Cardinals’ O-Line joins forces with Arizona Wilderness for great cause

Members of the Arizona Cardinals offensive line and Arizona Wilderness Brewing joined forces for a great cause.

Current members of the Cardinals’ O-Line — Jared Veldheer, Evan Boehm, William Holden, A.Q. Shipley — and former Cardinal Earl Watford collaborated with Arizona Wilderness to brew the O-Line Triple IPA, with proceeds going to the Pat Tillman Foundation.

The triple IPA even has 42 hops, the same number Tillman donned as a member of the Arizona State Sun Devils.

“Forty-two hops is insane, it’s insane,” co-founder of Arizona Wilderness Jon Buford told ESPN. “And the fact that I don’t think anyone’s done that makes me excited because it’s not about Arizona Wilderness, it’s about the Pat Tillman name, the foundation name, so we really want you to associate that with the craziness that we’re doing.

Following his death in 2004, Tillman’s family and friends founded the Pat Tillman Foundation. The foundation’s mission is to unite and empower remarkable military veterans and spouses, with the use of educational scholars, tools and support network, as the next generation of public and private sector leaders committed to service beyond self, the foundation’s website said.

“It’s awesome, he’s a hero and everybody, especially in the state of Arizona and pretty much throughout the United States knows who Pat Tillman is and what he’s all about,” Veldheer said. “The foundation is really cool because it allows veterans to continue education and to be set up for their time when the military’s done and to be able to help with that is great.”

The collaboration idea stemmed from a 2015 conversation between Veldheer and Watford and the founders of the Gilbert-based brewery. The linemen asked if they could brew a triple IPA — which according to Arizona Wilderness was like a kid saying “I triple dog dare you” — and as a group, they agreed to donate the proceeds to a charity.

The Pat Tillman Foundation was a no-brainer.

“It’s been so fun to do and to see people coming here and not only ask about the beers but thank us that we’ve helped out such a great foundation who’ve helped so many people that really touches my soul,” Watford said. “It’s been such a fun thing to do for so many years.”

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