Five Fun Facts About Five Arizona Cardinals Players

The Arizona Cardinals have elevated their play in recent years and turned into one of the more formidable teams in the National Football League. This is a proud franchise, but a franchise that has gone through some long losing sessions both in Arizona, in their previous home of St. Louis, and in their first home of Chicago. The success that the team is experiencing now is a direct result of some of the great players they have on their roster. Here then is a look at five fun facts about five Arizona Cardinals football players.

Kurt Warner
Kurt Warner has played a huge role in the turnaround of the Arizona Cardinals. The first touchdown pass that Warner threw in the NFL went to tight end Roland Williams and came in the 2nd quarter of a 27-10 victory over the Baltimore Ravens in 1999 while he was playing for the St. Louis Rams. His first touchdown pass with the Arizona Cardinals went to wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald and came in the third quarter of a 42-19 loss to the New York Giants during week one of the 2005 NFL season.

Larry Fitzgerald
Larry Fitzgerald is one of the most dynamic wide receivers in the National Football League and contributes in a big way to the Arizona Cardinals exciting style of play. During the 2008 season, Fitzgerald had 100 or more yards receiving in 11 of the 16 games he played in.

Anquan Boldin
Anquan Boldin has put up great numbers during his college career with the Florida State Seminoles and during his professional career with the Arizona Cardinals. He has gone to multiple Pro Bowls and was the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2003. His receiving numbers in high school were not very good at all though. This is misleading though because in high school he played quarterback, led his team to an undefeated season, and was named the state of Florida's "Mr. Football".

Tim Hightower
Tim Hightower, with a reputation as a running back that lacked speed and came from a small college, has come on to be one of the bright spots of the Arizona Cardinals offense. His durability and production were put on display during his rookie year when even though he started only seven games, he would score ten touchdowns. The Cardinals can trace their franchise history back to the early days of the NFL in the first half of the 1900s. With all that history though, Tim Hightower is the first Cardinals rookie to score touchdowns in each of his first two games with the franchise.

Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie
When looking at the success of the Arizona Cardinals, it would be a mistake to not also credit part of that success to the defense. One of the best defenders on the team is defensive back Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. Rodgers-Cromartie is a cousin to San Diego Chargers star cornerback Antonio Cromartie and during childhood he had surgery to remove a non-functioning kidney.

With great players like this, it isn't hard to figure out why the Arizona Cardinals are riding such a great streak of success in the National Football League. As long as the team keeps an eye on their talent on the field, there is no reason to think they will return to their previous level of lack of success anytime soon.

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Arizona Cardinals - The Biggest Loser in NFL History

In their nine decades of playing football, the Arizona Cardinals have lost a total of 664 games, 57% of all the games they have played. Since 1947, they have won only one playoff game, and since 1984, had only one winning season. In 86 years, they have won over ten games five times compared to the Philadelphia Eagles, England Patriots, and Indianapolis Colts, which have all won over ten games, at least five times in the past seven years.

The Oldest American Football Club

The Cardinals is the oldest American football club, originally formed in 1989 and was then named the Morgan Athletic Club, based in Chicago. The team was then called the Racine Normals (because they were located in Chicago's Racine Avenue) and was later changed to the Racine Cardinals. It was then that they started wearing dark red uniforms which were taken from the football college team, the Chicago Maroons. It was in 1920 that the Cardinals officially became a member of the NFL and was renamed the Chicago Cardinals. During World War II, in 1944, the Cardinals merged temporarily with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and were thus referred to as the Card-Pitt team, just for one season. In 1960, the Cardinals then moved to St. Louis Missouri and became the St. Louis Cardinals. They earned the moniker "The Big Red" due to a series of success in the 1970s. After failing to acquire a stadium in St. Louis solely for football, the Cardinals moved to Phoenix in 1988 and were named the Phoenix Cardinals. By 1994, it was officially known as the Arizona Cardinals. Today, they are based in Glendale Arizona in the outskirts of Phoenix and are members of the National Football Conference, Western Division and the National Football League (NFL). In 2006, all home games of the Cardinals were played at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, instead of the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe where they played at for 17 years.

No Super Bowl for the Cardinals

The Cardinals is one of six NFL teams who never made it to the Super Bowl including the Detroit Lions, the Cleveland Browns, the New Orleans Saints, and the Jacksonville Jaguars. The team's only NFL championship game was in 1947, two decades before the Super Bowl was instituted. The other championship was in 1925, eight easy before NFL held championship games. Since 1947, the Cardinals have qualified only five times for the playoffs and won only one playoff game, a poor record shared only by one other team, the Detroit Lions.

