Bill Bidwill's life revolved around the Cardinals.
It's fitting that his name will now be immortalized inside their stadium.
The team's late owner will be the 19th person to be inducted into the Cardinals Ring of Honor when the ceremony will be held at halftime of the Cardinals' regular-season opener Sept. 11 against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Bidwill will join his father, Charles, who owned the team from 1933 until his death in 1947, in the Ring. Bill Bidwill owned the team from 1962 – when he shared it with his brother Stormy until he bought it outright in 1972 – until his death in 2019.
"During his lifetime, he did so many great things, not only for the game of football but for diversity, equity and inclusion," said current Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill, Bill's son, who appeared on the "Mike Broomhead Show" on KTAR Friday morning. "The game we know today, was made through a series of decisions made over decades (in the NFL) and my father was a part of all of those decisions and negotiations."
Bidwill, who died at 88, originally worked with the Cardinals as a ballboy. He started working full-time for the franchise in 1960 after he graduated from Georgetown and a stint in the Navy.
His time with the Cardinals was marked with a love of charity – usually out of the spotlight – and an owner at the forefront of diversity in hiring. In 2004 Bidwill was the first to hire both a Black General Manager in Rod Graves and a Black head coach in Dennis Green at the same time.
Bidwill was also the first NFL owner to hire a Black female executive (Adele Harris) and a Black contract negotiator (Bob Wallace).
In 2010, Bidwill was given the Paul "Tank" Younger award from the Fritz Pollard Alliance, for Bidwill's commitment to racial and gender diversity within NFL job opportunities.
He moved the franchise from St. Louis to Arizona in 1988, and brought in son Michael to help build a new stadium, with the vote passing in 2000. In 2008, the Cardinals won the NFC Championship and reached their lone Super Bowl.
The other 18 already in the Ring of Honor: Charles W. Bidwill, Sr. (Owner), Jimmy Conzelman (Coach), tackle Dan Dierdorf, running back John "Paddy" Driscoll, running back/defensive back Marshall Goldberg, wide receiver Roy Green, quarterback Jim Hart, cornerback Dick "Night Train" Lane, running back Ollie Matson, running back Ernie Nevers, quarterback Carson Palmer, safety Pat Tillman, running back Charley Trippi, quarterback Kurt Warner, cornerback Roger Wehrli, cornerback Aeneas Williams, safety Adrian Wilson and safety Larry Wilson.
