The team was founded in 1946 by local players returning from World War II.

The second incarnation of the Cardinals entered the Interstate Football League as an expansion team in 1968.

Between 1977 and 1984, the Cardinals won 72 straight regular season games, including five perfect seasons, a record for non-collegiate football,[5] although there is record of at least one loss in that time frame, to the Racine Gladiators in the 1981 Minor Professional Football Association championship.

[6] In 2006, after a reorganization of the American Indoor Football League that saw the departure of the Syracuse Soldiers, the Cardinals were asked to fill two holes in the schedule.

Their second game against league powerhouse Reading Express had a similar result, a 74-0 loss.