[1], The first attempt to get a team back in St. Louis came in 1991, when the city submitted a package to the NFL. The owners can take their teams, but they can't take the memories. The seven-time Pro Bowler had great hands and deceptive speed. For the 1978 season, Bidwill hired Bud Wilkinson, famous for building a football dynasty in 17 seasons at the University of Oklahoma. Enter your email and we'll send you exclusive predictions and analysis. At the time, the Rams were playing in Anaheim Stadium, to which the team had moved in 1980 from the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and which had required a massive reconstruction in order for the Rams to be able to play in what was originally only intended to be a home for the California Angels. The Trans World Dome, which the completed stadium became known as, opened on November 12, 1995, with a game against the expansion Carolina Panthers. New stars emerged in Larry Wilson, Charley Johnson, Jim Bakken, Sonny Randle, and Jim Hart. © 2020 NFL Enterprises LLC.
The Cardinals finished 4–11–1 in 1986, but improved to 7–8 in 1987, falling just one win shy of the playoffs, losing 21–16 on the final Sunday of the season to the Cowboys. The Cardinals and Rams became divisional rivals in 2002 after the NFL realigned from six divisions to eight; this meant that the Cardinals, now in the NFC West, would play one game in St. Louis annually until the 2015 season, when the Rams announced that they were moving back to Los Angeles. However, St. Louis had not had a professional football team since the early days of the NFL, and tickets were difficult to sell. • Linebacker: James Laurinaitis, Dale Meinert, Larry Stallings, • Free safety: Keith Lyle (smiling, lower right, after the Super Bowl win on Jan. 30, 2000).
Bill Bidwill wasn't an ideal owner — far from it. Because of its dual use as an extension of the America's Center convention center, the field continued to use AstroTurf, a long-outdated brand of artificial turf that was used primarily for its ability to be easily moved and rolled up into storage, even after its most recent renovations (most other stadiums had already gone to permanent FieldTurf or similar installations by this point; it was eventually converted to an AstroTurf-branded surface that more resembled FieldTurf, though this dark surface only increased the dreary feel of the stadium). In nearly a half-century of NFL football in St. Louis — first the Cardinals (1960-87), then the Rams (1995-2015) — there were more losses then wins. Here was how Jim Thomas covered that game. The controversial touchdown against the Redskins under a full moon sparked the Cardiac Cardinals to a 20-17 victory in overtime. The Cardinals got off to a good start, and tied the Cleveland Browns 33–33 on the road. Three years after the NFL was founded in 1920, it accepted the St. Louis All-Stars as a franchise for the 1923 NFL season. Orthwein did not want to own the team if he could not move it, and Kraft initiated a hostile takeover that resulted in his purchase of the Patriots in 1994.
Although St. Louis had been considered a favorite to land a team, the NFL instead announced in 1993 that the Charlotte and Jacksonville groups were declared the winners and that the Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars would begin play in 1995.
But in death, they learn of his great life. And now, enshrined at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Broke the Rams' rookie record with nine sacks in 2014 en route to NFL defensive rookie of the year honors. A blend of size, power, quickness and athleticism, Carter was adept at playing the run and the pass. When your nickname is Big Game, you better deliver. History of the Los Angeles Rams St. Louis Rams Kansas City Chiefs He arrived as a Los Angeles Ram and quickly became a St. Louis legend. If only all No. Team stars from the 1970s included Wehrli, wide receiver Mel Gray, and running backs Terry Metcalf and Jim Otis. He was selected for both the NFL’s 75th and 100th anniversary teams. Shortly after the Rams left, the Raiders also left to move back to Oakland, where they had last played in 1981. Known as the "practically perfect" tight end, Smith could run past or through defenders and was an excellent blocker. Just ask Brett Favre — Williams returned two interceptions for TDs in the playoff game vs. the Packers. Chicago Cardinals owner Violet Bidwill had married St. Louis businessman Walter Wolfner in 1949, two years after inheriting the team from her late first husband, Charles Bidwill. The official source for NFL news, video highlights, fantasy football, game-day coverage, schedules, stats, scores and more. The NFL conducted a survey of St. Louis, and concluded that it was capable of supporting a team. The Patriots had long been in financial malaise since original owner Billy Sullivan, who was still the team president during Kiam's ownership, had squandered all of his net worth on a series of bad investments in the mid-1980s and was forced to sell the team to Kiam and Foxboro Stadium to Robert Kraft.[4].
