Cartersville Cardinals

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The Cartersville Cardinals were founded in 1971 as they bought the team from then owner Scott Childers. The old franchise name was the Arizona Trojans who had been a playoff team in the OTFBA in it's inaugural season. Due to retirements and free agency, the new Cardinals were left with a shell of the playoff team and had to start anew with the draft.

The first move made by new owner Gary Foley was to trade a All-Star player to move up in the draft and add a little bit of talent. That player was DE Bubba Smith. Bubba, along with potential Hall Of Famer CB Lem Barney and CB Jim Duncan for  potential star TE Raymond Chester, tough DE Pat Toomay and S Charlie Greer as well as moving up in the 1st round and getting an extra pick in the 2nd round. This move was designed to help the team become stronger in 1972 and supply some talent for this year, also.

The first draft for the Cardinals was not a star studded affair but was used to set the team up to be stronger in the years to come. The Cardinals use their first ever pick to select multi-talented RB Vic Washington. They then went for linemen in the next few picks. The rest of the draft tried to fill holes and set up the future of the team. Only time will tell......

Well, the 1971 season was a total wash! The team had way to many holes to even fight to be mediocre. They finished 3-11 and tied for last in the division. This, of course, allowed the Redbirds with the forth overall pick in the 1972 draft.

In the 1972 draft, the rebuilding continued as the Cardinals took potential star ILB Jeff Siemon. Siemon has the potential to lead the Cardinals defense for a better part of a decade. Also of note, the Cardinals said goodbye to QB Bob Griese and hello to QB Terry Bradshaw in a trade of good QB talent. "We felt that Bob was wasted here on a rebuilding team and felt Terry fit our future needs." Owner Gary Foley stated.

The 1972 season did show some improvement. The Cardinals fought to stay around .500 all season. Unfortunately, the Redbirds were able to win some surprises, but lost to some teams they should have beat. Overall, with the talent still thin, they held their own for a 5-7-2 season.

The 1973 draft had the Cardinals in the 10th slot. In that slot fell the young talented OT Leon Gray. The Cardinals pounced! With this move, the Cards traded veteran tackle Dave Foley to division rival Charlevoix for their 1st round pick and RB Oscar Reed. This slot was quickly used to pick CB Joe Lavender, who projects to be a very good corner for years to come. So, the boys in red tried their best to fill holes on both sides of the ball and, at the same time, set the stage for future victories! Time will tell.........