Arizona Cardinals get road named after them

There’s a new stretch of road in Glendale that now bears a name in honor of the Arizona Cardinals

Not exactly a surprise given that the Arizona Coyotes have a short stretch of road with their name on it, but now the Arizona Cardinals have one as well.  A stretch of road near State Farm Stadium will be now called Cardinals Way.

Bethany Home Road between 83rd and 99th avenues is now going to bear that name.  It is interesting that stretch starts at 83rd avenue, a good mile to the east of the stadium.  99th avenue is just over to the west on the other side of the 101 freeway that runs north and south west of the stadium.

It isn’t as so much surprising that the Cardinals finally got a road named after them as to the timing of this announcement.  The Cardinals are coming off a 3-13 season, their worst since moving to the desert 31 years ago.

They’ve been a tenant of State Farm Stadium going on 13 years now.  Certainly it is an honor anytime a road is named for you, but one has to wonder if the City of Glendale did this more for them or for the team?

No doubt this is great public relations work by the city.  But this really feels like something that should have been done years ago, say maybe around the time they were in the Super Bowl or how about that time just three years ago when they went to the NFC Championship Game?

Whatever, what’s done is done. It took two name changes to the stadium before anything was settled on the road that goes by the stadium to the south.   It is a nice gesture by the city no matter when it took place though.

If not for anything else, it will help identify for fans who don’t live near the stadium or are from out of town, just how close they are getting to the stadium.  Hopefully the next road named near the stadium will be a north-south thoroughfare named after Cardinals receiver great Larry Fitzgerald after he retires.