If you walk around downtown St. Louis today, you'll see a sea of cardinal red. But it’s almost always for the baseball team. Most younger fans don't even realize that for 28 years, a completely different "Big Red" called the city home. We're talking about the football St Louis Cardinals, a franchise that exists now as the Arizona Cardinals but left behind a wild, frustrating, and occasionally brilliant legacy in Missouri.
They weren't just a footnote.
From 1960 to 1987, the "Gridbirds" provided some of the most electric—and heartbreaking—moments in NFL history. They shared a name and a stadium with the baseball Cardinals, which created a confusing branding situation that would never happen today. Honestly, it was a weird era. You had two teams with the exact same name playing in the same building. Fans basically just called the football guys "The Big Red" or the "Cardiac Cards" to keep things straight.
Why the Football St Louis Cardinals Still Matter
It is easy to look at the history books and see a team that rarely won in the postseason. That is the "official" story. But the actual experience of being a fan in St. Louis during those decades was about a lot more than just the final score. The team arrived from Chicago in 1960 because the Bidwill family couldn't compete with the Bears. St. Louis was a fresh start.
The 1960s were actually pretty good to them. They had stars. Larry Wilson—the man who basically invented the safety blitz—was a local god. He used to play with broken hands. Literally. He once intercepted a pass with both hands in casts. That’s the kind of grit the football St Louis Cardinals were built on.
The Air Coryell Years and Offensive Magic
If you want to know when this team was truly special, you have to look at the mid-70s. Don Coryell arrived as head coach in 1973 and changed everything. Before he went to San Diego and became a legend there, he turned St. Louis into an offensive powerhouse. They called them the "Cardiac Cards" because they had this habit of winning games in the final seconds. It was thrilling. It was exhausting.
The roster was stacked:
- Jim Hart: A quarterback who didn't look like much but had a cannon for an arm.
- Terry Metcalf: A versatile running back who was basically the Christian McCaffrey of 1975.
- Dan Dierdorf: A Hall of Fame tackle who went years without allowing a sack.
- Conrad Dobler: Widely considered the "meanest man in football." He’d bite you if he had to.
They won the NFC East in 1974 and 1975. They were legitimate contenders. But here is the kicker: they never hosted a playoff game. Not one. Because of how the NFL rules worked back then, they always ended up on the road, and they always ended up losing. It’s one of those "what if" scenarios that haunts older fans.
The Messy Divorce: Why They Left
By the mid-1980s, things got sour. Bill Bidwill wanted a new stadium. Busch Memorial Stadium was great for baseball, but it was small for football. The sightlines were weird. Revenue from luxury suites—which was starting to become a huge deal in the NFL—wasn't there.
Bidwill started looking at other cities. Baltimore wanted them. Phoenix wanted them. Memphis was in the mix. Fans in St. Louis felt betrayed, and attendance started to tank. It’s hard to cheer for a team that already has one foot out the door. Honestly, the relationship just crumbled.
In March 1988, the NFL owners voted 26-0 to let the team move to Arizona. Just like that, nearly three decades of history was packed into moving vans. St. Louis was left without a team until the Rams showed up in 1995, and we all know how that ended.
What Most People Forget
People think the football St Louis Cardinals were always bad because they didn't win a Super Bowl. That’s not true. Their winning percentage in St. Louis (.481) was actually better than their time in Chicago or their early years in Arizona. They were a middle-of-the-road team that had flashes of absolute greatness.
The "Big Red" era gave the NFL:
- The safety blitz (thanks to Larry Wilson).
- Modern pass protection schemes.
- The concept of a high-flying, pass-first offense.
Practical Insights for Sports Historians
If you're looking to collect memorabilia or research this specific era, you have to be careful. Because they shared a name with the baseball team, many "St. Louis Cardinals" items from the 60s and 70s are mislabeled on eBay and at estate sales.
- Check the Logo: The football bird is usually more "aggressive" and tilted forward. The baseball bird is more upright.
- Look for "Big Red": This was the unofficial branding used primarily for the football team to distinguish them.
- Verify the Manufacturer: Authentic jerseys from this era were often made by Sand-Knit or Rawlings.
The football St Louis Cardinals might be gone, but they aren't forgotten by the people who sat in the stands at Busch Stadium. They were a gritty, high-scoring, frustrating, and beloved part of the city's fabric. If you want to understand the modern NFL, you have to understand the "Cardiac Cards."
Next Steps for Research:
- Watch Larry Wilson's highlight reels to see the origin of the modern safety position.
- Look up the 1975 NFC East standings to see how a 11-3 team still didn't get a home playoff game.
- Visit the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame website to see the full list of "Gridbird" inductees.