So what made you become a fan of your favorite NFL team? (1 Viewer)

[Captain Spaulding]

Ok, I'm a Steeler fan. As lame as this sounds, I initially became a Steeler fan when I was in elementary school and the 1st game I recall ever really watching with my dad was Steelers vs. Cowboys in the 1979 Superbowl. I choose the Steelers in that game for nothing more than I liked their Black and Gold uniforms (striking colors in the eyes of a child, but most adults probably agree its a pretty hideous color combo).

That's it. Anyone care to share their reasons? Parental brainwashing? Hometown follow-the-herd loyalty? Flamboyant playmakers draw you in? Hottest cheerleaders?

Of course the reasons as a child will be drastically different that more legit reasons if you chose a team as an adult.

Its Friday....

 

[Winning IS Everything]

I grew up in the 70's wanting to be just like my brother, who is 5 years older than I am. He was a HUGE Cowboy fan, so I became a huge Cowboy fan too. We both still are today, though I am not as big a Cowboy fan as I once was.

I miss the Tom Landry, Roger Staubach, Tony Dorsett days!

 

[fred_1_15301]

Ok, I'm a Steeler fan. As lame as this sounds, I initially became a Steeler fan when I was in elementary school and the 1st game I recall ever really watching with my dad was Steelers vs. Cowboys in the 1979 Superbowl. I choose the Steelers in that game for nothing more than I liked their Black and Gold uniforms (striking colors in the eyes of a child, but most adults probably agree its a pretty hideous color combo). That's it. Anyone care to share their reasons? Parental brainwashing? Hometown follow-the-herd loyalty? Flamboyant playmakers draw you in? Hottest cheerleaders?Of course the reasons as a child will be drastically different that more legit reasons if you chose a team as an adult.Its Friday....

When I was little (around 7 or 8 yrs old), I was a Niners fan because of their cool uniforms and the fact that they were winners. In the early 90s, I shifted to a Steeler fan cause thats where I'm from. Die hard Steeler fan now and forever.......

 

[slckrsmitty]

the colts moved to my backyard and i've been a fan ever since. was a 49ers fan prior to that simply because Montana went to my beloved Notre Dame. sometimes it's that easy.

 

[Bankerguy]

Cowboys fans.......(Don't live anywhere near Dallas)

The first game I ever watched was "The Catch".

I was my first realization that I could get emotion about a sporting event.

 

[Ditkaless Wonders]

I was an impressionable boy when the 60's Packers bestrode the NFL like a collassus. Living in Wisconsin, hearing Lombardi preached in Church so often that I thought the trinity was the Father, the Son, and Coach Lombardi how could it be elsewise? Their colors included gold. Their Q.B. was a Starr. They produced champions and legends at a rate since unequaled. When the greatest team of all time is your local team during your boyhood the deal is sealed.

 

[MCguidance]

My neighbors. The father has been a ticket holder since they were the Titans and my one buddy has been to 121 straight Jets home games. Pretty awesome and pathetic at the same time. I think it's every home game since the end of the 1993 season.

 

[fred_1_15301]

I was an impressionable boy when the 60's Packers bestrode the NFL like a collassus. Living in Wisconsin, hearing Lombardi preached in Church so often that I thought the trinity was the Father, the Son, and Coach Lombardi how could it be elsewise? Their colors included gold. Their Q.B. was a Starr. They produced champions and legends at a rate since unequaled. When the greatest team of all time is your local team during your boyhood the deal is sealed.

You're old :Snicker:

 

[makwaloon]

I became a Packer fan because as a kid if the Packers won my father was happy and took us to get ice cream and if they lost he was frustrated and we did yardwork. The yard always looked nice in the 80's.

 

[Wu-banger]

Had to write a book report in 1st grade (around 1980).... was randomly given Roger Staubach.

He drew me to the Cowboys ..got an A+

I then started following them and found they had a few players with my name...

Been with them ever since..Thankfully.

 

[TD Ryan]

Lynn Swann's acrobatic catches made me a fan of the NFL.

As a kid, he was my favorite player.

Steve Grogan made me a fan of my local New England Patriots.

To me, he was the football equivalent of Bobby Orr (I was a kid).

Then, the whole '85 season had me hooked on the Patriots.

 

[Nick Vermeil]

Chargers fan here and it's because of Dan Fouts and Air Coryell. And it helped that everyone I knew loved the Broncos and Raiders. I HATE the Broncos. John Elway is the devil.

