It’s been more than 30 years since the Arizona Cardinals moved to the Valley and hundreds of players have donned the Sedona red and white since.
The 35-year run in Arizona has seen the Cardinals make the playoffs six times, reaching the Super Bowl in 2008 and the NFC Championship Game in 2015.
And the team’s fast start in 2021 allowed for a strong kickoff to the Arizona betting apps era.
Of the players that have made up the Cardinals’ Arizona tenure, few have made a bigger impact on the franchise than cornerstone players like wideout Larry Fitzgerald and quarterback Carson Palmer, who played for 22 seasons between them.
BetArizona.com, which provides coverage of Arizona sportsbooks, looked at the Cardinals players who have become the most popular across North America over the past decade.
BetArizona.com utilized AhRefs and Google Trends to see the search volume over the past decade of each Cardinals player during that era. Once receiving the results, we averaged out the ranking across the two categories to get the Top 10.
For purposes of getting popularity that represents time with the Cardinals, only players with at least two full seasons with the Cardinals during the 2013-to-2023-time frame were counted.
Most Popular Cardinals Players of Last 10 Years
Fitzgerald Still Dominant Figure
Unsurprisingly for those that have been around the Valley in the 21st century, Fitzgerald leads the way as the most popular Cardinal of the past decade.
The two-time All-Pro wideout finished ahead of other longstanding Cardinals players, like Palmer (who finished second), Kyler Murray (fourth), Tyrann Mathieu (sixth), Chandler Jones (eighth) and Calais Campbell (ninth).
Of the Cardinals’ top 10, Fitzgerald (third overall in 2004), Murray (first overall in 2019), Mathieu (69th overall in 2013), Patrick Peterson (fifth overall in 2011) and Campbell (50th overall in 2008) were selected by Arizona in the NFL Draft.
Others, like Palmer, J.J. Watt, DeAndre Hopkins, Chandler Jones and James Conner — came to the Valley via NFL free agency.
Of the 10 most popular Cardinals since 2013, Fitzgerald had the biggest impact on the franchise, hauling in 1,432 catches for 17,492 yards and 121 touchdowns across 263 games.
The 11-time Pro Bowler finished his run with the Cardinals with the second-most receiving yards and receptions of any wideout in NFL history, while ranking sixth overall in terms of receiving touchdowns.
Because of his popularity, Fitzgerald was one of the local faces of the most recent Super Bowl held at State Farm Stadium in Phoenix in the shadow of the BetMGM Sportsbook Arizona retail location.
Palmer guided Arizona to the playoffs twice in his five-year run with the franchise, including a 13-3 campaign in 2015 that saw the former USC quarterback post a career high in passing yards (4,671) and touchdowns (35).
Mathieu posted career highs for pass deflections in a season (17) and solo tackles (80) during his third year with the Cardinals in 2015, before moving on to play for Houston, Kansas City and New Orleans.
Watt finished his career in the Valley, appearing in 23 games across two seasons between 2021 and 2022, while Hopkins has played 35 games with Arizona since joining the franchise from Houston in 2020.
During that stretch, Hopkins has caught 221 passes for 2,696 yards, with 17 touchdowns.
All made their mark in distinct ways in the Valley, endearing themselves to fans of the franchise along the way.
