I had to bump this one to the front page.

I’ve been a Cardinals fan since the mid 90’s (when I gained football consciousness). I’ve always lived in Texas and growing up in Cowboy country has never been easy but my pure football heart wouldn’t allow me to root for such a dirty franchise (especially those mid to late 90’s Cowboys teams). I latched onto the Cardinals and never looked back. I’ve taken my share of strange looks and criticism over the years but at least we’ve had bragging rights over the Cowboys for 10 years.

Great story Hawk. Your writing style’s great. Keep em coming, I’d love to hear your recountings of some of the best and worst memories as a Cards fan your whole life.

Good stuff.

Just one question though – why the f*&^ are you a Cardinals fan again? Lol. Just kidding. My favorite baseball player was Chris Sabo. He was legally blind, wore Rec Specs, and waddled when he walked to the plate. I guess we can’t always choose who we fall in love with.

Nice job Hawk. This is a cool thread idea.

I’m not going to lie here. For I’ve really only been into football for about four years. Before that, if anybody asked who my team was, I would respond with something like “Whoever plays the Cowboys any given week.” Around the 2005 season or so, I began following the fall tradition of watching football every Sunday with friends, and just naturally latched on to the Cards as the home team.

I must be either old fashioned or just simply too proud of my Arizona heritage to root for any other city in any sport. But I don’t have the same passion for the D-backs, Suns or ‘Yotes. I root for them of course, and will gladly go to a game if anyone’s got extra tickets. (Hell, I’ll even buy the beer.) For some reason though, I just can’t seem to really get into those sports like I do football. Maybe its that the Cards are the perrenial underdogs that sparked something in my soul. Hopefully, that will change eventually and I can learn to root for a winner.

Since the beginning, my love for the Cardinals had grown steadily from simply rooting for them whenever I could catch a game to where I follow every offseason activity and transaction. Here I am now in 2008 as a first time season ticket holder, and I can never imagine being a fan of any other team.

When I was a kid growing up, I was always a big Bills and Greenbay fan. I rooted for the Packers because I loved Favre, and rooted for the Bills because they were playing the Cowboys every year in the Super Bowl. To be honest though, I didn’t even really get into football until high school. My dad was always into other things. I was subjected to hours of any kind of racing possible (Awesome Bill from Dawsonville). In high school, my buddy Joe was a huge Cardinals fan and I started following them then. I started playing ball myself junior year, and actually made quite a name for myself in the two years in HS. From that point it was all about College ball and I stopped following the NFL. After playing ball out in at a smaller school in Iowa on scholarship, I ended up coming back to Phoenix and playing on a traveling team. During that time, my head coach was good friends with the head coach of the Ottawa Renegades. He came down to see a guy we had on the team who was a phenomenal athlete with legitimate 4.2 speed, who was return specialist and Nickel DB. Well, Herby ended up getting called up to Canada and played two seasons with that team. However, the game that the coach sat through I ended up owning a former pro who was just tuning up before going back on the market after an injury. The coach loved what he saw but already had too many linemen under contract until the end of the current season. He told me to bulk up a bit and if I am still around next season they wanted to pull me up. Unfortunately, I never got the chance because of a debilitating genetic condition. Having to end my career prematurely and still a deep passion for the game, I moved on to follow the Cardinals incessantly. They are my team, and I love the direction they are going. I think they will be a force to be reckoned with for some time to come and I have never been this excited before a pro season.

