William V. Bidwill - Arizona Cardinals' Owner

Cardinals team owner William V. Bidwill looks on from the field before Super Bowl XLIII.

William V. "Bill" Bidwill, Sr. (born July 31, 1931) is the principal owner and chairman of the board of the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League. He was part-owner from 1962 to 1972 with his brother Charles, Jr. and has been sole owner since 1972.

Veterans Day never has lost its meaning to Cardinals President William V. Bidwill. The U.S. Navy veteran served his country on active duty from December, 1954 to December, 1956, a source of life-long pride.

“Veterans Day has special meaning, not for myself, but for those who served both before and after me and didn’t get to come home,” offers Bidwill, who joined the U.S. Navy Reserve in May of 1950.

Bidwill has fond memories of his time in the Navy, often prompting excursions during his travels. For instance, last weekend while the Cardinals were in Pittsburgh, Bidwill took time Sunday morning en route to Heinz Field to visit the Carnegie Science Center where the USS Requin (SS-481) is located. The 56-year-old WWII vintage submarine was one of 16 submarines that were part of Submarine Squadron 6, along with the submarine rescue vessel USS Kittiwake (ASR-13), and the submarine tender USS Orion (AS18, where Bidwill was stationed in Norfolk, Virginia.

Each February and March, the Orion and its squadron would relocate from Norfolk to St. Thomas for Operation Springboard, a continuous winter naval exercise operated in the Caribbean Sea. In March of 1956 while in St. Thomas, Bidwill, who compiled the newspaper for the Squadron, was recruited by the Requin’s commanding officer, Henry Bress, to run the ship’s office on the Requin.

“I took a day training trip on the Requin that March in which naval air units participated in anti-submarine training against the Requin,” recalls Bidwill. “During the lunch hour we settled at 200 feet and I ate lamb curry for the first time ever. Bress tried to convince me on that trip to stay and run the ship’s office, but in the end I decided to stay at my position as the editor of the Squadron newspaper.”

Although Bidwill opted against becoming a full-time member of the Requin, he did pass one of the key qualifying tests.

“They used to say if after you went through three hatches and hit your head on them, then you weren’t a prime prospect,” explains Bidwill. “But after the first three, if you had made it through without hitting your head, then you were a good prospect. I passed that test which isn’t easy. You have to hike your leg up almost if you were about to clear a track hurdle and then duck your head so you don’t hit the top of the hatch.”

Fortunately for most museum guests, the Requin now has been equipped with stairs for entry and exit, but Bidwill decided to go through the bulkhead hatches the old way.

“After the first two, I decided to go through the hatch old style,” he shares. “For the first two, I sort of did a side-saddle step to get my nerve up, but then I went through the next two old style.”

Bidwill salutes all American military veterans on their day, thanking them for their service.

William V. Bidwill’s association with the Cardinals began as a child ball boy on Chicago’s South Side and continues today as owner.

A native of Chicago, Bill Bidwill presides over the oldest continuously-operated professional football franchise. Founded in 1898, the Cardinals join the Chicago Bears as the only two remaining charter members of the National Football League (1920). As his involvement with the team continues through its eighth different decade, the current one has to rank among the most memorable. The Cardinals have finished .500 or better in four of the last five seasons. They captured back-to-back division crowns in 2008 and ’09, won their first NFC title and advanced to the Super Bowl for the first time in team history following the ’08 season.

The Cardinals have remained in the Bidwill family since Bill’s father, Charles, a prominent Chicago sports

figure and member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, purchased the team in 1932. Charles ran the club until his death in the Cardinals’ NFL championship year of 1947. Charles’ wife, Violet, then guided the franchise’s fortunes for the next 15 years, followed jointly by sons Bill and  Charles, Jr. (Stormy). Bill became sole owner in 1972.

Named a Cardinal vice president during his undergraduate days at Georgetown University, Bill Bidwill returned to Chicago from the Navy in 1956 to begin assisting family interests that included football. When the Cardinals moved to St. Louis in 1960, Bidwill returned to the organization on a full-time basis.

Bidwill continues to have a daily presence at the Cardinals training facility and is a popular fixture at team events, charity function and football activities. This past December he received an honorary doctorate from Northern Arizona University.

Bidwill was credited with bringing Super Bowl XXX to Arizona on January of 1996 and the region again hosted the title game when Super Bowl XLVII was played at University of Phoenix Stadium in February of 2008.

An active supporter of various civic and charitable organizations and endeavors, Bidwill directed the formation of Cardinals Charities, the team’s organization dedicated to supporting worthy Arizona causes, shortly after the Cardinals arrived in the state.

He also serves on the Player Dire Need Fund committee as well as the Hall of Fame Committee. In August of 2007 he was named to the Board of Trustees for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the governing body of the Canton-based organization.

Bidwill and his wife, Nancy celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in September of 2010. They are the parents of five children and have nine grandchildren.

Parents

His father, Charles Bidwill, owned the team from 1932, then known as the Chicago Cardinals, until his death in 1947.His mother, Violet, authorized business partner Ray Bennigsen to carry on management of the team. Violet Bidwill married St. Louis businessman Walter Wolfner in 1949. In 1960, Violet moved the Cardinals to St. Louis. Bill and Charles inherited the team after their mother's death in 1962, and served as co-owners until Bill purchased it outright in 1972. Among NFL franchises, only the Chicago Bears and New York Giants have been controlled by one family longer than the Cardinals.

Education

Bidwill was born in in Chicago, Illinois. He went to Georgetown Preparatory School, then was in the United States Navy until 1956. He went to college at Georgetown University. After his graduation, he moved to St. Louis a few months before the Cardinals moved there.