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I've been thinking about this thread for a while but WITH the conversation in the N/V thread now seems perfect. Why do you root? Did your Dad root for them? Were they the first team you ever watched? Did you grow up in the early 90's and now suffer as a Cowboys fan? Did you grow up in the early 90's and still suffer as a Bills fan? Tell me and the rest of TFF why. I'll also keep track of team fans in the OP just for fun and as a referance for buying lovely avatars for each other. This isn't for bitching about "real fans," questioning others "fandom," or mocking Kiwi. Let's have fun. AFC-E Buffalo Bills- sadsack, TG-Chrono, Fancy rear end Ho, Tremendous Taste, Spork o Doom, Sheen Sheen, PLANES CURE TOWERS New England Patriots- Kalli, Danica!, Critical, Serisothikos, Use Words Like Rad, Kavingi, King of Spit, Alter Ego, That Which Squeaks, New York Jets-haljordan, Aubergine Mage, JetsGuy, Real hurthling!, Professor Funk, Vertical Lime, Marco D. Sanchez,Phyein Miami Dolphins- Declan MacManus, Heaf, Ehud, Heteroy, AFC-N Baltimore Ravens-The Puppy Bowl, ErectorBeast, Combo, E_Motion, Sweeney Tom, Sour Diesel, Kawalimus, LlamaTrauma, AndrewP, FeedingHam2Cats, riht, Rodrigo Diaz, guch, LockHeart, Ron Hitler-Barassi, Cincinnati Bengals- Atticus Finch, EnterYourNameHere, Bulletfodder, Cavauro, KettleWL, JesustheDarkLord Cleveland Browns-MonsterWalk, Bigass Moth, FuzzySkinner, TheGreyGhost, Rap, wilderthanmild, Flikken, Pittsburgh Steelers-WinnebagoWarrior, skaboomizzy, Kiwi Bigtree, swickles, Val Helmethead, rjmccall, jugulator45, sportsgenius86, Militree, Doctor Syrup, achillesforever6, Smoking Crow, SquirrelyPSU, Mahasamatman, Epic Fear Job, lockdar, Topoisomerase, Boomer The Cannon, AFC-S Houston Texans-bhsman, Korranus, Kirios, MAO TSE-TUNGACUNT, No Safe Word, surrender, Indianapolis Colts- Athanatos, Chimeric, TITY BOI, Nail Rat, SeannieDarko, Eltoasto, FooF, Shadow225, JetSet, Graviolies, Jacksonville Jaguars-xeria, JT Jag, Diodeous, Cactus Jack, thatguyclint, Tennesse Titans-Demon Of The Fall, Probably Magic, Daedra, AFC-W Denver Broncos-jackyl, CrocodileKingSaysNO, Spalding, Kansas City Chiefs-Grittybeard, Famous TV Dad, bewbies, Parmesan Basil, Oakland Raiders-TUS, Dr. Foom, Lamadrid, Blitz7x, Wolfy, Chokes McGee, pixelbot2000, Mgant, Luminous Cow, San Diego Chargers- Norv Turner, HOTLANTA MAN, NFC-E Dallas Cowboys- Rasczak, buddhanc, AfterFather, General Dog, stuxracer, some_weird_kid, squarerandom, TheChirurgeon, Zoran, MissileWaster, Alfred P. Pseudonym, Korwen, Philadelphia Eagles-ChewyLSB, shyduck, MyChemicalImbalance, TheModernAmerican, ClemenSalad, Ralker, Diqnol, axeil, Quiet Feet, Cashout, FuriousxGeorge, New York Giants-Menamino, Febreeze, Rogue Elephant, troofs, Vintimus Prime, balancedbias, Washington Redskins- Dunefar, Yasser Arafatwa, Supreme Allah, Parlett316, Absolut Mike, commy gun, Beer4TheBeerGod, NFC-N Chicago Bears-R. D. Mangles, BasicFunk, DupaDupa, Hello Towel, Scrode Detroit Lions- Jakse, computer parts, Henchman of Santa, C-Euro, Acebuckeye13, BIZORT, Green Bay Packers- Wario Kart 64, Knightmare, CPFortest, TubeStank, ThePeteEffect, Apples and Rockets, Fenrir, Good Will Hrunting, Brannock, Lessail, Power Windows, Ogmius815, Minnesota Vikings- Obama Yo Mama, Vando, Thaddius the Large, nuncle jimbo, Foranzan, Darth Brooks, Lessail, Pfffffffffft, BlackJosh, Yoshifan823, Redeye Flight NFC-S Altlanta Falcons- sword_man.gif, warheadr, Barehanded Brother, Shath Hole, Carolina Panthers- butlerson, RumbleFish, FizFashizzle, SpclKen, anotherblownsave, New Orleans Saints- Mad Mafioso, A.o.D., Two Tone Shoes, Silly Burrito, Doronin, Ordinaire, Skyrocket, Breaky, Tampa Bay