Went from stocking grocery shelves, to the Arena League, to backing up Trent Green, to leading the Greatest Show on Turf to a pair of Super Bowls. Fletcher (No. St. Louis finished 1983 at 8–7–1, including victories over the eventual Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Raiders and the Seattle Seahawks, who lost to the Raiders in the AFC championship game; the team also lost in meetings between the two NFC Championship game participants, the NFC champion Washington Redskins and their opponent, the San Francisco 49ers. Bill Bidwill became sole owner in 1972 and owned the team until his death in 2019.
Customized picks for NFL pick’em contests (weekly and season long). With the city of St. Louis having begun construction on the new domed stadium that they had discussed in their expansion bid, Orthwein was set to leave New England at the end of the 1993 season. The Vikings scored 16 points in the first seven minutes of the second half and cruised to a 30–14 victory. But Wilkinson, who had been out of coaching since retiring from the Sooners following the 1963 season, could not turn the Cardinals around. In 1970, the Cardinals were placed in the new NFC East division following the completion of its merger with the AFL. St. Louis started 1978 with eight straight losses and finished at 6–10, and Wilkinson was fired in 1979 with the Cardinals at 3–10 and last in the NFC East. The 1987 season is remembered for a stunning comeback, rallying from a 28–3 deficit against the Buccaneers by scoring 28 points in the fourth quarter for a 31–28 victory. Advertising executive James Orthwein, a St. Louis native and member of the Busch family, bought the New England Patriots in 1992 from Victor Kiam to resolve a debt between the two men. There were two attempts to get a team with that name in St. Louis, which had been without a professional football franchise since the end of the 1987 season, when the Cardinals left the city to move to Phoenix, Arizona . Orthwein's plans to move the team were thwarted when Kraft refused to let Orthwein out of the long-term lease that he had secured from Kiam and Sullivan as part of his purchase of the stadium. During the Cardinals' tenure in St. Louis, they were locally called the "Big Red", the "Football Cardinals", or "the Gridbirds" in order to avoid confusion with the baseball team.[1]. The New Orleans kid who once sold popcorn in the Superdome shattered records, won a Super Bowl, and cemented a Hall of Fame legacy here. [2] With this loss, the Cardinals were dethroned from the divisional lead and became the first NFC team to reach 10 wins without qualifying for the playoffs. The Cardinals raced out a 7–0 record to open the 1974 season and won the NFC East championship—their first division or conference title since their unsuccessful title defense of 1948—on the strength of a season sweep of the Redskins. [4] Nonetheless, Cardinals fans were unhappy at losing their team, and Bill Bidwill, fearing for his safety, stayed away from several of the 1987 home games. Hanifan would return triumphantly to St. Louis 14 years later, serving as offensive line coach during the St. Louis Rams' Super Bowl championship season in 1999. A ballhawk of the highest order with 52 career interceptions, including picks in seven straight games in 1966. 21 in photo above, during the 1974 playoff game at Minnesota), • General manager: Charley Armey (2000-05), • Owners: Georgia Frontiere (1995-2008; shown above with coach Dick Vermeil and the Lombardi Trophy). A unique aspect of this move was that in addition to the NFL's blessing, the Bidwills needed permission from their new city's long-established baseball team in their new city to share the "Cardinals" nickname. For the history of the team before 1960, see, History of the football team now known as the Arizona Cardinals when in St. Louis, The NFL returns to St. Louis, and then leaves. The St. Louis Stallions was the name of a proposed National Football League (NFL) franchise which was to have been located in St. Louis, Missouri, in the early 1990s. Long before he became an accomplished broadcaster, Dierdorf made six Pro Bowls and the NFL's all-decade team of the 1970s. This is significantly higher than how much the Rams were talked about across all … In 1966 (the team's first in the newly-opened Busch Memorial Stadium), the Cardinals were in first place in the Eastern Conference with an 8–2–1 record, but a loss to the Dallas Cowboys, who went on to win the conference title, started a three-game losing streak to end the season, leaving St. Louis at 8–5–1.
St. Louis has been the home of four National Football League (NFL) franchises.