{"id":923831,"date":"2026-06-20T08:33:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T08:33:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/923831\/"},"modified":"2026-06-20T08:33:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T08:33:15","slug":"arizona-cardinals-fly-athletes-coaches-to-special-olympics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/923831\/","title":{"rendered":"Arizona Cardinals fly athletes, coaches to Special Olympics"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>June 19, 2026, 9:01 p.m. MT<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The <a data-autotag=\"c6331531-478d-4c7a-b93a-28f5b26af3f9\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdata.usatoday.com\/football\/nfl\/teams\/arizona-cardinals\/355\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-t-l=\":b|e|k|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\">Arizona Cardinals<\/a> have used their team plane in the offseason to do some good. Partnering with\u00a0the team\u2019s affiliate Gridiron Air, they joined the Special Olympics Airlift and sent more than 140 athletes and coaches from Arizona to Minneapolis for the 2026 Special Olympics USA Games.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">They departed on Friday, and it was the first time in its 40-year history that a widebody aircraft has participated in the Airlift, allowing an entire delegation of athletes and coaches to fly as one team on a single flight. The Cardinals also became the first professional sports team to offer its aircraft to transport the athletes as part of the Airlift.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">They arrived in Minnesota and will return to Arizona on June 27.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">ABOUT THE SPECIAL OLYMPICS AIRLIFT:\u00a0The Special Olympics Airlift brings together Cessna, Beechcraft and Hawker customers, along with partners across the aviation industry, to remove barriers and ensure athletes from across the country can take part in the USA Games. Since the Airlift\u2019s inception in 1987, this remarkable initiative has transported more than 10,000 athletes and coaches to the Special Olympics USA Games. For many, the journey is more than travel \u2014 it is the moment they arrive knowing they belong. Learn more about the airlift at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/airlift.txtav.com\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-t-l=\":b|z|k|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\">https:\/\/airlift.txtav.com\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"gnt_em gnt_em_gl gnt_em__el\" href=\"http:\/\/cardswire.usatoday.com\/picture-gallery\/sports\/nfl\/cardinals\/2026\/06\/19\/arizona-cardinals-send-special-olympic-athletes-coaches-to-minnesota\/90625973007\/\" data-t-l=\"\u2691g:l|l|c|view gallery:inline promo\" aria-label=\"View Gallery - Cardinals fly athletes, coaches to Special Olympic games\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><img class=\"gnt_em_gl_i\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" data-gl-src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/90625979007-photo-12.jpg\" data-gl- decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" width=\"660\" height=\"372\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire&#8217;s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on<a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/27gxR7Oml5yVPywhOG8KHR?si=cGJ0FN6aRBquiLus5nj7rw&amp;nd=1&amp;dlsi=05e790ef05a641b8\" data-t-l=\":b|z|k|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Spotify<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/music.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PL9sICHPD_aT9zxnG7dJj6izJWgMhLMh_U&amp;si=rpNldnLNN-_DdW8R\" data-t-l=\":b|z|k|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">YouTube<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/go.skimresources.com\/?id=83224X1595658&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fitunes.apple.com%2Fus%2Fpodcast%2Fthe-rise-up-see-red-podcast%2Fid670822447%3Fmt%3D2&amp;xcust=SC1-SCAR&amp;sref=https%3A%2F%2Fcardswire.usatoday.com%2Fstory%2Fsports%2Fnfl%2Fcardinals%2F2026%2F06%2F19%2Farizona-cardinals-fly-athletes-coaches-to-special-olympics%2F90624707007%2F\" data-v-afl=\"\" data-t-l=\"\u2691f:b|z|k|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Apple podcasts<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Need a news break? <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-t-l=\":body nav (play)|e|auto spike click:6|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_sp_a\" href=\"https:\/\/play.usatoday.com\/?itm_source=SPIKE&amp;itm_campaign=PLAYSPIKE&amp;itm_medium=ONSITE\">Check out the all new PLAY hub with puzzles, games and more!<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"June 19, 2026, 9:01 p.m. MT The Arizona Cardinals have used their team plane in the offseason to&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":923832,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2078],"tags":[95878,375,390,2604,1327,7,12933,6,119454,95973,95974,95882,95890,120509,95895,107490,95906,102362,108944,95883,95881],"class_list":["post-923831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arizona-cardinals","tag-accessfree","tag-arizona","tag-arizona-cardinals","tag-arizonacardinals","tag-cardinals","tag-football","tag-mn","tag-nfl","tag-sourcecards-wire","tag-sstssportsnflcardinals","tag-sstsncardinals","tag-tagamerican-football","tag-tagarizona-cardinals","tag-tagminneapolis","tag-tagnfl-hub","tag-tagolympics","tag-tagoverall-positive","tag-tagpeople-society","tag-tagspecial-olympics","tag-tagsports-news","tag-typestory"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116781514991984218","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=923831"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923831\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/923832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=923831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=923831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=923831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}