Buccaneers- Andio, Cole, Nystral, vyst, A Pale Horse, marioinblack, NFC-W Arizona Cardinals-Ramadu, Qwijib0, St. Louis Rams- JRizzle, Nit Wit Dog poo poo, only temporary, San Francisco 49ers- MakaVillian, King Hong Kong, TheHoosier, Dirt Worshipper, OneWhoKnows, Akbar, Idiot Kicker,THE MACHO MAN, Vincent Van Goatse,Randomly Specific,Spoeank, Chris Christie Seattle Seahawks-tallkidwithglasses, Manoueverable, Withdrawal Plans, Schwack, Benne, hopterque, Tzen, wheez the roux, Chichevache, Pungry, BRB MAKIN BACON, ghlbtsk, pragmasix, Vhak lord of hate, Me: I grew up in Central Ohio were you could choose between two teams: Bengals and Browns (this was when being an Ohio Steelers fan was punishable by death). My dad was a Browns fan, my mom was a Bills fan so geography played tie-breaker (plus, the Bengals sucked). The reason I'm so devout is two fold. One: The move was such a terrible thing that I really feel like I'm part of a community that has been through such a terrible we feel "closer" or as close as randoms fans can be. I love the history, I love the colors, the idea, the city, and the tragedy. Browns fans get to stand together in a stadium and know no matter how bad the team plays, no matter how crappy the season is, no matter how bitter-rear end cold we are, we know it could be worse and we're ultimately happy. We have a team and they're aren't going anywhere. We love our team and we always will because they're ours. And I think we all have an ember of hope in our hearts that when (not if) the Browns hoist the Lombardi we'll be rewarded for our devotion. (We may also be a cult). Two: My Dad and I have a pretty lovely relationship that is only salvaged by our bi-weekly Browns chats. We rarely talk about anything other than football and it's really helped us to keep communication lines up and open in a relationship where they've been torn down before. My uncle died recently after a two week coma. Every night my Dad would drive home from the hospital he'd call and we'd talk about the Browns. We talk about the new ownership, the switch to the 3-4, Weeden's future, the O-Line, anything that meant he didn't have to think about his brother dying. The Browns afforded my father a 20 minute oasis from a lonely car ride and a talk with his oldest son when he needed some human contact. It's stupid, it's football, it's unimportant but for whatever reason it has provided comfort and strength in my relationship with my dad. And I'll be a Browns fan til the day I die because of that. Alright TFF, let's hear it. And see if you can out e/n that. MonsterWalk fucked around with this message at Mar 17, 2013 around 21:54 |
| # ? Feb 7, 2013 19:48 |
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| # ? May 24, 2013 20:11 |
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Well, I posted a summary of my story in the N/V Thread, and this isn't going to be much longer, so... I've always been a pretty casual NFL fan. I used to watch 'for the game' and never really followed a team. I grew up in Northern New Jersey, so naturally there were a lot of Giants fans around me, so that kind of made me dislike the Giants. Anyways, I started hitting on this girl that I worked with at an internship, and she was an Eagles fan! After I stopped working there, I started vaguely following the Eagles since they were on my mind and I do kind of like to root for underdogs, so a team that was vaguely local and had never won the Super Bowl seemed like a really good choice for me. Afterwards, I started to hit on another girl, and when the subject came to Football, it basically happened like "Oh, you're an Eagles fan? Well... I am too!" I stopped dating her but I still remain an Eagles fan. And the rest is history.
