Harry
ASFN Consultant and Senior Writer
When one looks at the typical NFL owner you find a person who made a great deal of money as a businessman or someone who inherited a large amount of money, or both. Bill Bidwill Sr. was neither. His family made their money from the Cardinals. In 2015 when Forbes noted his net worth at $1.4 billion, the vast majority of that worth came from owning the Cardinals. Are the Capone rumors true? Wait; what? That’s another article.
To maintain his standard of living Bidwill had to draw from the Cardinal’s profits. Whereas many other teams used much of those proceeds to improve their teams. Of course in recent years the salary cap has forced the Cards to spend similar to other teams. However even in that aspect the Cards resisted the bells & whistles other teams offered. Making it hard for years to get top free agents.
This is a team that the league had to drag, kicking & screaming, into spending competitively. Consider the case of Clyde Duncan. In the 1984 draft the Cards came up with the brilliant idea to decide how much they wanted to spend on their top pick (they usually had a high one). They found a taker for the preferred amount in WR Clyde Duncan. He lasted 2 years and secured 4 receptions. No other team signed him when the Cards dumped him. The NFL made this practice a rule violation.
This is a team that traded away one of the great RBs in history, Ollie Matson. Though he eventually wore down playing for terrible teams, his election to the Hall of Fame is a testament to his ability. The Cards got 9 players in return, only a couple of whom were serviceable. Interestingly Pete Rozelle was the Rams GM who acquired Matson. Matson responded with one great year, but the lack of surrounding talent seemed to drain his skills. I suspect some of it was the continual disappointment of not contending.
Far worse was the giveaway of Night Train Lane, thought by many to be the greatest CB ever. The Cards’ compensation was Gerry Perry, DL & a kicker. He lasted 3 years with the Cards, starting only 7 games. Again when his Cardinal career ended, his NFL career also ended. Lane played 6 more years, being chosen for 3 Pro Bowls.
In 69 seasons since 1950 the Cards have posted 19 winning seasons. Of course they’ve never won a Super Bowl. In fairness to Dollar Bill he had little control until 1960. However, even when the Cards had a chance to win bigger in STL, Dollar Bill refused to make key defensive acquisitions that required a greater expenditure; a tragic missed opportunity for one of the most exciting teams in NFL history. IMO this situation, more than any other, was why Missouri would not commit to a stadium. The story got stranger in 1985 when St. Louis mayor Vince Schoemehl took it upon himself to secure an option to buy the Patriots. He offered to execute his option and swap teams with a Bidwill but was turned down. Bidwill thought the Cards were about to turn it around. Eventually the Cards left for Arizona. Imagine how different history would be if Bidwill had accepted. In 2007 Time Magazine labeled him one of the nation’s worst sport’s executives. After mostly struggling in AZ the team has finally started to make changes in operating philosophy which may yet make them an authentic competitor.
I would be remiss, especially with today’s issues, in covering Senior’s tenure st the helm without mentioning the Cards were one of the champions in creating minority opportunities in their front office. The Cardinals were the first NFL team to have a black head coach and general manager pairing, Dennis Green and Rod Graves, and the first to have a black female executive, Adele Harris. Socially this was a progressive franchise. Bidwill was honored in 2010 by a national concern for “extraordinary contributions towards NFL diversity.”
Bidwill was also philanthropic. It was just the Cards never seemed to be one of those causes. One time Jim Hart made an appointment to seek a raise. He brought with him a folder with a well laid out case he wished to present. When he walked into Bidwill’s office, Bidwill flipped an egg timer telling Hart he had 3 minutes. Of course the end was no raise.
Perhaps Bidwill was faced with Sophie’s choice. Sell a Cardinal team I truly believe he loved or risk his family’s financial well being by investing more in that team. Now with a new stadium, huge television revenue and a hard salary cap, perhaps that choice is not as threatening. Michael Bidwill may well be free to continually move this team forward. As Cardinal fan for about 60 years, I hope that wishful thinking has become reality. I’ve found most games are more fun when you have an authentic chance to win.
To maintain his standard of living Bidwill had to draw from the Cardinal’s profits. Whereas many other teams used much of those proceeds to improve their teams. Of course in recent years the salary cap has forced the Cards to spend similar to other teams. However even in that aspect the Cards resisted the bells & whistles other teams offered. Making it hard for years to get top free agents.
This is a team that the league had to drag, kicking & screaming, into spending competitively. Consider the case of Clyde Duncan. In the 1984 draft the Cards came up with the brilliant idea to decide how much they wanted to spend on their top pick (they usually had a high one). They found a taker for the preferred amount in WR Clyde Duncan. He lasted 2 years and secured 4 receptions. No other team signed him when the Cards dumped him. The NFL made this practice a rule violation.
This is a team that traded away one of the great RBs in history, Ollie Matson. Though he eventually wore down playing for terrible teams, his election to the Hall of Fame is a testament to his ability. The Cards got 9 players in return, only a couple of whom were serviceable. Interestingly Pete Rozelle was the Rams GM who acquired Matson. Matson responded with one great year, but the lack of surrounding talent seemed to drain his skills. I suspect some of it was the continual disappointment of not contending.
Far worse was the giveaway of Night Train Lane, thought by many to be the greatest CB ever. The Cards’ compensation was Gerry Perry, DL & a kicker. He lasted 3 years with the Cards, starting only 7 games. Again when his Cardinal career ended, his NFL career also ended. Lane played 6 more years, being chosen for 3 Pro Bowls.
In 69 seasons since 1950 the Cards have posted 19 winning seasons. Of course they’ve never won a Super Bowl. In fairness to Dollar Bill he had little control until 1960. However, even when the Cards had a chance to win bigger in STL, Dollar Bill refused to make key defensive acquisitions that required a greater expenditure; a tragic missed opportunity for one of the most exciting teams in NFL history. IMO this situation, more than any other, was why Missouri would not commit to a stadium. The story got stranger in 1985 when St. Louis mayor Vince Schoemehl took it upon himself to secure an option to buy the Patriots. He offered to execute his option and swap teams with a Bidwill but was turned down. Bidwill thought the Cards were about to turn it around. Eventually the Cards left for Arizona. Imagine how different history would be if Bidwill had accepted. In 2007 Time Magazine labeled him one of the nation’s worst sport’s executives. After mostly struggling in AZ the team has finally started to make changes in operating philosophy which may yet make them an authentic competitor.
I would be remiss, especially with today’s issues, in covering Senior’s tenure st the helm without mentioning the Cards were one of the champions in creating minority opportunities in their front office. The Cardinals were the first NFL team to have a black head coach and general manager pairing, Dennis Green and Rod Graves, and the first to have a black female executive, Adele Harris. Socially this was a progressive franchise. Bidwill was honored in 2010 by a national concern for “extraordinary contributions towards NFL diversity.”
Bidwill was also philanthropic. It was just the Cards never seemed to be one of those causes. One time Jim Hart made an appointment to seek a raise. He brought with him a folder with a well laid out case he wished to present. When he walked into Bidwill’s office, Bidwill flipped an egg timer telling Hart he had 3 minutes. Of course the end was no raise.
Perhaps Bidwill was faced with Sophie’s choice. Sell a Cardinal team I truly believe he loved or risk his family’s financial well being by investing more in that team. Now with a new stadium, huge television revenue and a hard salary cap, perhaps that choice is not as threatening. Michael Bidwill may well be free to continually move this team forward. As Cardinal fan for about 60 years, I hope that wishful thinking has become reality. I’ve found most games are more fun when you have an authentic chance to win.