 

[valhallan]

I must have t'ed off the old man upstairs because he sentenced me to eternal torture. Still don't know why I'm a fan of the Saints and I can't seem to shake it.

 

[jamny]

Born in '64 and live in NY.

My first memories were of Joe Namath and all us kids loved him. It wasn't until the early 70's when I really started getting into sports. Brother and father were Giant fans, Mom a Jet fan, I became a Dolphin fan. Still prefer hard running/big D type football. Sure, that changed when Marino became QB but you have to play to your strengths.

and Mets and NY Rangers!

 

[bicycle_seat_sniffer]

I was bborn in SD and my earliest memory was the calssic Miami vs SD playoff game. Fouts KW etc. Been a fan ever since.

BTW, that cincy game was still the biggest heartbreaker ever, we had just moved to detroit and that was the superbowl 16 year. my dad was working on getting superbowl tix. Im sure the niners would have pounded them but who knows

 

[Ditkaless Wonders]

I was an impressionable boy when the 60's Packers bestrode the NFL like a collassus. Living in Wisconsin, hearing Lombardi preached in Church so often that I thought the trinity was the Father, the Son, and Coach Lombardi how could it be elsewise? Their colors included gold. Their Q.B. was a Starr. They produced champions and legends at a rate since unequaled. When the greatest team of all time is your local team during your boyhood the deal is sealed.

You're old :Snicker:

True that.

 

[NCPanthersFan]

Native of Long Island. Lucky enough to have an uncle who was chief of police in Hempstead where the Jets practiced. Spent many years on the sidlines of home games answering the phone and populating offense/defense/special teams captain(s) folders with snapshots of plays etc. Big believer in rooting for home team so I put my efforts behind the Panthers but will always love my gang green.

 

[oddball]

I grew up in the 70's wanting to be just like my brother, who is 5 years older than I am. He was a HUGE Cowboy fan, so I became a huge Cowboy fan too. We both still are today, though I am not as big a Cowboy fan as I once was.

I miss the Tom Landry, Roger Staubach, Tony Dorsett days!

My brother is 8 years older than I am though.

Go 'boys! Please, for the love of God, do something!

 

[Hoss_Cartwright]

I grew up in Ky, so there wasn't a local team. When I was about 6 yrs old (1965) I started watching NFL games with my Uncle. I lived with my grandmother for a couple of years. The Colts were on TV a lot in the 60s, and I liked the horseshoe on their helmets, and their colors were the same as the Kentucky Wildcats. I've been a Colts fan ever since.

 

[Chreesto]

Two words: Walter Payton.

My family has connections to Chicago and we always lived in the Bears viewing area. I remember watching Walter Payton and believing him to be some sort of superhero. That was how I initially got sucked in. On some level I still think he was superhuman.

The Bears always played a kind of football that appealed to me. Hard nosed, run first football. As the 80s progressed I got into the history of the franchise and all of the contributions that George Halas made to the existence of the NFL.

I've just always felt that the Bears (along with a few other franchises for whom I have much respect) are the closest thing to the pure and distilled spirit of the game.

It was tough being a Bears fan in the 90s but when you focus on the history of the Bears and all of the great players from Nagurski to Grange to Sayers to Butkus to Payton etc........ it makes it easier to stomache the heartache.

That's my story.

 

[sdsjr3]

Good Thread!

Living in Central PA I'm a Philadelphia fan of everything but the Eagles. Not sure why. I bounced around in grade school from the Steeler to the Skins to the Seahawks. My dad, however, is a huge Jets fan and had been all his life. Then one year I went to a father/son Church dinner and Mickey Shuler was the guest speaker. Dude was awesome. He spent a lot of time talking to me one on one and I instantly became a huge Jets fan myself. I was about 12 then and have been ever since.

I still like the Steelers and my wife's family is all Packer fans so I follow them now as well. But J-E-T-S all the way.

Still would take a Nittany Lion National title over a Jets Super Bowl though. I was born a Penn State fan as my whole family tree has worked or gone to school there. It's in the blood.

GO LIONS....BEAT BUCKEYES!!!!

 

[hostile]

Be honest?

*sigh*...

Tecmo Bowl. That's what got me hooked on the NFL, and my favourite team - da Bills.

