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
Wesleyan Cardinals football Wesleyan Cardinals football The Wesleyan Cardinals football team represents Wesleyan University in the sport of American football. It is a member of the Division III New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) and competes against traditional Little Three rivals Amherst and Williams. Wesleyan is one of the 39 founding members of the NCAA. The Cardinals’ home field, Andrus Field, is the oldest continuously used American football field in the world. (It is also the oldest continuously used baseball field in the world as the Wesleyan baseball team also uses Andrus Field.) Bill Belichick '75 - Head Coach of the NFL's