It's been a fun run watching AZ grow into a competitive team over the last 15 years.

Bill Bidwill brought an NFL team to AZ. And that was a rad move.

But Bill was immune to criticism. He'd impressively absorb 10-loss seasons while smiling to the bank. AZ was rarely competitive. Bill's penny-pinching is why AZ earned its reputation as a retirement haven with the bargain bin arrivals of Emmitt Smith, Edgerrin James and Alan Faneca.

I remember when Michael Bidwill took over as President in 2007.

Suddenly AZ wasn't afraid to extend players like Adrian Wilson, invest into coaches, and put pieces around QB hopefuls Matt Liernart and Kurt Warner. Then he gave Larry one of the largest deals in the NFL (at the time). These decisions provided AZ with their first Superbowl appearance.

Then, despite controversy surrounding re-signing Warner in competition with an eager 49ers team paying top price, he coughed up enough coin to retain the Superbowl QB.

Michael has been the reason for AZ's competitiveness.

His era has seen the Cardinals to 5 playoff appearances, 2 NFC championship appearances, and 1 Superbowl appearance.

Before he took over in 2007, AZ hadn't seen the playoffs since 1998 and 1982. And the seasons since then had been abysmal (that 2000 season still haunts me) with 10+ losses nearly 8 years in a row.

While the 2018 and 2022 seasons have especially sucked, they're blips on an otherwise more-than-favorable trend line. Michael has not been afraid to go for it, and this franchise has been significantly better as a result.

Edit: There’s something very “Thanksgiving” about reliving this franchise’s climb to competitiveness. Happy turkey day.