2006 Arizona Cardinals

The Arizona Cardinals had a less-than-successful season in 2005, completing the year with 5 wins and 11 losses. Just the same, the team has plenty of loyal fans, thousands of whom bought tickets and showed up at Arizona State University's Sun Devil Stadium to cheer them on. In fact, their paid attendance averaged over 50,000 tickets sold per game. In 2006, Arizona moves into Cardinals Stadium in Glendale, where they are sure to sell thousands more tickets, including some to people just wanting to luxuriate in the state-of-the-art facility.

If the Cardinals' 2006 season goes anything like their 2006 draft, there will be a lot of dancing in the endzone (regardless of new restrictions on celebrating). When USC's Heismann-winning quarterback Matt Leinart was still inexplicably available as 10th pick, Coach Denny Green snatched him up and put him under the tutelage of Kurt Warner. Other excellent draftees included Leinart's Trojan teammate supersized guard Taitusi 'Deuce' Lutui, sure-handed tight end Leonard Pope, and defensive tackle Gabe Watson. Talented young receivers Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin are back again, and to top it all off, the Cardinals have snagged Pro Bowler Edgerrin James, twice the NFL's leading rusher, to pump up the roster.

Some Arizona Cardinals history: The Cardinals built strong teams during the 1920s, 1940s, and 1970s, capturing four division crowns and two NFL titles during those decades. Because the first Super Bowl was not played until 1967, however, the Cardinals have never played in it.

In 1920 the Chicago Cardinals became charter members of the American Professional Football League, the NFL's predecessor, and the Cardinals captured their first NFL crown in 1925 under head coach Norman Barry. Following the 1925 championship, the Cardinals struggled for two decades, recording only two winning records from 1926 to 1945. World War II (1939-1945) deprived the team of so many players that in 1944 the Cardinals merged with the Pittsburgh Steelers to form a club called Card-Pitt (which unfortunately lost all ten of its games).

In 1960 the franchise moved to St. Louis, enjoying a solid first season in its new home. Running back John David Crow surpassed the 1,000-yard mark, and defensive back Jerry Norton led the NFC in interceptions. During the 1960s the Cardinals finished with winning seasons five times, yet failed to qualify for postseason play. In 1974 Don Coryell coached the Cardinals into the playoffs for the first time in 26 years.

After a deal between owner Bill Bidwill and St. Louis County to build the team a new domed structure failed, the franchise moved to Arizona in 1988. In 1998 second-year quarterback Jake Plummer led the Cardinals to the team's first playoff appearance since 1982 and first postseason victory since 1947.