I remember a friend watching espn with me one day and saying that team really sucks. When I looked up at the tv, it was the Cards getting scored on yet again on the highlight real. I told him that they didn’t suck and bet that they would win the superbowl the next year. I have always been a fan of the under dog and there was no other under dog as low as the Cards then. I started following them and haven’t looked back. It got even worse when I got deployed to Iraq. We had the AFN (armed forces network) which showed only certain games. Being 8 hours ahead there I would sometimes be the only one in the tent at 3am watching any game where I could see the Cards score flash across the screen. You wouldn’t believe the grief I got for that. I didn’t care. At the moment I realized I didn’t just like the Cards, I was a fan. When I got home a year later, I really started following the Cards. My wife still doesn’t understand it. But obviously you guys do. Thanks again for this site.

and I new it wouldn’t last forever. There are a million other stories like mine so I don’t feel sorry for myself. I got a great life and great family. I bounced around from HS to college though. I played Guard and TE in HS, and in college I played LT and I backed up the punter to save a roster spot for the coach. Played a little LB and DL too after college.

Im Irish, and discovered the wonderful world of football in 04 when I bought Madden.. and for some reason I always played as the Cards. Shortly after I followed the team into the depths of the Denny Green era.. and sit now at home in my fitz jersey. It probably helps that in Ireland no-one knows who the hell the Cards are

Plan to visit Arizona next year and get to a game..

I’ll gladly breakdown the o-line. I am TIVOless and my world is crumbling.

2 punts in college 49.5 yard avg. LOL, look out Dirk:-)

My Realisation that I was a Cards fan came in 1999 at Miami’s Pro Player Stadium.
I was a Dolphins fan since I started watching football back in Ireland during Marino’s first season. When I moved to Arizona in 92 – I adopted the Cards as my second team and went to as many games as possible (it wasn’t difficult to get tickets back then).
I always cheered the Cards on but would look out for the Dolphions scores on the stadium scoreboard.

So when I arrived in Miami to see my first Dolphins game in the flesh I was with a bunch of Cardinals fans that had made the trip from Phoenix and I was having fun ribbing them about getting beaten by “My” team. About half way through the first quarter I realised that I had been cheering every play by the team in Red and that I could really care less what Marino and Co. were doing. So I gave my Dolphins cap to the person sitting next to me and cheered My Cards the rest of the game. We lost 19-16 but ever since I have been a die hard Red Bird.

I have moved back to Ireland the last few years and just have to confine myself to watching on TV mostly but I did get over to see the new stadium last year for 2 games.
Hopefully the Cards can emulate my hurling team here in Ireland who have got to the All-Ireland final this year for the first time in 45 years.

It’s great to hear from fans across the “pond”. I suspect there is a concentration of Cards fans in Amsterdam considering that’s where Kurt Warner played for a year in the World League/NLF Europe. There used to be a lot of Rams-Warner jerseys in the stands of Admiral home games. When Kurt joined the Cardinals, the following season there were still Rams jerseys in the crowd but a speckling of Cardinals jerseys too.

Enjoy the season!

during a time the Niners were shoved down your throat and the Raiders were in LA. There were two responses to the onslaught of Niners coverage. Reject them entirely or embrace them entirely. No middle ground. I rejected them.

When I got down to ASU in 1998 I lived right next door to Sun Devil Stadium on “New Row.” I embraced the Cards as a trainwreck you couldn’t help but watch over the next 4 years and have been diehard ever since.

I moved to Arizona the same year the Cardinals moved there from St. Louis. I jumped on the bandwagon and have been a diehard fan ever since. I lived in the Washington DC area for several years and often went to the Cards/Skins games back when they were in the NFC East division. Skins’ fans are best known for being ‘jumpers’, when they win its great and when they lose they jump. I have never jumped. Thank God for NFL Sunday ticket, and my DVR. Life revolves around football. I now live in the Denver area and fly ‘home’ to Phoenix for two games each year. The new stadium is awesome! Sure beats sitting on those hot metal bleachers at ASU. I have a room decorated in my house with all my red birds, my husband finally said, can we at least get all the birds in one room instead of having them spread out through the whole house. I agreed, and that is now my room, my decorated haven. I proudly display my flag each week and wear my red and white. I never miss a game. Each year is a new year, a new start and I always hold out hope that maybe, just maybe this WILL be the year.