinals honors: Four-time Pro Bowler, one-time First Team All-Pro, two-time Second Team All-Pro, Pro Football Hall of Fame 1950s All-Decade Team Pro Football Hall-of-Fame inductee
Long before he earned a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Dick “Night Train” Lane had an unconventional path to even make it to the NFL. Lane was abandoned as a child, and once he was adopted, he helped his family stay afloat by busing tables, shining shoes, helping with his mother's laundry business, and hustling pool. After high school, Lane played Negro League Baseball for a year, then enrolled at Scottsbluff Junior College, where he played one year of college football. At age 20, Lane enlisted in the Army, where he would spend the next four years.
After his discharge, Night Train worked at an aircraft plant in Los Angeles. On the bus to work, he passed the offices of the Los Angeles Rams. One day, Lane went in with some old newspaper clippings and asked for a tryout. He impressed enough to earn a spot on the team in 1953 and produced one of the best rookie years the NFL has ever seen, finishing with 14 picks and two touchdowns.
Lane spent two years in LA before joining the Chicago Cardinals for five seasons, where his speed and hard hitting established him as one of the NFL's great corners and a spot in the Hall of Fame. With so many great defensive backs suiting up for the Cardinals throughout franchise history, Lane drops a few spots since he only spent six of his 14 NFL seasons with the team.
4) Aeneas Williams
Cardinals honors: Six-time Pro Bowler, two-time First Team All-Pro, two-time Second Team All-Pro, franchise all-time leader in defensive touchdowns, Pro Football Hall of Fame 1990s All-Decade Team, Pro Football Hall-of-Fame inductee
As a contemporary to Rod Woodson and Deion Sanders, Aeneas Williams often flew under the radar when up against his flashier foes. The Cardinals' struggles did not help his cause, as the team went 56-104 in Williams' decade-long stint with the franchise, managing just one playoff appearance and a single winning season during this stretch.
But, it is difficult to argue that Woodson or Sanders was a better all-around corner than Aeneas Williams. Beginning in 1994, Williams made six consecutive Pro Bowls, had four seasons with at least six picks, and scored five defensive touchdowns during this stretch. The Louisiana native eventually finished his career with 12 defensive touchdowns — the second-most in NFL history.
As a Hall-of-Famer, Williams easily earns a top-four spot on this list.
3) Roger Wehrli
Cardinals honors: Seven-time Pro Bowler, three-time First Team All-Pro, one-time Second Team All-Pro Pro Football Hall of Fame 1970s All-Decade Team, NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team, Pro Football Hall-of-Fame inductee
Ever wonder how the term “Shutdown Corner” originated? It was not used to describe Mel Blount or any of the great corners who came after him, but rather, it came from Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach to describe the play of St. Louis Cardinals cornerback Roger Wehrli in the 1970s. Wehrli intercepted three Staubach passes during a crucial NFC East game on December 7, 1975 — including two in the fourth quarter — as the Cardinals went on to win the game and leapfrog Dallas en route to a division title.
Wehrli finished his career with 40 picks and 22 fumble recoveries — the latter a franchise record. With so many Hall-of-Fame defensive backs, dropping Wehrli any further than fourth on this list is difficult.
2) Larry Wilson
Cardinals honors: Eight-time Pro Bowler, five-time First Team All-Pro, franchise all-time leader in interceptions, Pro Football Hall of Fame 1960s and 1970s All-Decade Teams, NFL 75th and 100th Anniversary All-Time Teams, Pro Football Hall-of-Fame inductee
Can any NFL franchise offer better defensive back play throughout its history than the Cardinals? The team has seven defensive backs with at least four Pro Bowl appearances and four DBs in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Of this esteemed group, none has more First Team All-Pro honors than Larry Wilson's five.
No Cardinals player has won NFL MVP, but Wilson came the closest with a second-place finish in 1966. That year, the safety led the NFL with 10 interceptions, returning two for touchdowns. Wilson also totaled 21 sacks during his career, a rarity for defensive backs during the 1960s.
Cardinals defensive coordinator Chuck Drulis was one of the first players to run a safety blitz, and he felt confident in Wilson because of his superb athleticism and skill. Larry Wilson's versatility set the precedent for modern-day zone blitzes, with defenders rushing the quarterback from any position on the field. This innovation earns Wilson the number two spot on our list.
1) Larry Fitzgerald
Cardinals honors: 11-time Pro Bowler, one-time First Team All-Pro, two-time Second Team All-Pro, franchise all-time leader in catches, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns, Pro Football Hall of Fame 2010s All-Decade Team
Becoming synonymous with a franchise is an ambitious task for a player in any sport, especially in the NFL, as the game's brutality often ends careers prematurely. Larry Fitzgerald only missed nine games during his 17-year career, cementing himself as the face of the Cardinals franchise along the way.
Fitzgerald is the all-time team leader in every significant receiving category and has led the NFL in catches and touchdowns on two occasions. As an 11-time Pro Bowler — also a franchise-best mark — Larry Fitzgerald easily tops this list.
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