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| # ? Feb 7, 2013 19:57 |
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I never paid much attention to football -- beyond a vague allegiance to UF because I'm pretty sure you can't live in Florida if you don't declare yourself a college football fan -- until the league announced Jacksonville was getting an NFL team going into my freshman year of high school. Everyone was so excited about it and I just got swept up by that excitement and became a lifelong, diehard fan of those stupid, stupid Jaguars.
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| # ? Feb 7, 2013 20:09 |
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I live in England, so obviously I don't really have what you could call a home town team (go to hell, Jaguars). I only started following the NFL five years ago, and decided that the Buffalo Bills were my team. Initially it's because I'd never heard of Buffalo and thought it sounded like some sort of quaint Wild West kinda town, with a saloon and shoot outs. Imagine my disappointment to find out its closer to Canada than Texas. Actually reading up about the team I grew fonder of the Bills and their tragic history. How can you not love a team that managed to go to the Super bowl and loose EVERY. BLOODY. TIME. The Bills also play in the colours of my soccer team (Portsmouth) and like them are in a spiral of misery and heartbreak. I also support Oakland as when I was young, my Uncle bought me a tatty wallet with the Raiders logo on it, and I thought the logo looked bad rear end. However the Bills will always be my first team. Pity me for the suffering I have brought upon myself.
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| # ? Feb 7, 2013 20:10 |
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I was in third grade when the Ravens' came to town. My father and extended family had been huge Colts supporters so they jumped right on the opportunity to get season tickets when the new team came. My father purchased two tickets, one for him and one for my sister and I to alternate. I could really sense my father's excitement but wasn't all that into the idea. The first regular season game we played was against Oakland. It was 19-15 in the 4th. Oakland had the ball but they couldn't find the end zone and by the time the clock hit 0:00 I was a fully formed football fan. I still make it to over half the home games despite the fact I live in southern Virginia. I guess there is an element of the bond I can reforge with my family every football season but my relationship with my father isn't strained enough for that to be the main thing. When the Ravens came it was new and exciting and it was football right when all those things would shine in my little mind the brightest. I didn't understand it back then but now knowing all the details of how the colts left and the Browns came, I doubt I could be as big a Ravens' supporter if Cleveland didn't get another team.
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| # ? Feb 7, 2013 20:11 |
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I was born in Chicago. I was born in Chicago and swaddled in the casing of a Polish sausage. I was born in Chicago and baptized in a vat of mustard in the Church of Ditka. I was born in Chicago and I learned to write by scrawling "Rozelle" on wide-ruled headbands. I was born in Chicago and think all novelty rap songs should have a 2 minute saxophone solo.
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| # ? Feb 7, 2013 20:12 |
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I'm a Raiders fan that grew up in Connecticut/New Hampshire with zero family ties to Oakland or Los Angeles. I became a Raiders fan because I was weirdly attracted to the Silver/Black color scheme and had a fascination with Bo Jackson as a 7 and 8 year old. I even stuck with them after that AFCCG where Buffalo slaughtered them. Hell, I only made my first trip to Oakland last season to see the Raiders beat the Jets and saw a DMC 70 yard TD run in person. I'm still very supportive of the team, even though I don't post in here a lot.
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| # ? Feb 7, 2013 20:15 |
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My team, as my avatar indicates, is the Pittsburgh Steelers. Unlike many Steelers fans, as TFF is fond of pointing out, I grew up in the Pittsburgh area - a rural area about halfway between Pittsburgh and Morgantown, WV. This is a big part of fandom - simple proximity. My dad grew up in Chicago and loved the Cubs and the Bulls and my mom is a Pittsburgh native and loves the Penguins. My sister hates all sports. So, of course, I had to be the only football fan in my immediate family. It is also worth noting that my mother works at St Vincent College (and has my entire life). SVC is where the Steelers hold training camp and during the summers when I was very young (like age 5 to age 12 or so) I would go to work with my mom and sit on the hill that overlooked the practices. My mothers office overlooked the hill where I sat so it was pretty much the best free babysitter ever. I have pretty bitchin autographs from the likes of Kordell Stewart and Bubby Brister. So my fandom evolved from being contrarian at heart, proximity, and watching every singe one of their practices for about 7 years. And if anyone wants to buy me a lovely avatar based on my fandom, feel free! My current one features a coach that hasnt been with the team for a year!
