How did you become a Cardinals fan?

Germz249

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I grew up in northern California and grew up a Raiders fan. My parents sent me here to Phoenix to live with my aunt when I was about 13 or 14 years old. I didn’t have any friends here being new so I didn’t do much. My uncle had season tickets and started taking me to games. I still remember the first preseason game was against my Raiders.

After going to every game sweating it out in the hot sun, tailgating with people back when people were parking where Tempe town lake was and seeing the same die hard fans where we sat, I slowly started to like the team. We weren’t good at all but like the people around us that we saw at games and my uncle taught me.. anyone can pick a winning team and go with it but this is our home team. They are playing and representing us so we have to hold up our end and support them no matter what.

All the losing sucks but it comes with it. When we do have these seasons it feels even more special. My daughter was born during the Arians era so she has had some good seasons. Lately hasn’t been so well but we are always on the sofa until the game ends and I pass on to her the lessons I learned.

How did you guys come about being a fan?
 

SissyBoyFloyd

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A judge gave me the choice of either 20 years in prison or a life sentence of being a Cardinal fan. I was going to take the 20 years, but my dang lawyer talked me into taking the life sentence instead. I am still in the process of filing appeals based on incompetent representation.
 

AZfaninMN

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I was lucky enough to be born a Cardinals fan. My mom and dad had season tickets when I was a baby. When I was old enough to talk, I asked for my own tickets. I’m trying to get my boys interested in football now to pass on the “family tradition” of cheering for the Cards. My dad never forced me to be a Cardinals fan and I won’t force my boys to be one either, but being a Cardinals fan is a curse that we can’t shake.
 

BurqueCardFan

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Growing up in Abq I never really had a team. Around here people were mainly fans of the frontrunners (Cowboys, Broncos, Pitt or SF/Oak). My dad's favorite team was whoever was playing against Dallas.
When the Cardinals moved to AZ, they were technically the closest team to home, so I started following. When I moved to Tempe in 93' for college is really when I adopted them as "my team". My dad and me started getting flex pack tickets at Sun Devil stadium. I have had season tickets ever since, even though I moved back to Abq about 20 years ago.
 

Zeno

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I was in High School when the Cardinals moved to AZ, I became a Cardinal fan as soon as it was announced. I still have the Inaugural Season Phoenix Cardinals poster hanging in my man-cave.
 

outcent13

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I grew up in Orange County watching the rams , dodgers and lakers and when I moved here I started watching the local teams . For a season or two I rooted for all teams until I understood you can’t have both! Now I genuinely hate all the LA area teams !
 

Mainstreet

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Before I became a Cardinals fan, I was a rock solid Arizona State fan attending every football, baseball and basketball game I could. I did this even before I attended school there.

Then I became a Suns fan as well. What sold me is they had some free scrimmages where I was able to intermingle with the coaches and players. Those were great lasting memories.

When the Cardinals moved to the valley, I thought why not. They were now the home team. Prior to that the only pro football I was able to watch on television was the Dallas Cowboys. None of that anymore. Now they are rivals!
 

Billy Bob

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I'm a Carpenter, there wasn't a lot of work in Phoenix in the late 80's, so we took what we could get. Me, my brother in law and another guy bid on building some houses on the Lake of the Ozarks Missouri, we won the bid. we built quite a few house and several docks. Football season came around and seemed like everybody was a KC fan and nobody liked the Cardinals, I couldn't understand why. Because we were in the middle of the state, we got every game, (both teams). I watched all the Cardinals game.
I cashed out my share of the project and came back to Phoenix. While I was sitting in the bar at the airport in Kansas City waiting for my flight, news came down that the Cardinals were moving to Phoenix. I was overjoyed to say the least, having been burnt by the Colts and Eagles, We finally had an NFL team.
"And that all she wrote"!
 
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FB94

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Raised in Phoenix, and was a Cowboys fan because that was the only team we got on Sunday’s. That all changed when the Cardinals moved to AZ, dumped the cowgirls and haven’t looked back
 

Brak

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I grew up in the Bay Area - a Stanford, 49ers & Raiders fan. Saw every Stanford home game for a long stretch, including every Jim Plunkett home game as a kid. Moved to SoCal in 1984 but never lost my loyalties to any of those teams. In 2004 my employer exiled me to Phoenix, a move I was more than happy to make, and by then, the 49ers had been taken from Eddie D and handed to his sister, who had proceeded to destroy the franchise. As soon as the new stadium was announced, I decided that as far as the NFL was concerned, that I was going to be a Cardinals fan, and bought season tickets the first season, and kept them through 2017, after which we moved 3 hours south to Cochise county so we no longer go. I continue to follow my "old" teams and still have a soft spot in my heart for the 49ers, especially now that they're being run much better than during that very dark period right after Eddie D's departure. But Arizona is my home and the Cards are my #1 team.
 
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I became a fan the moment they moved here. I didn't have a team that I really cared about other than the Cubs. Once there was a pro team here I became a life long fan. I don't miss a game. When we had the black outs I listened to the games on the radio. Had many a drunken night at SDS.
 

Russ Smith

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I think I'm just weird. Born in St Louis but moved at 18 months old and grew up in Bay Area. When I first got into sports I was a Warriors fan in basketball, UCLA for college(Wooden's last year), and Cards fan, they were in St Louis and I liked the logo I think.
1975 the Cards were in the playoffs, UCLA won their 10th title, and the Warriors won a title. I thought this sports thing is easy.

20 years until UCLA won again, 40 for the Warriors, and the Cards weren't exactly good during most of that time.

I don't have it anymore but I had a 21 metcalf jersey(Terry not Eric) for ages.
 

AZ Native

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I am a native Arizonian of 68 years (now) so I adopted the Cards as my team when they moved here. The rest is history.
 

Card'em

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In 1965 for my 12th birthday my dad took me to see my first Cardinal game against the Washington Redskins. Charley Johnson was the QB and Sonny Randle and Bobbly Joe Conrad were the receivers. "Killer Crenshaw" and "Thunder Thorton" were the running backs. Been hooked ever since. God, I'm old.
 

BritCard

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I was kidnapped by 3 very large dudes. Tied to a chair with my eyelids taped open and forced to watch all Cardinals football post Coryell. I could only eat when we won a game. I lost 90lbs.

I thought this was how all Cards fans were made.
 

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