ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - They may have left for the desert 32-years ago, but the love for the St. Louis football Cardinals lives on in the Gateway City. On Sunday, fans of the Big Red will gather at Circa Pub and Grill in Des Peres to remember the Gridbirds and meet some of the players they cheered on at Busch Stadiums I and II.
The Big Red Alumni and Fan event is being organized by Bob Underwood, who runs the "@BigRed_STL" Twitter account and the St. Louis Football Cardinals Facebook and YouTube pages.
Underwood says they had a couple of events in the area last year and the players really seemed to like it. "A lot of them are older and they feel like the fans don't really remember them. So, they come out. The fans come out. These guys sign autographs. They love to talk about the past, their playing days.
Fans of the football team that called St. Louis home from 1960 to 1987 will certainly remember those who are expected to be there Sunday. Jim Hanifan. Johnny Roland. Mel Gray. Bob Rowe. Ron Yankowski.
"Jackie Smith usually shows up toward the end," Underwood says, "just kind of walks in quietly. Should be a good time."
For Underwood, his love of the Big Red dates back to the mid-70's. "I started watching them probably in '73 or '74 when they were pretty good and lived through the bad years, more bad than good."
He says in about 2012, as a disgruntled Rams fan, he started a Facebook page. "It started with some photo albums of the players and games. I got a ton of photos and videos of past games and its grown into a Twitter page. YouTube. There's a blog."
He says former players like Gray, Roland, Tom Banks and Roger Wherli participate in the group page. "What I really didn't envision, a lot of the older players, their children and grandchildren are on there. So, when its their birthday I'll post something about their birthday and I get all kinds of comments from their grandkids."
Underwood says now that the Rams have left, the history of the football Cardinals is coming alive again. "It is the way they (the Rams) left. With (Dallas Cowboys owner) Jerry Jones' involvement in how they left and (NFL Commissioner) Roger Goodell. I think there's been a lot of bad publicity with the NFL over the last few years. I think it's really turned a lot of people off here."
Sunday's event gets underway at 1pm. Underwood says it will last until 4 or 5pm "Or whenever Jackie Smith comes in and decides to go."
Circa Pub and Grill is located at at 1090 Old Des Peres Rd, right off 270 and Manchester.