Randy Clark | THE BIG RED ZONE

A golf outing and Memorial were held last week in honor of longtime Cardinals and Rams coach Jim Hanifan who passed away last November at the age of 87.

Many of Hanifan’s former players and fellow coaches attended the Thursday Memorial Service including Dan Dierdorf, Jackie Smith, Dick Vermeil, Carl Peterson, Luis Sharpe, Adam Timmerman, and dozens of others.

Dierdorf and Vermeil gave eulogies, Jackie Smith sang Danny Boy, and countless stories were told by friends and family into the night.

On Wednesday, the first annual Jim Hanifan Memorial Top Golf outing was held to benefit Cherish. Many former players were in attendance such as Mel Gray, Johnny Roland, Joe Bostic, Irv Goode and Willard Harrell. A good time was had by all.

Hanifan’s daughter Kathy, son Jim, and grandson Austin were in town to participate in the celebration of his life.

Hanifan was the offensive line coach for the Cardinals from 1973-1978 and was head coach from 1980-1985. He later returned to St. Louis and became the offensive line coach for the Rams under Dick Vermeil in 1997 where he would remain until 2002. A couple of years later he moved to the Rams radio booth and became a beloved straight-shooting sidekick of Steve Savard. Hanifan remained in St. Louis until his death in 2020.

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With the NFL celebrating its centennial season in 2019, the league will soon be announcing its top 100 players of all-time. I thought it would be fun to look back and rank the Big Red’s top 100 players who played in St. Louis.

The Cardinals moved from Chicago after the 1959 season and played 28 years in St. Louis before Bill Bidwill moved to the desert in 1988. Several great players played under the arch during this period including four Hall of Famers.

These rankings are only based on the player’s time spent in St. Louis. Consideration was given to the player’s statistics, All-Pro/Pro Bowl selections, team leadership, and impact in the community. It is next to impossible to compare eras, so many of these picks were very difficult.

So here goes.

The Top 100 St. Louis Football Cardinals of All-Time: 100-91

100. CARL BIRDSONG (P)

*Carl Birdsong played 5 seasons in St. Louis.*

It seemed the Big Red never took the punting position seriously. In the 1960s they used safeties Jerry Norton and Jerry Stovall, kick returner Chuck Latourette, and even Jackie Smith. In the 70s it seemed they had a new punter every season. Hal Roberts, Jeff West, and Terry Joyce among others. And then there was the Steve Little experiment in 1978/79.

After 21 seasons Carl Birdsong finally brought some stability to the position. He was an undrafted free agent out of tiny SW Oklahoma St. where he was an All-American punter. Birdsong played for the Cardinals five seasons (1981-1985) and had the longest punt in the NFL his rookie season (75 yards) as he was named to the UPI All-Rookie team. His best year was in 1982 when he averaged 43.8 yards per punt. He followed that up with a Pro Bowl berth in 1983 when he finished second in the NFL with a net average of 37.3 yards. Birdsong lost his job in 1986 in part because new kicker John Lee’s kickoffs were too short and the head coach Gene Stallings wanted someone who could punt and kick off.

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