The Cardinals football team was aptly named after the uniform colors when they faded. I do not think they were thinking of the Cardinal bird until the late 1930's. But the color cardinal is a very old and classic medium crimson color that has been around for awhile and worn by the Cardinals in religious sects. So basically he did name the team after the color of the jerseys.
And yes, I love Michigan's colors. I was reminded how the Chargers in 1985, the Pacers in 1990, and any other team switch to this type of color. I always loved the Rams royal blue and athletic gold and Michigan's navy blue and athletic gold colors when they wear it because both look beautiful and I am a sucker for the athletic gold colors clashing well with the blues, browns, and greens (mostly Oregon's classic colors).
My only problem is the oversaturation of it done with the Rams color rush. I wish they had navy blue pants to go along with the athletic gold color rush. Then in 1997-ish when the Pacers switched their home whites to home athletic gold which was brillant.