Does the Curse of the Chicago Cardinals Live?

NFL’s Oldest Franchise Still Searching for First Title Since Leaving Windy City

By Clete Campbell The Chicago Sports Reporter

GLENDALE, Ariz. — It’s a cruel truth of life many a former Chicagoan has learned through the years.

The grass (or football turf) isn’t always greener outside of the Windy City.

In the Valley of the Sun, brown is the color of the land, from the grass to the shade of Camelback Mountain to the sun-baked dirt. If you want green, you’ve got to buy a cactus, artificial plants, go the FieldTurf route or keep your sprinklers on the daily payroll.

The analogy sums up the Arizona Cardinals football club’s fortunes over the 65 years since they left the city. Leaving for supposedly greener and more winning pastures in St. Louis and later Arizona, the Cardinals have found winning consistently to be as elusive as the desert rain most years.

They are still searching for their first NFL championship since the Truman Administration (1947). They have one Kurt Warner-piloted Super Bowl appearance to their name and haven’t reached the postseason since 2021.

When your winningest coach is Bruce Arians (who had to leave for Tampa to find his Super Bowl ring) with 49 victories, you know winning isn’t your forte.

Somewhere Dick “Night Train” Lane, one of the Chicago Cardinals’ biggest defensive stars, is laughing.

As the NFL’s oldest franchise (dating back to their 1898 founding as Chicago’s Morton Athletic Club), the Redbirds bring an all-time 585-803-41 ledger into a 2025 season that doesn’t exactly scream franchise revival.

“Since the Arizona Cardinals are the NFL’s oldest team, with (game) roots extending back to 1899, there are many examples of unusual plays, strange accomplishments, and perhaps odd statistics!” Sports History Network writes (sports history network.com). “Most of this stuff has been relegated to history and remains hidden on yellowed newspapers or dusty microfilm.

“In other words, once the game or experience is over, we’re likely never to hear about these occurrences again. As the months and years pass, the information becomes buried, if not simply forgotten. And many of these brief situations that were once in the spotlight soon completely fade and probably deserve that fate!”

The Cardinals, who hold their first training camp practice on Thursday, are coming off a promising 8-9 season and again hoping Kyler Murray can develop into the game-changing X-factor QB that brings a Lombardi Trophy to State Farm Stadium.

“There is optimism among the faithful that this Cardinals team could show something special in the third year of the rebuild under general manager Monti Ossenfort and coach Jonathan Gannon,” The Arizona Republic’s Bob McManaman writes.

NFL.com’s Nick Shook calls the Cardinals one of the NFL’s most improved teams. But preseason optimism has never won an NFL regular-season game.

Still, the Cardinals are talent-rich young guns. Murray (who will be 28 on Aug. 7) has more offensive toys to play with almost any NFC quarterback. Marvin Harrison Jr. leads a lightning receiving corps. James Conner and Trey Benson are as solid a 1-2 run punch as you’ll find around the conference. Defensive coordinator Nick Rallis’ zone heavy scheme has plenty of stop and drop potential.

And the NFC West could be anybody’s for the taking given the San Francisco 49ers’ return to division mortality.

But the Cardinals are fighting history of underachieving against great expectations, a dog-eat-dog NFC and a nearly non-existent track record of winning big games in December.

There’s no Chicago curse hanging over this franchise, just the long shadow of lost seasons past upping the weight of the pressure this team is performing under.

And unlike the Sonoran Desert, it’s not a dry heat.

But give them this, they won’t stop believing they can become the first Cardinals team not from Chicago to win a championship.

The Arizona Cardinals have found life isn't always greener outside of Chicago.

“You can be the greatest team to ever be assembled and not win a championship — just ask the 2007 New York Giants,” Sports Illustrated’s Richie Bradshaw writes. “Sometimes, most times even, you need some things to go your way if you want to win big.”