Revenge of the Birds
The Arizona Cardinals are the longest tenured continuous operating pro football club in America. Only the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League have been in continuous operation longer in North America.
The Bidwill family has owned the Cardinals since 1932. Charles “Blue shirt Charley” Bidwill bought the team from Dr. David Jones, who was the second owner. A member of the Bidwill family has owned and operated the franchise ever since.
But how did the Bidwill family become owners of the franchise?
RELATED: BIDWILL OWNERS PART 1
RELATED: BIDWILL OWNERS PART 2
The first two parts are linked above. The information leading into this final part will explain quite a bit about the background of Charles Bidwill, who eventually was the VP of the Chicago Bears, his wife Violet’s ownership, the eventual takeover by Stormy and Bill Bidwill, and the Cardinals’ second NFL championship.
Here is the final part of this story.
Upon Charley Bidwill’s death prior to the 1947 NFL season, the club was now owned by his wife, Violet, who became the first female owner of a professional football team.
She took this seriously. Violet was of German and Irish descent, which meant she didn’t take anything from anybody. Violet wasn’t the type to be barefoot in the kitchen baking pies for her man when he got home from work. She was wealthy yet didn’t participate in Chicago’s social scene. Not a single photograph of her was ever published in the local paper in the society section.
However, her name and likeness were a constant in the Chicago sports pages.
Now, keep in mind, she did spend money. And she was a woman. Upon her death, her estate auctioned off 1,500 pairs of shoes, 500 coats, jackets, and furs, scores of dresses, and a matching purse and hat for every dress. In all, they let out for bid 3,000 lots of sportswear.14
At first, the other NFL owners wanted her to assign a representative to take care of business at the league meetings and be given a team vote. You know, a man.
But that was not who she was. She had been around the Cardinals for a long time with Charley. Now, she did have a sensitive side. After the Cardinals won the 1947 title, she was in tears after the game, wishing her late husband had been alive to see it. She knew how much being a part of a team meant to him.
Violet was also tough. Instead of assigning the team president or outright selling the club, she decided she would take over the family businesses.15 All of them, including the dog tracks and horse racing tracks. And that also included the Cardinals.
She ran the Cardinals in a male-dominated world, attended all owners’ meetings, was placed on committees, made suggestions, voted on league matters, and kept the team going.
Officially, she is listed as the second Bidwill to own the franchise and the fourth majority...
