What year did you become a Cardinal fan?

[40yearfan]

1962. I was always a baseball Cardinals fan from a young guy on. I graduated high school in 1960, but I was still involved in basketball pickup games from time to time. One of my friends invited me to a game that involved some of the football Cardinals. I went home with more bruises and contusions than if I had been in a fist fight. I did start watching football after that and got hooked on the Cardinals.

 

[Hollywood]

'96 for me....I feel like such a newbie.

 

[Iceman]

2008. Super bowl run. Jk. 88 for me too. Pumped when they came here

 

[phillycard]

77 First game watched was Cards/Skins. Loved the helmet. Fell in love with the bird and the red and white. Never looked back. Love my Sixers, Phils, and Flyers to death. Grew to despise the eagles more than any sports team in the universe and still do.

 

[desertdawg]

1962. I was always a baseball Cardinals fan from a young guy on. I graduated high school in 1960, but I was still involved in basketball pickup games from time to time. One of my friends invited me to a game that involved some of the football Cardinals. I went home with more bruises and contusions than if I had been in a fist fight. I did start watching football after that and got hooked on the Cardinals.

Miss you man.

 

[ajcardfan]

I became a complete Cardinals fan when they moved here.

Before that, I liked their uniforms and really wanted them to beat the Cowboys when they played. I spent eight years of my life in Texas surrounded by Cowboys fans. So, my favorite team was "whoever plays Dallas this week" and then the Kansas City Chiefs. I also liked the Houston Oilers. I gave up caring about the Chiefs and Oilers/Titans pretty quickly once the Cards got here.

There's nothing like being able to go to NFL games in your own town and rooting for the home team. Something a large % of our population here has yet to understand. Although, it has certainly gotten better for the Cardinals and it will continue to get better as people die off and are replaced by the kids in this city who are growing up to love the Cardinals.

 

[Cardinal Bob]

1974.

 

[phillycard]

Question for the "88ers". Did you guys find it easy to toss aside your fandom for whatever NFL team you followed before the Cards came to Phoenix? I can't imagine following a team wholeheartedly for 10+ years only to say "see ya later" when a new team arrives. I applaud and love you guys that have, but I was always curious about that.

 

[TruColor]

1969. We were living in Columbia, MO...moved shortly thereafter to Indiana, where I remained a die-hard. Lived in Texas, Southern California, Illinois, Colorado and now Minnesota since; will always be loyal no matter where I live.

 

[gamebird98]

1973

 

[NJCardFan]

77 First game watched was Cards/Skins. Loved the helmet. Fell in love with the bird and the red and white. Never looked back. Love my Sixers, Phils, and Flyers to death. Grew to despise the eagles more than any sports team in the universe and still do.

You and I are in the same boat. But right now the Sixers are making it very, very tough.

 

[Gee!]

Question for the "88ers". Did you guys find it easy to toss aside your fandom for whatever NFL team you followed before the Cards came to Phoenix? I can't imagine following a team wholeheartedly for 10+ years only to say "see ya later" when a new team arrives. I applaud and love you guys that have, but I was always curious about that.

I casually watched the 49ers before the Cards got here. Wasn't hard to switch to Cardinals when they got to PHX.

 

[TJ]

I became a fan the day ASFN allowed polls on its threads.

 

[RugbyMuffin]

Question for the "88ers". Did you guys find it easy to toss aside your fandom for whatever NFL team you followed before the Cards came to Phoenix? I can't imagine following a team wholeheartedly for 10+ years only to say "see ya later" when a new team arrives. I applaud and love you guys that have, but I was always curious about that.

I was a front runner for the most part till I decided on a team.

I watched:

- Giants <-- father's team.
- Jets
- Bills
- Chargers
- Cardinals

and here I stay. It was easy because I really didn't get into rooting/watching/analyzing/talking football till the end of my college years. Sundays were usually filled with sports I was playing, chasing women, and being a general young man with interests.

Once I started the daily grind of work, I found the oasis that is NFL football on Sundays. My father and I always said that when you look for a new team to root for, pick the worse team in the league, and root for them.

Thus the Cardinals were pretty bad, but they had just beaten the Aikman/Smith/Irvin Cowboys, and I knew one thing, I HATE the Cowboys. Then I discovered (at least back then) the pure, raw, and powerful hatred that a lot of Cardinals fans had for Cowboys fans, and I was hooked.

These days it is just loyalty and the fact that the Cardinals always play the strangest/most interesting football games in the league. Thus not only is it easy to stay with them because of loyalty, but they are entertaining.

 

[LittleDavis]

I believe it was 1982. I live where the Cards held training camp back then. I was 9 and it was an amazing experience to have these guys infiltrate my small college town. Back then, training camp was longer and more secluded. Those guys adopted myself, my lil bro and a few others. Wayne Morris, OJ, Stump, Neil, Curtis, EJ, Cedric, Lionel, Roy, Pat, Earl etc...I use to bring Wayne Smith pez candies almost everyday. He still owes me a jersey. Niko Noga was a beast. Al Bubba Baker was a joker. I once told rookie Jay Novacek that he had no chance to beat out Eddie Mcgill or Greg Lafleur...I was kid. Endless stories...have been a die hard ever since.