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| # ? Feb 7, 2013 20:19 |
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I'm the oldest in my family in NY and my dad was born and raised in Ohio, so I really didn't have any sports influences growing up. So really my sports fandom came from any positive experiences I had related to the teams as a kid. I'm a Giant fan because my first girlfriend when I was 12 was one. Yankee fan because when my family took me to a game when I was 6 or 7, they gave me sweet Bank of America bats, whereas my first Mets experience wound up with me getting nothing and sitting in a lovely stadium for 3 hours. And an Islander fan because my grandfather bought me a kickin rad Islander Starter jacket that I still have somewhere. I shudder to think of what would have happened if I was born about 10 years later - with more comprehensive TV coverage and now internet streams, my dad would be able to have any Ohio sports team on here whenever he wanted when I was a kid. Was that close to being a Browns/Cavs/Indians fan 
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| # ? Feb 7, 2013 20:20 |
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I'm from Oregon, my dad has been a Rams fan for a long time, but back when they still played in LA. When I was little, I didn't know a thing about football, and bounced around between teams. I probably had a new favorite team every time I played NFL GameDay '99. I had a Broncos hat at one point, remember liking the Chargers, the Jaguars, the Patriots, but eventually, I settled on the Ravens. Not even because they were "cool" or something, just for no reason at all. I asked my older brother what a decent team would be to root for that wasn't really really popular, and for some drat reason he said the Ravens. So I was stuck trying to play ESPN 2k5 with Kyle Boller lobbing balls around. None of my family's allegiances make much sense, but I like it that way. Better than being a family full of Cowboys fans from Oregon or something, which there are plenty of. My brother liked Brett Favre, so he was a Packers fan, then a Jets fan, but then, strangely, while still watching Favre with the Vikings, sort of settled with the Jets has his real team. Needless to say, I feel bad for him. I also feel bad for my dad, because he doesn't really have a team to root for anymore with the Rams in St. Louis, but he was very happy to see my Ravens win it all this year. ErectorBeast fucked around with this message at Feb 8, 2013 around 02:34 |
| # ? Feb 7, 2013 20:22 |
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Born in San Francisco but moved to San Diego as a young kid, one of my earliest sports watching memories is the 1994 Super Bowl and I though it was just the coolest, then moved to Seattle a year later. Became a terrible awkward shutin throughout junior high and high school and ended up with a football nut for a roommate my freshman year in college. That happened to be the year the Seahawks went to the Super Bowl so I got pretty hooked and have been devoted ever since. Me and my other football enjoying friends have steadily degenerated into the worst kinds of sports nuts and have slowly infected our other friends and I don't even feel a little bad about it.
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| # ? Feb 7, 2013 20:26 |
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Is this for NFL only? I'm not a Jets fan despite my 'tar? Still unsure why I got that.  Anyway, I grew up in central Ohio so escaping the blackhole that is Ohio State fandom was impossible. Applied there and got in and the rest is history.
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| # ? Feb 7, 2013 20:26 |
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^Some NFL posters aren't even aware that people discuss college football here as well Hi I'm Declan I'm 22 years old and my favorite team is the Miami Dolphins I like them because my dad likes them and he likes the Dolphins because when he was 7 he thought that aqua and orange were cool colors and then the Dolphins got all the way to the Super Bowl where they lost against the Cowboys and he thought well I'm a dumb kid so I'm going to root for the Dolphins because they are winners and they have cool colors the good times never stopped
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| # ? Feb 7, 2013 20:27 |
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In 1969, my dad was 19 years old and over in Vietnam. He managed to hear Superbowl III on a radio somehow and thought it was incredibly awesome how Joe Namath not only predicted a Jets win, but also managed to deliver one. So, since the Jets were the only team he ever rooted for in football, me and my brother followed suit. Also, gently caress the Jets.
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| # ? Feb 7, 2013 20:33 |
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I'm from St. Louis, and when I first really started watching football, it was before the Rams came to town but after the Cardinals had left, so I watched without a team for a while. Even when the Rams got here, it never felt like "my team" and I wasn't really excited other than just having an NFL team closer than KC. Then I got to watch Ray Lewis in some college games, and decided to just follow him to whatever team drafted him, which was the Ravens obviously. It also helped that I love defensive football and they've been pretty good at it for a while now. Now that he's retiring, it feels like I've followed them for long enough that I shouldn't just abandon them as a team, and I still like plenty of the other players anyway.