 

[Stompin' Tom Connors]

Was cognizant of football early on in life, but really became interested in it when I was nine. Watching the Raiders mop the floor with the Eagles in the Superdome at Superbowl XV sealed the deal for me in terms of my favorite team.

Of course, the true reason is that the Raiders had the coolest, most bad-### sports uniforms I'd seen. But you had guys who played like graceful thugs -- Plunkett throwing short and medium bullet TDs to Cliff Branch and long-arcing bombs to Kenny King; guys like Gene Upshaw and the indomitable Art Shell on one side of the ball; characters like the Mad Stork blocking kicks, Matuszak crushing people on the other side along with other standouts like Rod Martin and Matt Millen.

My appreciation of these guys was fully realized as I became more of a sophisticated fan, but even at that impressionable age I knew I was seeing some incredible talent on the field play as a single, dominating unit.

Bled Silver and Black since then.

 

[Scarpaggio]

Mine is Green Bay. It happened in 1991. I hadn't followed football too much up to that point other than some football pools my dad did at work. We lived about an hour west of Philly and all I know is my dad hated the Eagles. I have no idea why. To this day you ask him who his favorite team is and he tells you whoever is playing the Eagles. I guess all that hate rubbed off onto me and my brother. I was watching the Philly vs Green Bay game that year and Cunningham ended up getting hurt(Bryce Paup tackle). That clinched it for me. I was a Green Bay fan since that day. I had a real hard time adjusting when White came over from Philly. I moved away from that area 11 yrs ago now and find myself actually cheering on the Eagles at times.

 

[Statcruncher]

Grew up in northern Indiana and started watching football around 1976. The Bears were the local team so they were always on TV. My mom and grandma were diehard Cubs fans so going with Chicago was easy. I was too young for Butkus but loved watching Doug Plank laying the lumber and was lucky enough to see Walter Payton's entire career. Basically once I saw #34's work ethic, attitude, and humbleness I knew Chicago was the only team for me.

 

[Phurfur]

Home Team! It is that simple.

 

[Road Warriors]

Patriots are my team. Why?

Location, location, location. Boston area is very provincial. You are either a fan of the teams there or you are the enemy! Got hooked through the late 70's/early 80s and have stuck with it ever since.

 

[FUBAR]

I must have t'ed off the old man upstairs because he sentenced me to eternal torture. Still don't know why I'm a fan of the Saints and I can't seem to shake it.

Could be worse, I was a Lions fan. Until I realized I could no longer cheer for the Ford family's horrible ownership a few years back. It had nothing to do with losing, but I can only support a team when the owner supports his fans.So I've been a Titans fan for the last few years. Great organization and finally it looks like they have a great team.

 

[Grigs Allmoon]

I'm a fan of the Bills, because they were the closest team to where I grew up. Is there any other way to determine your favorite team?

 

[higgins]

I'll do the opposite, and name the reason I hate this specific team...the Dallas Cowboys.

I actually grew up a fan of the Cowboys (during the Staubach, Dorsett, etc. years); but, when Jerry Jones took over the team, fired Landry the way he did (without the slightest bit of respect), I did a 180 -- having the next generation of Cowboys end up being thugs, etc. only reinforced my rooting against them.

- Cowboy hater out....

 

[bolldpt]

Niners. My dad had a friend from HS that played for them.

 

[bucsbaby]

I'm a Canadian, so I can't speak to any hometown bias. I'm a fan of the Bucs because I love strong defensive play and because I enjoy cheering for the underdog. Plus I like their colours and the pirates motif.

 

[Marc Levin]

In the first year I was truly conscious of the fact I was watching sporting events on TV, I watched my hometown team go undefeated and win the Super Bowl ... 'nuff said.

 

[mchmura89]

Reggie White. My local teams always sucked (Lions, Browns, Bengals) so I never really latched onto one team. I liked Reggie White though. Not sure why, but he was my favorite player. When he went to Green Bay, I started finding out more about the Packers history, then they got good, so following them got easier. Always loved Favre of course, but Reggie is the reason I love the Packers.

 

[gianmarco]

I then started following them and found they had a few players with my name...

