Professional football (gridiron) oldest existing professional football club is the Arizona Cardinals, a current member of the National Football League. The Cardinals organization, which was originally based on Racine Street in Chicago, has operated near-continuously since 1913, but counts an earlier team that played from 1898 to 1906 as part of its history. The Watertown Red & Black is the oldest semi-professional club, tracing its history to 1896. While the practice of professional and semi-pro teams playing college and amateur teams was common in the 1890s, the Amateur Athletic Union began pressuring and threatening college teams with the loss of amateur status if
2012 Louisville Cardinals football team 2012 Louisville Cardinals football team The 2012 Louisville Cardinals football team represented the University of Louisville in the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Cardinals were led by third-year head coach Charlie Strong and played their home games at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. They were a member of the Big East Conference. They finished the season 11–2, 5–2 in Big East play to finish in a four-way tie for the Big East championship. As the highest rated of the four Big East champions in the final BCS poll, the Cardinals received the conference's automatic bid into a BCS