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| # ? Feb 7, 2013 20:34 |
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I started getting into football with my dad's side grandfather, who was a Falcons fan, until he died three years ago. Since then I've spent my sundays over with my other grandfather watching the Falcons play their games, and grew into a fan of the team because of it. That's it really.
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| # ? Feb 7, 2013 20:37 |
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Growing up in Nashville before the Titans came from Houston, I was a big Miami Dolphins fan because I was totally gay for Dan Marino. The closest other NFL team would have been the Falcons, but gently caress Atlanta honestly. I have no connection to that city other than a few cousins that live down there. So thankfully when the Titans came I could finally have a local team all my own to enjoy their complete mediocrity. At least its been slightly better than if I had stayed a Dolphins fan all these years. 
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| # ? Feb 7, 2013 20:38 |
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I keep reading the title as Why We Rot and it seems appropriate
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| # ? Feb 7, 2013 20:38 |
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One day, When I was small, I was on a walk with my parents in the Zoo when a bald Eagle got free of his enclosure and attacked my mom. She was blinded and hospitalized. The very next day, my Dad got into an argument with a large Texan about oil refineries in the hospital, and he was shot. I was moved into foster care in Wyoming, because I was a troubled child. I was the new son of a drunk Cowboy who called himself "Bucc" and one day, that drunk Cowboy maniac tried to throw me into a Buffalo Stampede. I survived, but nobody believed my story when I tried to go to the police. For the next two years he tried to stomp me while riding his Colt. He tried to shoot me with his old Revolutionary war era Patriot musket. He was a Falconer, and he would repeatedly try to send his Falcon (who he named Titan) after me. I eventually escaped that hell hole by sheer luck, when a local sheriff saw him trying to force me into a standoff with an angry Ram. I was taken to a new foster home, this time in San Diego. I lived with a zookeeper. He gave me a tour of the zoo once, and I slipped and fell into the Bear enclosure. The bear almost got me, but they tranquilizered it. Two weeks later, while feeding the lions, I accidentally opened the wrong gate, letting the Bengal Tigers into the wrong enclosure. The Lions and Tigers fought, San Diego lost a major exhibit, and my foster dad kicked me out. I was without a home. I made my way north, hiding out in alleys and under overpasses. One day I awoke to find Ravens had eaten my entire supply of food. I hitched a ride into the Sierra Nevadas, and for a brief time worked as a gold miner, until another 49er got claustrophobic in the mine and tried to stab me with his picaxe. I continued my road north. I strayed off the beaten path once too many, and ended up on an Indian Reservation that was at war with itself. Two warring Indian factions, one that was called "The Redskins" for their love of red face paint and one that was called "The Broncos" for their supreme ability to ride horses. I was attacked by the Redskins, but saved by the Broncos. I was taken to their Chief, and before I could thank them was accused of tresspassing on sacred ground. They took one of my fingers and stole my possessions. I was kicked into the woods north of the reservation, where I proceeded to get attacked by a Jaguar. My life slowed down at that point. I eventually made it to Seattle, and outside a brief attack by a bunch of wild Ospreys (or Seahawks, as the local coot called them), I had an okay life. I worked in a sewage plant, covered in poo poo all day. There was one co-worker who would tease me, he would look at me and go "I'm taking the Browns to the superbowl" and then poo poo in the sinks so I would have to clean it up, but outside him, I could handle it. I worked there for about 6 months before a stupid Green Bay based company called "Packers united" bought out the sewage company for some reason I cannot explain. I was again homeless. Then I met her. Her name was Fleur, and she was my Saint. She took me in, and we decided to fly to New Orleans, start a new life. On the way there, as we landed, the wheels on our Jet plane gave out and we crashed. I was the only survivor. Two days later Katrina hit and New Orleans flooded. I made my way to Miami. I decided to wash myself in the Ocean one day, and I was bitten by an rear end in a top hat Dolphin wearing a helmet, like it had escaped from sea world. Still have the scar on my arm. I got caught up in a gang war with some locals who called themselves "The Raiders". They had a beef with