were you ever a fan of a different NFL team before??

[TheCardinal]

Always the Cardinals, as far back as I can remember, since the early 80s.

Originally from New Jersey. My father grew up in the Bronx and he was a lifelong Giants fan and season ticket holder. My older brother liked the Cowboys and so I guess I saw a lot of the old NFC East — I liked the Cardinals’ uniforms and have been a fan all my life. They moved, I moved, first to Florida, and now just happen to live in St. Louis.

 

[Phrazbit]

When I was a kid I loved watching the Detroit Lions but it was only because of Barry Sanders.

Also, even in the Phoenix market, the Lions were on TV far more than the Cardinals were.

 

[JerkFace]

In the mid to late 80s (age 8-12ish) I was a HUGE Broncos fan. My room was adorned with pictures of Elway and Mecklenburg, I had the broncos trash can as well as a giant orange bed comforter. Although I wasn’t as big of a fan in the 90s I was still super happy when they finally won their two Super Bowls. I couldn’t care less about the Broncos now though.

 

[Krangodnzr]

I started watching football at about 9 years old and AZ didn’t have a team. Every week the Cowboys were in TV and I loved their helmets. So it was kind of a natural choice at the time.

When the Cards moved to AZ my mom bought me season tickets as a birthday gift that year. Went to every game for the first 3 seasons and never looked back. Was a true Cards fan ever since. My hometown team...

I liked the Cowboys first too.

I moved to Arizona in the early 90s and didn't really know much about football. The Cowboys were the great team at the time so I thought they were cool, but I didn't really pay much attention until Buddy's last season.

Season finale Cardinals-Cowboys. I was just starting to like living in Arizona and I realized that I was pulling for a team from another state.

 

[JCSunsfan]

I grew up a fan of ASU football and Frank Kush. Didn't pay much attention to pro ball much except that I hated the Cowboys because everyone else was a Cowboys fan and that's all we would get on TV. I rooted mildly for the Vikings just because I had a Fran Tarkenton card I thought was cool.

I did have a paper route in elementary school and JD Hill was on my route.

When the Suns came to town, I jumped on. Then a family member began working in the front office and so I followed even more closely. Family member still is a direct report to Michael. And no, I never get insider info.

 

[BritCard]

What about the "abroad" guys? @BritCard, @QuebecCard , and @juza? How in the heck did they become Cardinals fans?

I was always aware of the NFL of course but never really followed it until about 2012. I was always more a soccer fan, but I became more and more disillusioned with the huge transfer fees and crazy salaries some teams could pay which meant the same teams dominated year after year. It was actually the salary cap that drew me to the NFL and how all teams have an equal opportunity to be good.

Then for a few years I didn't follow a particular team. I kinda just watched who was entertaining at the time and who was on TV here. There was quite a bit of Denver, KC, Green Bay Dallas etc then as the Cards got better in the BA years I started catching them more and liked what I saw with guys like Calais, Fitz, Palmer, Badger etc. I've always tended to lean towards the underdog and here was this historically poor team playing some really nice football with a colorful HC and some great players. That's when I became a Cards fan, then about a year later it was cemented with All or Nothing which from here was the first major inside look at the Cardinals operation.

 

[TRW]

Before they moved here the Cards were my favorite team. Started following them around 1964 or so because my dad was a St. Louis Cardinals baseball fan, so it just translated to the football Cards. Dad liked the Packers in the Lombardi days.

Back in the day I was a fan of players more than teams. The QBs mostly. Bart Starr, Johnny Unitas, Fran Tarkenton, John Brodie, Roman Gabriel, Joe Kapp to name a few. The guys who were animals like Deacon Jones, Dick Butkus, Alex Karras, Rosie Grier, Bubba Smith, Ray Nitski, etc. (I'm sure I butchered a couple of those names). Back when most football was played outside and those winter games became muddy messes especially, it seemed, in Chicago and Detroit. Couldn't hardly see the numbers on the jersey by the end of the game.

Those were great days Sunday afternoons, watching games with Dad and, later, my boys. I was cursed with a Dallas fan (my oldest son) and a Raiders fan (my 3rd oldest son) in my house but they switched to the home team when the Cards came to town. My 2 boys and I had season tickets one year back in the SDS days and it was great fun. Couldn't afford them ever again unfortunately.

This thread sure opened a lot of fond memories. I got to see them in a Super Bowl once, now I'd like to see them in a Super Bowl and end up the winner this time. This...could...be...the...year...(I hope).

 

[cardpa]

After watching the 64 Cardinals win the WS over the hated Yankees, I was made aware that there was also a St. Louis Cardinals football team. I was 6 years old at the time. Been a fan ever since. The Raiders were my favorite AFL/AFC team for many years, but they were never even close to the Cardinals for me.

Funny, I was exactly the same except it was the 1967 WS over the Red Sox and then became aware there was a St Louis football team and have followed them ever since. I always had a soft spot for the Bengals.

 

[schutd]

When I was three years old @ 35th Ave and Thunderbird Rd, new neighbors moved in from PA. Steelers fans, Their son and I remain friends to this day. Grew up rooting for Pittsburgh. Converted to Cards immediately in 1988.

