Longest time as Cardinal fan

[FrustratedFan04]

55 years. 1st game at Comiskey Park in 1957.

 

[Duckjake]

They didn't even have cakes man back then, they were more worried about getting eaten by wild animals.

We're talking before computers, in some cases before TV. They played toy soldiers, not Xbox. Back then Slinky's were made out of steel and could hurt a **** (especially when you stretch that thing amongst friends). "Go play outside" meant go out out into the wilderness and get lost youngin', just make sure you're back before dinner.

Too true. My Dad hung a bell on our back door and my Mother would ring it when it was time for us to come home from an afternoon of rock fights.

One good thing about being old. We got to shoot bottle rockets at each other.

 

[desertdawg]

1966 for me.

I was born and lived in Oklahoma for the first 13 years of my life.

I came out of the crib rooting for the Oklahoma Sooners. OU football had been down for about 3 yrs. after Bud Wilkinson left as HC and ran unsuccessfully for the US Senate in Oklahoma.

IIRC in 1966 the Sooners started to re-emerge and I got caught up in enthusiasm and really got excited about this.

Except one game on Sunday wasn't enough. I needed an NFL team to root for. About this time the Dallas Cowboys were starting to come into their own as a franchise team and the local sports segment on the news each evening this would be touted ad nauseam. To me as a devoted Sooner fan this was deeply troubling.

I was in the 5th grade and 2 things I knew about Sooner football was that the Texas Longhorns and the Oklahoma State Cowboys were our arch enemies! How could they be touting the Dallas Cowboys on the local sports report when they were 1. in Texas and 2. the Cowboys???? Blasphemy I tell ya!

So I turn on the TV one Sunday afternoon and lo and behold there is a team in Red jerseys playing those hated Cowboys. Hey..."I like those jerseys...just like the Sooners-Red! They're from St. Louis too!"

In comes my dad and he sits down and starts watching the game with me. I tell him I'm really starting to like this team in Red..the Cardinals.

Before too long in comes a player for the Cardinals named Prentice Gautt. My dad says "Prentice Gautt. He played for the Sooners!" I said what??? He did?? "Yep he sure did" he says.

Now I'm REALLY starting to like this team! Fast forward about 3 months or so. My mom taught 8th grade English at a Jr. High in the OKC school district (we lived right outside of OKC). One day she comes home from school and I'm laying on the floor watching a Leave It To Beaver episode as was my daily routine. She says "get up and go check your suit and make sure it is clean and ready to go because Prentice Gautt is coming to our church this Sunday to give a talk to our Fellowship of Christian Athletes group and then afterwards he's coming to our house. You need to be looking sharp for this!"

I raised up from the floor and said "Prentice Gautt is NOT coming to our church or our house this Sunday. You don't even KNOW Prentice Gautt!!!"

She glared at me and said "what did you just say?" I then foolishly repeated it and she quickly informed me that I was indeed wrong and this was going to happen!

Long story I know. You don't expect your mom to come home and tell you that a pro football player you saw on TV a few months earlier is coming to your house to pay you a visit! I thought she was playing me!

My mom knew Prentice Gautt as a teacher and I believe he was friends with a coach at her school and their paths crossed and they became friends.

Wow what a day that was! After church he and I rode in his car to my house! I was so excited! I asked him a hundred questions about Larry Wilson, Charley Johnson, John David Crow, Pat Fischer, Sonny Randle, Bobby Joe Conrad and on and on. He was such a great and kind man..he answered all of my questions and smiled the whole time!

Prentice later went on to become Asst. Commissioner of the Big 8 conference. I believe he got his Masters from University of Missouri too.

He passed away a few years ago and I was reading about him and it turns out Bud Wilkinson was like a father to him. Gautt was the 1st African-American football player to get a scholarship to OU. Back then that took a lot of courage for Wilkinson to sign him to a letter of intent and to give him a scholarship. His freshman year was 1955 shortly after Brown vs Topeka. I think there is a study center at OU named after him too.

I always wondered (I asked my Mom to ask him this but she didn't get a chance to) if Prentice had anything to do with Bud Wilkinson being named HC of the St. Louis Football Cardinals in 1978.

He was a great man.

This was a great story man.

Fun read, much respect BigRed. Wow there is a lot of OGs up in here.

 

[MrYeahBut]

Fun read, much respect BigRed. Wow there is a lot of OGs up in here.

Old or not, I could still take you out punk... straight up!!!

 

[Duckjake]

Fun read, much respect BigRed. Wow there is a lot of OGs up in here.

Winning attracts fans. From 1960-1970 the Cards had six winning seasons out of 11. By comparison from Coryell's departure to CKW's 2nd season, a period of 30 years, the Cards had three winning seasons.

So does a city getting a new team.

That's why you see so many who became Cards fans in the '60s, during the Coryell years, and in '88 when the team moved to Arizona. Not so many the rest of the time.

 

[JeffGollin]

Winning attracts fans. ...So does a city getting a new team. That's why you see so many who became Cards fans in the '60s, during the Coryell years, and in '88 when the team moved to Arizona. Not so many the rest of the time.

Jersey Girl, I think, will confirm that a bunch of South Jersey/Philly people became Cardinal fans because of Buddy.

 

[Cards Czar]

Too true. My Dad hung a bell on our back door and my Mother would ring it when it was time for us to come home from an afternoon of rock fights.