the motorcycle gang known as "Viking death". I got attacked because I called their gang name stupid. "seriously? Viking death? that's the best you could come up with? it sounds like a bad forced joke in an untrue story someone told on the internet". The leader had a pet Panther. Now I know how hard it is to walk with only half of your foot. My journey took me north. I worked in a Steel factory in Pittsburgh. All one dude talked about was how he had come to work there because some rear end in a top hat named Tebow took over their Denver branch. He was really annoying. One day, while I was in the company shower at the end of my shift, he thought it would be funny to plug in his ipod Charger and leave the other end inside my towel. When I reached for my towel, dripping wet, I received a stark electric shock. That guy was an rear end in a top hat. I was finally out of luck. I made my way to new york, sitting alone in central park. One day, a bright red Cardinal came flying up to me. I was almost dead. It started to peck at my eyes. I could do nothing. It was later shooed away by some guy wearing a purple shirt. He came up to me, said "What the hell man, you scared off my Cardinal before I could film it." Then he kicked me. I tried to answer him, but my rotting throat could only muster the sound "Kaaa wah leeemussss". He then threw a ton of bird seed on me, and soon tons of birds were on me, pecking, pecking, pecking. It was the end. I was done. A shadow came over me. The guy was running off, the birds had been squished. It was a very, very large man. He lifted me up. He said "My name is Andre, and I'm here to heal you. And that is why I root for the Giants.
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| # ? Feb 7, 2013 20:43 |
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WinnebagoWarrior posted:My team, as my avatar indicates, is the Pittsburgh Steelers. I'm also a Steelers fan and grew up right in the same area, apparently. I am also old enough to remember the mediocre-to-dreadful Mark Malone-led teams of the 80s. I lived in Pittsburgh itself for four years, then shipped down to Tampa Bay where nobody cares about the Bucs. There's a Steelers dive bar within 15 minutes of me that I really should check out more often. As a side question: Panthers or Mountaineers?
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| # ? Feb 7, 2013 20:44 |
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I root for the Redskins, God help me. As a kid, my grandfather was a big Redskins fan. I remember watching the games as a young kid in the late 80s - the Hogs and all that. It got me interested in time for '91 and the Super Bowl run. That hooked me and that was that. In retrospect that was rather unfortunate timing. Anyway, I knew a few bandwagon Cowboys fans in the 90s, which only strengthened my devotion to the 'skins and disdain for the Cowboys. It made sure I didn't drift, even when Hell was unleashed on the franchise in '99.
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| # ? Feb 7, 2013 20:44 |
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I picked the Texans because I liked the colors, Andre Johnson owns, and I didn't want to become a Saints bandwagoner after the magical 2009 season where I saw a lot of 'fans' come out of the woodwork, my family included. The first game of theirs I watched had Arian Foster do this to the Colts defense. 
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| # ? Feb 7, 2013 20:44 |
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I've never set foot in Oakland, yet somehow I became a hardcore Raiders fan. I spent most of my child growing up overseas, and we ended moving to central PA in 1999, smack dab in between Pittsburgh and Philly. By the time I started watching and enjoying football, this was when the Raiders were in their early-2000s glory days, with Rich Gannon, Tim Brown and Jerry Rice. They were so much drat fun to watch. My other friends had hopped on the Raiders bandwagon before me, so I decided to join them and root for the Raiders then and there. Of course, we all know what happened next. After they got lovely, all of my Raider fan friends decided to jump to other bandwagons. I thought about becoming a Steelers fan, especially after the bed and breakfast offense, but then I figured that if I left the fanbase when the team was lovely, what kind of fan would that make me? gently caress fickle bandwagon fans. My secret shame is that I bought a JaMarcus Russell jersey. Money well spent there.
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| # ? Feb 7, 2013 20:47 |
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Watched the '94 Pats-Dolphins season opener (http://www.pro-football-reference.c...99409040mia.htm) with a bunch of cousins who were up here visiting. They were all dolphins fans, so I rooted for the Patriots. Anytime you start off with a 39-35 game with a half dozen lead changes, you're probably gonna get hooked.