 

[D-Dogg]

Followed them when they came in 88, but became a diehard fan in 96 when working the Cards Camp during the summers in Flagstaff while going to NAU. Was just an awesome experience being close to players and coaches for a few summers.

 

[vince56]

'93. The first Cardinals I remember being a fan of were Chuck Cecil, Steve Beuerlein, Ricky Proehl, Gary Clark, and Eric Hill.

 

[Shaggy]

1988. The year they moved to AZ.

Same here.

'93. The first Cardinals I remember being a fan of were Chuck Cecil, Steve Beuerlein, Ricky Proehl, Gary Clark, and Eric Hill.

Chuck Cecil was a hitting machine! He was by far the most fear safety in the league back then. Man he was fun to watch! Sucks he only played for the Cards for like one season.

 

[Wildfire]

Born and raised in Baton Rouge. Used to sit in the car and strain to listen to KMOX out of St. Louis when the Cardinals played. My first memory of the Cardinals was when Charlie Johnson was the QB and the Cardinals signed a kid named Jim Hart.

I've been a loyal fan ever since and will be till the day I die.

By the way, I now live in the Dallas area and HATE the cowboys with a passion. Went to the Cowboys game this year, a GREAT win, and got to meet up with Buckybird and a number of other great Cardinal fans.

 

[Capital Card]

Question for the "88ers". Did you guys find it easy to toss aside your fandom for whatever NFL team you followed before the Cards came to Phoenix? I can't imagine following a team wholeheartedly for 10+ years only to say "see ya later" when a new team arrives. I applaud and love you guys that have, but I was always curious about that.

I was a Dallas fan in the 70's while growing up in Killeen, Tx. Moved to Kansas in 79, and became a Dolphin fan, because a friend of mine liked them. Moved to Arizona in 87 (ASU) and wanted to support a west coast team. (49ers were too trendy) so I became a Seahawk fan for 1 year (same year that Boz came out.)

Cards came to town in 88, so it was easy to ditch the Seahawks for a hometown team.

Oddly enough, my wife, from S.Florida, is a Dolphin fan, and I think I know more about their team than she does.

Go Cards!!!

 

[desertdawg]

Question for the "88ers". Did you guys find it easy to toss aside your fandom for whatever NFL team you followed before the Cards came to Phoenix? I can't imagine following a team wholeheartedly for 10+ years only to say "see ya later" when a new team arrives. I applaud and love you guys that have, but I was always curious about that.

I was a Bears fan, I tried to root for both when the Cards came here but eventually there was only room for one crappy team in my heart, and that was the Cardinals. Crazy 88!!

 

[Shaggy]

I was a Detroit fan only because of Sanders. I really didn't have a favorite team that I was hard core into. So it was an easy transition for me.

 

[Buckybird]

1974 when I saw the Cards beat the Cowpies in Stl. The logo with that staring eye lured me in...the eye still reminds me of Coryell when he was pissed & glaring at his players & opposition.

40 years of ups, downs & comeback win after comeback win. The Cardiac Cards will always be a big part of my life!!!

 

[AzStevenCal]

I grew up hating one NFL team, the Cardinals. The Cowboys were staples on Phoenix area TV and the SOB that raised me was from Senath, Missouri and a diehard Cards fan. So, easy call for me. But then the Cards moved to Tempe and the SOB died. I immediately claimed them as my team but I really didn't become a diehard fan until the 2nd round of the 97 draft.

Steve

 

[daves]

Used to sit in the car and strain to listen to KMOX out of St. Louis when the Cardinals played.

Heh, I did that too, while i was in grad school in Atlanta from '87-'91. Had to drive my car to the top of a hill for three hours to hear the static-y broadcast fade in and out!

Growing up in southeastern PA, i started rooting for the exciting team with the red and white uniforms in the early '70s when the Cardiac Cards were on TV fairly often, playing the Eagles and other NFC East teams, and on Monday Night Football a few times. Most of my friends were front-running fans of the Steelers, Cowboys, Vikings, or Raiders. I literally never knew another Cards fan for the first 30 years of rooting for the team!

Once they started sucking (almost immediately after i adopted them as my team!) my only exposure to the Cards came from walking a mile or so to a drug store that carried Pro Football Weekly, then loitering in the store while i looked for the little blurb about how they had once again snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, and the preview of the upcoming game... which i was sure "this time for sure" they would find a way to win.

It wasn't until bars began carrying the Sunday Ticket in '94 that i was able to watch every Cardinals game for the first time in my life. I caught them in person a few times on the east coast (Atlanta, Philadelphia) but now that i live in southern California, it's been great to have been able to catch a dozen or so games, mostly at U of P. Even better to see them having sporadic, and now consistent success!

...dbs

P.S. It's funny how many people chose to root for the Cardinals because of the coincidental fact that they were co-located with the baseball team of the same name for a while! If they had moved to New York and called themselves the Yankees for 25 years, they'd probably be the most popular team in the league (and the most despised)!