Cardinals' Big Turnaround

In recent years, however, the Cardinals is looking at a major overhaul and makeover with the son's owner Michael Bidwill taking over the team in lieu of his father, William V. Bidwill. Michael took over as president and has recently invested on a new stadium, a marketing staff, and a larger share of revenues. Just last year, 2007, the Cardinals saw an increase of 20% revenue, to $189 million. The team is not worth $888 million, a 13% increase from the year before. Today, they are attracting better players and spending on equipment and training.

Rick Grantham is an avid sports fan. Most of Rick's articles focus on sports fan gifts. Many articles are related to mlb shop and other sports related topics. Rick is a contributing author to BooYah Village.

2010 NFL Predictions - Arizona Cardinals

The Arizona Cardinals have enjoyed plenty of success the last two seasons, winning back-to-back division titles and four playoff games.  However, they did that with future Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner under center.  With Warner calling it a career in the offseason, it will now be up to Matt Leinart to keep the Cards atop the NFC West.  And NFL lines makes don't have faith that he can get the job done.  The books have listed the Cardinals behind the San Francisco 49ers at +250 to win the NFC West.  They have also set Arizona's regular season wins number at over/under 7.5 wins.

Offense: Leinart will get the first crack at replacing Warner. If he doesn't perform up to Ken Whisenhunt's standards, we will likely see Derek Anderson.

Leinart will have plenty of weapons and an improved offensive line to help him succeed. Arizona has brought perennial Pro Bowl guard Alan Faneca aboard to steady the line. The Cards want to improve their running attack, and Whisenhunt, who coached Faneca in Pittsburgh, believes his new guard is just the guy to do it. Whisenhunt also knows that a stronger running game will take the pressure off of Leinart.

If running backs Beanie Wells and Timothy Hightower receive adequate blocking, I believe they can put up some big numbers. This duo combined for nearly 1,400 yards and 15 scores on the ground last season. With Arizona expected to put a bigger emphasis on its running game, Wells might be a nice fantasy sleeper.

The Cards will miss physical wide receiver Anquan Boldin, but they still have plenty of big play ability with Larry Fitzgerald, Steve Breaston and Early Doucet. Fitzgerald is as good as they get in the NFL. He has recorded more than 1,000 receiving yards and double-digit touchdowns each of the last three seasons.

Defense: The Cards were a very mediocre defensive team in 2009. They ranked No. 15 in the NFL in scoring defense, giving up 20.3 points per game, and No. 20 in total defense, allowing 346.4 yards per game.

Arizona will have its work cut out for itself as it tries to improve on those numbers now that it has lost quality performers like Karlos Dansby and Antrel Rolle.

The Cardinals have tried to make up for these losses by bringing in Joey Porter and Kerry Rhodes. They also added nose tackle Dan Williams and linebacker Daryl Washington in the draft.

With veteran pass rushers Bertrand Berry and Chike Okeafor no longer in the desert, the Cards are hoping that Porter can keep their pass rush elite. Arizona finished No. 6 in the NFL with 43 sacks last season.

Prediction: 3rd NFC West - In order for Arizona to win the NFC West for a third straight season, Leinart will have to play much better than he has to this point in his career. While I don't think Leinart will be a complete bust, he's not Warner, and he likely never will be. The Cards relied on their offense to carry the load the past two seasons, but there's a good chance the offense won't be as explosive in 2010. Be sure to check out my 2010 NFL predictions to see which team I have winning the NFC West.

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Arizona Cardinals Improve to 1-1 After Beating Jacksonville Jaguars

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The Arizona Cardinals had the strongest finish in the NFC last season. While the team barely made the playoffs, this didn't matter much once the post season had arrived. The team caught fire and scored big playoff wins against teams like the Panthers and Giants, advancing to the Super Bowl and nearly winning it against the Pittsburgh Steelers before a decisive 4th quarter Santonio Holmes touchdown won the Steelers the game, and the Super Bowl championship with it.

Kurt Warner had been uncertain about his NFL future, playing around with the idea of retirement. Anquan Boldin was unhappy with his status on his team and threatened to leave. Edgerrin James was lost to free agency, and was now on the Seahawks in Seattle. Many wondered what the fate of the Cardinals would hold in store in 2009.

The team opened up the season with a very disappointing win against the 49ers at home in Arizona. Losing a game that was expected by many to be an easy win was no way to start a football season.

Entering week 2, the Cardinals knew they'd have to make an impact if they wanted to set themselves down the right path. And that they did in Jacksonville against the Jaguars. Kurt Warner was nearly as effective as he's ever been, chewing up the Jacksonville secondary as he completed an amazing 24 of 26 passes. Tim Hightower looked great at running back, and the Cardinals receivers were equally effective. There was even time for Matt Leinart to enter the game, as this was an easy victory.

The Cardinals did exactly what they needed to do in week 2. They won, and they won big.

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