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| # ? Feb 7, 2013 20:51 |
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I root for the Seahawks because I've lived all my life in the PNW, most of that in the state of Washington. Really, there wasn't any other choice for who to root for. I guess my estranged grandfather is a Niners fan, but my dad never rooted for them at all, likely out of spite. My uncle is a Cowboys fan for similar reasons. We have a good laugh about that every so often. I root for the Lions because my dad loved watching Barry, and they were usually on TV on Sunday mornings when my dad would cook a huge breakfast for my brother and me. I kinda adopted them as my second team as a result, and IIRC I dressed up in a little Barry Sanders uniform for Halloween one year  As for college, well, I wanted to go to UW since I was in middle school. Neither of my parents went to a big school, so I developed it on my own. That, and most of my HS classmates (despite living in Washington) were filthy Duck fans, and I hated most of them anyway.
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| # ? Feb 7, 2013 20:55 |
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A long time ago, in February of 2001, I was channel surfing at home at 2 AM on a sunday night, when I came across my first NFL game ever: Super Bowl XXXV. The only thing I knew about football was from some Madden game (I think Madden '94) I had played way back when on the SNES. I kept the channel on, and because I had heard of the Giants, but never heard of the Ravens before, I started rooting for what I thought was the underdog. Before I knew it, it was 5 AM, and I had to be up to go to school like 2 hours later. I started playing the Madden games again after that, with the Ravens because of that game. Before I knew it, I was a Ravens fan. I guess I'm a bandwagoner, because I didn't follow the team in the Marchibroda years. I'm pretty sure I'll still be a fan if the Ravens ever get something like a 3-13 season though! The gooniest way ever to pick a team: video games 
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| # ? Feb 7, 2013 20:57 |
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Since it seems to come up with profound frequency, I figured I would give a little background of "THE SWITCH." My parents are from Central PA. They met and married in Denver. For the first five years of my life, I lived in the Southwest until my family moved back to Central PA. Even though its not technically Pittsburgh, it is deep in the heart of Steelers country. As a little kid, my father pulled hard for the Elway Broncos and my Mom for the Steelers. I ended up following the Broncos more closely growing up, if only because my dad was the biggest fan. Also, football and sports in general have always been kind of an "identity" thing for me. I saw myself as a kid from the Southwest living in PA, and it made sense to keep up that identity, as tenuous as it was. Honestly, for most of my teen years and early 20's, I was not even much of a pro football fan. I think I watched a total of five professional football games on tv between 2000-2009. My big love was college football, the Penn State Nittany Lions. My parents working for the University def helped. It was only around 2009 when I moved to Colorado for grad school that I got back into Pro Football. True story, I did not even know the Steelers were in SBXLIII until the day before the game. I started following the game more seriously the next season. The thing is, the more I watched the more I started watching the Steelers as a way to keep up with friends back home. It was something to chat on facebook about. As time went on, it got about 50/50 in my support. I remember watching the MNF game between the Broncos and Steelers essentially cheering for every play. As I said before, fandom has a lot to do with identity for me. As a kid, I was a Southwesterner in the Northeast. In Colorado, I was a guy who lived 20 years in the Northeast. I guess I realized I "clicked" with the Steelers more as time went on. Also, because of my rapid PSU fandom, there were two players I hated: Brady Quinn and Tim Tebow. I remember when Quinn was traded saying, as a joke, "watch, we will also get that fucker Tebow." Boom. It was kind of the last straw. I guess I felt like there was not much left to "connect" me to the Broncos anymore. And that is how I become the worst poster in TFF.
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| # ? Feb 7, 2013 21:00 |
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I follow the raiders because the have bitching colors , logo and history.Plus they had the most awesome , backstabber ,ambitious owner in the history of the game. They suck but whatever , I saw a world cup win so I can wait happy.
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| # ? Feb 7, 2013 21:01 |
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I'll just copy/paste my post from the other thread. I'm a Cowboys fan because I was born and (mostly) raised in Fort Worth and my family has had season tickets since the 60s. Of course I didn't really start to get into it until after the triplets' run.  I guess what I'm trying to say is GEE THANKS DAD PS the new stadium is wayyyy better than the old one. That last one sucked and also turned my dad into a crazy person when driving there
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| # ? Feb 7, 2013 21:01 |
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I like the Packers because their logo is a G. Also, because I live in steelers country and gently caress that
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| # ? Feb 7, 2013 21:02 |
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I root for the Giants because of my dad. Sometimes when people go through Terrible Things together it can be a bonding experience. This is basically what happened to me and my father while watching Dave Brown and Danny Kanell literally fumble their way through their Giants careers.
