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
1892 Iowa Agricultural Cardinals football team 1892 Iowa Agricultural Cardinals football team The 1892 Iowa Agricultural Cardinals football team represented Iowa Agricultural College (later renamed Iowa State University) as an independent during the 1892 college football season. The 1892 season was the first in which an organized group of athletes represented Iowa State in football. However, the team did not engage in intercollegiate football, playing only two non-collegiate teams and compiling a 1–0–1 record. The team played a town team from State Center to a 6-6 tie and defeated a team representing the Des Moines YMCA by a 30-0 score. Dr. Ira C. Brownlie was both