I've never seen anyone named Wu-banger play for the Cowboys......Anyway, I grew up in Florida but was never really a fan of the dolphins. In fact, as a kid, I was a pretty big Bill's fan (those 4 SB losses were horrible). But, I never had any true ties to any teams. About 7 yrs ago, moved to New Orleans, was a fan of Ricky Williams , and have been a Saint's fan since. Finally felt like I had a hometown team I could roote for. You would think having waited so long to pick a team I could have done a better job

 

[Man in the yellow hat]

Grew up in small town Wisconsin. Everything revolves around Packer game day. Attending mass so you're home in time for the game. Firing up the grill an hour before. Stale Pabst. All fond memories of my childhood.

 

[poopdawg]

Going to watch training camps when I was a kid. My uncle lives in Greensburg and they grew on me. Now, I love everything that the city stands for.

 

[T Bell]

Redskins.

I'm originally from the D.C. area and my earliest memories in the 1970's were of the 'Skins resurgence under George Allen after close to 30 years of losing. Those memories include my parents handing me off to baby sitters as they headed out the door to Redskins game. I left D.C. as a child for L.A. 26 years ago, but have maintained my allegiance to them ever since.

 

[Sigmund Bloom]

Born and raised in Western PA, which makes this question amount to "So what made you become a fan of breathing oxygen as opposed to the other gases out there?"

 

[Jene Bramel]

 

[T Bell]

Where did you go wrong, Jene, where?

 

[BeaverBoy]

The Rams. Grew up in southern Cali watching them back when they were still there. My dad was friends with the equipment manager at the time and so we got to see a couple of their practices and meet some of the players (Jim Everett, Flipper Anderson, etc) and that got me hooked. Though now since they've gone to St Louis and I'm in the northwest, I've kind of lost my passion for them, but still always root for them, no matter how crappy they are right now.

 

[Jene Bramel]

Where did you go wrong, Jene, where?

Greg CookBill Walsh

Bill Bergey

Pete Johnson

Charles Alexander

Stanley Wilson

Tim Krumrie

Jerry Rice

Lewis Billups

John Taylor

Mike Brown

David Klinger

Akili Smith

Ki-Jana Carter

Carl Pickens/Corey Dillon/Takeo Spikes

Kimo von Oelhoffen

WHODEY!!

 

[shredhead]

I could say the typical geography and my father and 2 older brothers influence made me a Broncos fan, but the real reason is intelligence. Everbody knows that Bronco fans are smarter than those of other teams. Now I'm sure all of you less intelligent fans of the 31 other teams are going to disagree, but that will only help prove my point.

 

[T Bell]

I could say the typical geography and my father and 2 older brothers influence made me a Broncos fan, but the real reason is intelligence. Everbody knows that Bronco fans are smarter than those of other teams. Now I'm sure all of you less intelligent fans of the 31 other teams are going to disagree, but that will only help prove my point.

It's fun to watch the effects of that thin air on people.

 

[Marauder]

Charger fan here living in Orange County, CA.

When I was a kid in the 70's, I started out as a Rams fan when the Rams were playing in the LA Coloseum. My father and I used to go to a lot of games but we went to a few Chargers games and found it much easier to to go to the Murph even though it was a longer drive so we started going more often and eventually got Season Tickets. Then when Air Coryell came along we were hooked for life. Even when the Rams moved to Anaheim, only a few miles from my house, I couldn't go back.

 

[PatrickT]

I've lived in the Atlanta area since I was one, with a brief stint in Cali of a few years. I flirted with the Raiders, Steelers and Cowboys as a boy, just cause the Falcons weren't very good, but came back home in my teens and never left.

 

[Big Blue Wrecking Crew]

Pretty obvious from my board name, as they were/are the local team of choice.

I did dabble with other teams, as the G-men pretty much blew until LT arrived (but I was still a fan of theirs and hated the Jets, which goes to this day). Started with the Vikings (liked Tarkenton as he scrambled about) and also liked the Oilers until their move to Tennessee because of Earl Campbell. Just an amazing dude to watch run and pummel the opposition. It is a real shame to see his life today, but can't say it's a big surprise

Still like to see the Vikings do well (as long as they are not going against the Giants), but could give a damn about the Titans.

 

[Big Blue Wrecking Crew]

dupe

 

[DaWidowMaker]

Watching Tony Dorsett run was as smooth as watching water flow downstream from a bubbling brook. After that 99 yard run on Monday Night vs the Vikings I was hooked. It amazed me how fast he could completely reverse direction and still outrun a defense. Played pee-wee football trying my best to be like him. Been a Cowboys die-hard fan ever since.

Reason #2. Oh yeah...and my step-dad loved the Redskins.