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| # ? Feb 7, 2013 21:07 |
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I was born near Hagerstown, so the closest teams near have always been the Ravens and Redskins, so that's who I root for instinctively. Plus I hate the Steelers and the annoying fans that live around me, and the Eagles are boring, so even though they're technically my home state NFL teams, I can't support them.
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| # ? Feb 7, 2013 21:09 |
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I was born in Green Bay. I remember a little bit of Magic Man but most of what I remember is Favre. My whole family are Packer fans, and our family gatherings are planned around Packer games. I don't know how my dad dealt with the decades of Packer failure but he likes to remind me how lucky I have it. When I was little we went to Bay Beach (smallish amusement park) in Green Bay and I remember my dad pointing out a Packer, I forget who it was now but I remember he was a monster, especially to a 4 year old or however old I was. I remember waiting in line at a mall to get Chris Jacke's autograph (lol). Still have it somewhere. I'm just lucky I found TFF a year before the Packers took the Super Bowl so I wasn't labeled a bandwagon fan. RIP division threads.
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| # ? Feb 7, 2013 21:11 |
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I'm originally from North Carolina but never had an interest in football, living on the coast you saw more Steelers fans than Panthers although that might have changed since Cam. When I moved to New Orleans I was invited to a Saints game on my second day in town. It was Panthers@Saints. New Orleans won and I took that as a good sign. Everyone here is a fan of the Saints, they're passionate, colorful, and sometimes dumb but they care. As I watched and learned to appreciate football I learned to love the Saints. The city as a whole acts differently when the football team is losing. I do support Carolina though when they aren't playing NO.
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| # ? Feb 7, 2013 21:15 |
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I'm a Browns fan because I like to make sure my weekends are free every January.
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| # ? Feb 7, 2013 21:22 |
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I root for the Vikings pretty much solely because Randy Moss was loving so incredible that my 10 year old brain couldn't handle it.
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| # ? Feb 7, 2013 21:28 |
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I'm a Chiefs fan because I grew up watching legends like In reality I've lived in this shithole where sports go to die my entire damned life and that's why I'm a fan. That and I hate myself.
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| # ? Feb 7, 2013 21:31 |
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Everyone in my family supports the 49ers. Outside of the head of the family, its everyone's second favorite team. It wasn't allowed to be anyone's favorite team because, according to him, "you have to make your own allegiances." I was 4 when this decree came down. I picked the cool looking tiger team since it was the closest I could find to a cheetah, my favorite animal. My dumb pride has never let me waver. 
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| # ? Feb 7, 2013 21:32 |
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I pretty much always have a devout loyalty to whatever teams were geographically considered to be my home teams while I was growing up. The Colts came to town after I was born but before I was old enough to have formed any sort of memories about anything at all, so I never knew a time when they weren't the default team for Indy football fans. My dad does, though. Season ticket holder since their first season, he still has a well-preserved copy of a newspaper sports section from the mid 80s featuring a large photo of him with his brother and their father glaring disapprovingly at the game from the stands as we took a beatdown from the Chargers. He likes to point out that everyone was attending the game still in their church clothes because nobody owned jerseys yet. Still making the connection that the players were our players. Still learning how to be fans of a football team right here in our very own city. Still letting it sink in that they weren't just the Colts, they were the Indianapolis Colts. So, yeah: fan of our home teams in all sports. Even the ones I never watch.
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| # ? Feb 7, 2013 21:49 |
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| # ? May 24, 2013 20:11 |
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I lived in Indy when I began to enjoy football. So I watched the Colts. There was this Jeff George and he was ok. What cemented it was one of the madden games (or some other football), I was playing as Jim Harbaugh vs my buddy and ol' Jim went down with a compound fracture. I kept him in the game and he won it. Go Colts.
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| # ? Feb 7, 2013 21:57 |
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