Loyal BYU fan celebrates 38 years of attending every home football game

Tom Hirtzel is no ordinary fan of Brigham Young University football. He has spent the last 38 years attending every BYU football home game and has no intention of losing his streak.

Im the quintessential BYU fan, Tom Hirtzel said. I love it all. I love everything BYU.

Tom Hirtzel's love for the beloved university began early on during his childhood in Nauvoo, Illinois. The early history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Illinois contributed to some anti-Mormon sentiment in the area.

It was tough to be a BYU fan in Illinois back in the early 80s, he said.

But that didnt stop him from keeping up on BYUs score each football season. Occasionally, he would listen to the games on the radio at night, but more often than not, he had to wait for the Sunday newspaper to see the scores.

This love for BYU football cemented into a lifestyle when Tom Hirtzel came home from his mission and began attending BYU in 1987.

I remember coming to the stadium and just being like wow, 65,000 people and theyre all cheering, he said.

It was an exciting time to be a BYU football fan. The team had just won the National Championship in 1984, and tickets were in high demand.

Back then, there were no ROC passes for students to purchase online. Instead, students lined up at the Marriott Center for hours to secure tickets for that seasons football games.

As a university student, Tom Hirtzel would gather at the beginning of each fall semester with his friends to take turns waiting in line for more than 18 hours while the others attended their first week of classes. This was a serious affair, and it wasnt unusual to see students bringing blankets, tents and mattresses to wait in line.

During the long wait, they often found creative ways to keep themselves entertained. On one occasion, they got so bored waiting that they began counting the bricks on the outside of the Marriott Center.

To be honest with you, I cant remember the number, but we did that one night, Tom Hirtzel said.

Each pad of tickets came with two per game. Tom Hirtzel was grateful for the extra ticket because he was able to take a friend or a date each time. In fact, it was that extra ticket that scored him the first date with his future wife, Tamara.

"We went to all the football games and then started going to all the basketball games, Tamara Hirtzel said.

After their first date at a BYU football game, they attended nearly every game together until they got married in June 1993.

Even after graduating from BYU, Tom Hirtzel didnt stray far from the university. He began working for the BYU Bookstore and stayed there for the next 24 years. His career is largely responsible for his astonishingly large collection of BYU gear.

It was after about eight or nine years of attending football games that Tom Hirtzel realized he had a reputation to keep up. His students at the BYU Bookstore presented him with a certificate to honor his impressive record. He even had the chance to be on the cover of a BYU advertisement as a super fan, so people began to recognize his face at the games.

Since BYU football was such an integral part of Tom Hirtzels life, he used to be very emotional about the games. He found himself depressed if they lost, elated if they won, but at some point, Tom Hirtzel realized he couldnt keep living like that.

I just made a very conscientious effort to separate my emotional well-being from how well BYU football plays, he said.

Children, adverse weather, birthday parties, weddings, sickness and travel were no match for Tom Hirtzel's determination to attend every game.

Two of our kids were due on game days. One of them on homecoming, and one in September, Tamara Hirtzel said.

Thankfully, none of their four daughters was born on a game day.

Growing up, the Hirtzel daughters knew they could not schedule any of their weddings on a game day. Tom Hirtzel admitted that if it came to a family member's wedding or a football game, he would attend his familys wedding. However, "careful planning ensures you dont get that dilemma, he explained with a laugh.

The only force strong enough to stop him from attending a game was the COVID-19 pandemic. During the majority of the pandemic, the Hirtzels were still able to attend, but there was one game where no fans were permitted in the stadium.

We ended up driving past the stadium, and its the first time he's ever been outside the stadium while theres a game going on, Tamara Hirtzel said.

It was a surreal experience for Tom Hirtzel to be outside of LaVell Edwards Stadium on that game day.

You could drive by and see no crowd. You could hear no noise, he said.

After the pandemic, Tom Hirtzel was back to his usual schedule of home football games.

He doesnt leave early. And it doesnt matter if hes sick, it doesnt matter if its cold, it doesnt matter if its hot. It doesnt matter if he has to go by himself, Tamara Hirtzel added, although she said she does enjoy attending the BYU games with her husband as often as she is able.

Tom Hirtzel's love for BYU goes way beyond football, no matter how thrilling the games are.

I believe in the mission of the university. I know what it did for me personally, he said.

Coming from a state where he was one of the very few members of the Church, he profoundly felt the impact of BYU on his testimony.

Tom Hirtzel and Tamara Hirtzel plan on attending the games for the rest of their lives and living out the aims of BYU that they learned while attending the university.

They may have to roll me in on a gurney, but I will be there as long as I physically can, Tom Hirtzel said.