 

[Ronin]

Yes. 49ers.


Don't ban me bro.

 

[Bkbobo]

Growing up in Tennessee, before the Titans, I followed the Cardinals. Wasn't a huge football fan as a child. But, once I joined the military and was around a lot of football nuts and I stuck with the then Phoenix Cardinals and never looked back!

 

[StreetTruckinTitan]

Born and raised in Phx. I was a casual Cowboys fan up until 1988 only because they were top dog in the area. That all changed when the Cards came and I never looked back.

 

[gimpy]

When I was young (born and raised in AZ), all I can remember watching on TV were the Cowboys. I could not stand them for some reason, except when Danny White and Bob Bruening played for them. Then I only kinda liked them.

The team I really liked and followed was the Baltimore Colts and Johnnie U. Hated it when Namath and the Jets beat them in the championship game. But, I did like some of the big names in the game as someone has already mentioned.

I kinda liked, but didn't really follow the Cards until they moved to AZ. In the back of my head, I would rather have seen them give phoenix/Arizona a new franchise rather than an old team that moved here.

 

[ajcardfan]

When I was a kid I loved watching the Detroit Lions but it was only because of Barry Sanders.

Also, even in the Phoenix market, the Lions were on TV far more than the Cardinals were.

True. Home games were almost never televised in Phoenix.

 

[Dback Jon]

I grew up in Central Illinois a Bears Fan. When I moved to Flagstaff to go to school, Arizona didn't have a team, so keeping my Bears Fandom was a no-brainer.

I went to the SF home game the first year the Cards where in town, started following them. Took a few years, but by the time I moved to Phoenix in 1996, I was 100% a Cards fan

 

[QuebecCard]

What about the "abroad" guys? @BritCard, @QuebecCard , and @juza? How in the heck did they become Cardinals fans?

As a kid, I was in the NFC East TV territory and gravitated to the mid-70's 'Cardiac' Cards.

 

[Jersey Girl]

Cards have always been my number one since they moved to AZ, which is when I started to really pay attention to football. I did have a little infatuation with the Colts for a few years when Jim Harbaugh was QB. That was dumb.

 

[Totally_Red]

I was a Kurt Warner fan all along. He's from my home town. So for awhile I also cheered for the Warner-led Rams.

But my Cardinals fandom goes back to the Jim Hart days and actually the end of the Charley Johnson days 1961-9.

 

[Totally_Red]

My Dad was a cardinal fan when they were here in Chicago. When they moved to St. Louis my dad and uncles would drive down to St. Louis for a couple of games a year and he started taking me with. I was 11 or 12. My dad passed away in 1982. I could never change teams. He would haunt my ass! Lol. Oh and do you know I hate the Bears!

As a kid all I ever got from the NFL on TV was the Bears every Sunday. I despise them and the "They are what we thought they were" game was torture.

 

[Son of RedRage]

Know it doesn't quite count, but I've always had like, side teams? Loved the Vikings when they had AP. Loved those first 2 years of the Mahomes Chiefs. Not quite the same kind of love that I have for the Cardinals.

 

[Krangodnzr]

Know it doesn't quite count, but I've always had like, side teams? Loved the Vikings when they had AP. Loved those first 2 years of the Mahomes Chiefs. Not quite the same kind of love that I have for the Cardinals.

I used to have side teams until the Cardinals would play the side team and then I would walk away hating the side team.

For a bit I liked the Panthers too, but that passed after having so many losses to the Panthers.

 

[Cardsfaninlouky]

I started watching the Cardinals in 1976 when I was in the 2nd grade & I've been a fan ever since.

 

[mncardfan1]

I started watching the Cardinals in 1976 when I was in the 2nd grade & I've been a fan ever since.

Ha! This is my story too, accept I may have been in 1st grade. Of course I grew up in St. Louis area so they were the home town team. My family moved to AZ in 1986 when I was in HS and I believe the Cardinals followed us either that same year or the next year. Another connection (at least I think it's cool) is that I was born in Chicago, and they used to be the Chicago Cardinals. I tell people the Cardinals will be in MN soon because we have this connection.

 

[AZ Native]

Born and raised in Phoenix. Without an NFL team I did not have a favorite team for a long time. However, our game of the week here seemed to always be Dallas. Then in the 70's I started following the Cowboys for 2 main reasons. QB Danny White was from ASU (as was I) and middle linebacker Bob Breunig went to Alhambra High school while I was there. When they left I went back to not having a favorite team until the Cardinals arrived in 88 and it has been all Cards since then.

 

[Cardsfaninlouky]

Ha! This is my story too, accept I may have been in 1st grade. Of course I grew up in St. Louis area so they were the home town team. My family moved to AZ in 1986 when I was in HS and I believe the Cardinals followed us either that same year or the next year. Another connection (at least I think it's cool) is that I was born in Chicago, and they used to be the Chicago Cardinals. I tell people the Cardinals will be in MN soon because we have this connection.

Them being in St. Louis & me living in Louisville just made sense. I loved that bird logo on the side of the helmet & that kinda sucked me in. I've grown accustomed to the new logo but I do miss the old one & the old unis. I graduated high school in 1987 & they moved to Phoenix in 1988.