One good thing about being old. We got to shoot bottle rockets at each other.

We used to use old wiffle ball bats that at some time got bent and were no go to play ball with. They made great aiming devices. Bottle rockets where great but Geese rockets where the best!!

 

[Crazy Canuck]

No way! I probably saw you play as a youngster CC. Me & my dad used to attend alot of those games at Fair Park...crazy world.

I was there for two years, then took a Hockey Canada scholarship to return to University and play for Team Canada. Later did a few years in the WHA.

 

[BW52]

I remember QB Charlie Johnson had been drafted and could only play Sundays game. No practice. Can you imagine that today? I think it was '62 or '63?
Who played opposite WR Sonny Randle? I seem to remember he was pretty good too.

Bobby Joe Conrad and Billy Gambrell backed them up.

 

[WisconsinCard]

It was the early 70's for me I too loved all those come back wins.

 

[Twist18]

I was 7 years old and started watching the Cards in 1975. I used to go to Charleston (where I live now) to watch the Big Red practice. Got to meet Al "Bubba" Baker, one of the coolest down 2 earth guys u would ever meet.

 

[English on tour]

About 1985 when I was old enough to stay up late and watch C4 and listen to sctratchy Forces radio over here. Early hero was Neil Lomax.

 

[BigRedArk]

This was a great story man.

Thanks Darkside! Glad you liked it!

 

[BigRedArk]

Fun read, much respect BigRed. Wow there is a lot of OGs up in here.

Ha ha yeah there is Dawg! Glad you liked it! I usually shake my head and explain to people that I'm a glutton for punishment being a football Cardinals fan all these years!

 

[Longcolts]

I've been a Arizona Cardinals fan since 1988.

Prior to that I was a Cowboys fan because those were the games televised locally in Phoenix.

Pretty much the same here. I became a Cowboy hater after Jones fired Tom Landry unceremoniously. I always felt that the man that held the record for consecutive winning years (22 years in a row I believe) should have been given the opportunity to retire instead. I've always felt that was a classless move by Jones.

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

'73 for me. I was a kid and Terry Metcalf was my first ever favorite player.

 

[Buckybird]

'73 for me. I was a kid and Terry Metcalf was my first ever favorite player.

for those who never got to see how electrifying old #21 was as a RB, KR, PR & threat out of the backfield they really missed out. Too bad he couldn't stay healthy, left for greener pastures & had drug issues.

 

[Crazy Canuck]

for those who never got to see how electrifying old #21 was as a RB, KR, PR & threat out of the backfield they really missed out. Too bad he couldn't stay healthy, left for greener pastures & had drug issues.

Terry made a lot of money in the CFL.

 

[Duckjake]

for those who never got to see how electrifying old #21 was as a RB, KR, PR & threat out of the backfield they really missed out. Too bad he couldn't stay healthy, left for greener pastures & had drug issues.

Don't forget his son Eric's kick return vs San Diego helping the Cards into the playoffs after they'd tried to give the game to the Chargers.

 

[JeffGollin]

for those who never got to see how electrifying old #21 was as a RB, KR, PR & threat out of the backfield they really missed out. Too bad he couldn't stay healthy, left for greener pastures & had drug issues.

Terry arrived at the end of steady series of feature RB's that started with Charley Trippi and progressed thru John David Crow, Prentice Gautt and Johnny Roland.

He was smaller than the standard Cardinal prototype - & lightning quick and tricky with the ball in his hands.

I was skeptical - fearful that Terry was too small. Boy was I wrong!

 

[Darkside]

Ha ha yeah there is Dawg! Glad you liked it! I usually shake my head and explain to people that I'm a glutton for punishment being a football Cardinals fan all these years!

You and some of the other OG's on here are going to live to be 100+ and when they interview you and ask what your secret to longevity is you're going to be all, "I've been a Cardinal fan for over 80 years, that hardens the soul. If you can take that you can withstand anything."

 

[BigRedArk]

You and some of the other OG's on here are going to live to be 100+ and when they interview you and ask what your secret to longevity is you're going to be all, "I've been a Cardinal fan for over 80 years, that hardens the soul. If you can take that you can withstand anything."

For real brother... for real!

 

[gnomepete]

Does anybody remember Willis Crenshaw? I remember one game where he went off for mucho yards and several touchdowns where the Cards blew out another team (which wasn't real common in that era).

Pete

 

[BigRedArk]

Does anybody remember Willis Crenshaw? I remember one game where he went off for mucho yards and several touchdowns where the Cards blew out another team (which wasn't real common in that era).

Pete

Yeah i remember him and had forgotten about him till now Pete. He was a pretty good RB IIRC. I think the game you might be talking about was against the NY Giants the last game of the season in....1968 or 1969. He tore up the Giants that game!

 

[Duckjake]

Yeah i remember him and had forgotten about him till now Pete. He was a pretty good RB IIRC. I think the game you might be talking about was against the NY Giants the last game of the season in....1968 or 1969. He tore up the Giants that game!

Yes it was 1968. Crenshaw went LeShon Johnson on the Giants rushing for 162 yards and 3 TDs. It was the only game of his 7 year career where he rushed for over 100 yards. People talk like using 2 running backs is a new deal in the NFL. The Cards usually had two guys splitting carries every year in the '60s.