Why do you support the team you do??

[BuffaloRules]

Well, its that time of the year again when the NFL season is not too far away....

Saw the first ad for the upcoming season on Fox this morning ( pre season starts Aug 20 apparently...)

So that old chestnut comes out.... why do you support the team that you do??

Considering that Mystery Girl would probably be the only person on this board with any local ties to their team , I'm curious as to why other people go for the team that they do....

For me, I can go back to when I was very much a youngster watching my first game of NFL on Channel 9....

It was the playoffs in late 1981... Buffalo vs New York Jets -AFC Wild Card...

I was really hooked on the game pretty much from when I first started watching it, and by the end was converted when the Bills won a tight game something like 31- 28....

Have followed the Bills with a lot of passion ( and through a lot of heart break)for the next 23 years...

Now I consider NFL as easily my second favourite sport other than League....

 

[legend]

John Elway and his magnificent arm. I sort of lost interest for a few years but in 1996 a met a bloke at work who was from America and we hit if off and he was a Dallas fan, which in my eyes were the equivalent of Manly back in those days.

The Broncos with Elway, Sharpe, Smith, Davis and Easy Ed started to become a force again and I only had to wait another year for Denver to win the big one.

I still have my autographed Denver jersey in the Orange crush uniform and it is my prized possession along with my signed Laurie Daley jersey.

 

[from1st2last]

I have many friends and relatives in the states who are Colts Fans ... Hence my obsession and trips following them round the States and the state of my bedroom walls.
Peyton Manning is my hero

 

[pennywisealfie]

oh man ive had so many teams in my lifetime because i havent really been super interested until 2002.

91-93: Washington Redskins- i knew nothing about nfl then but i had a redskins hat haha.

94: Kansas City Chiefs- because i saw that montana played for them and id heard of him.

95-99: Pittsburgh Steelers- My uncle gave me a Steelers shirt.

2000-2002: Minnesota Vikings- I liked there jersey LOL.

2002-Present: Oakland Raiders- this is when i reeeeally got into the NFL and i decided that i should go for a Californian team since i was going to move there and since i always hated the 49ers i had to decide between Chargers and Raiders, lucky they were playing against each other on TV and despite me probably moving to San Diego i decided to go for Oakland just because i liked the whole Black thing and the Black Hole and all that sorta Raiders stuff. I probably like The Bengals just as much these days because they are the strugglers.

 

[Cupid Stunt]

With Parra fans being one of the most tribal I needed to find the same thing.

There was nothing more daunting in the NFL (& that point isnt open for discussion ;-) ) than Vets Stadium. Any place that has teams scared to take to the field because "the grounds to hard" & the fans are willing to throw snowballs at Santa, throw batteries at the opposition & then get sent to the jail below the stadium just seemed appealing. Also the Philly fans arent scared to show how they feel. They will boo & jeer their own if they dont think they have given 1000% win, lose or draw.


Other than that the Eagles have always played the game the way I like. There's never a lot of big plays it's just hit-em-hard-hit-em-often type running & the passing is kept simple yet effective. But since Reid has taken over this style has just gone to a new level & his version of West Coast offense is looking stronger every year.

Honestly, how many other grounds have a purpose built jail just for game day? All this in the "City Of Brotherly Love"! :lol:

 

[Paullyboy]

I think im the youngest regular poster on the NFL forum, im only 19 so Ive got the shortest history with my team of any of you blokes.

My love of the vikers started in 1999 I think it was when I met a lovely young lady (and by lovely I mean extremely attractive) from the US who was a vikings fan, so to give us something to talk about I started learning up and watching the vikes. Now she is long gone yet im left with this love of Minnesota. Funny how things like that happen.

 

[kurt faulk]

.

i started to watch the nfl in 1990.

i had watched the whiners - bengals superbowl a couple of years earlier and had an instant disliking of the whiners. that damn montana was so good and that jerry rice. it was a turnoff, i'm used to teams with talent but not enough to win anything (i am a saints supporter).

so the team which most reminded me of the saints at the time were the redskins. it was great to see them win the superbowl a year later but i still didn't really connect with them. dan snyder clinched the deal in the end and now i can just barely wish to see them do well. but my time following the redskins gave me an eternal hatred of the nfc east rivals.

the vikings were really the team which reminded me of the saints so i am a fan of them as well. i always want to see them do well except against one team.

which brings me to the rams. my hatred of the whiners led to my fondness of the rams because they were the whiners' whipping boys and because they were so bad. the move to st louis gave them hope which didn't pan out for a while until the 99 season. i really became hooked at the beginning of that season. warner, faulk, bruce, holt and hakim exploded onto the nfl scene with a brand of play that made every moment of every game a joy to watch. it's over now and they are back to plodding along with bulger but the rams will always be my team.

.

 

[Dogs Of War]

I love the Bengals (even though they have been shit for so long), since they went to the superbowl against the 49ers. Everyone was going for the 49ers and I really hadn't followed the NFL before. Watched the game and loved it, the Icky Shuffle, the uniform, I really got into the NFL for the next few years, especially when Don Lane used to do it on the ABC. But my team the Bengals really struggled and it's great to see them starting to rise again!

 

[booeycollector]

Rams. I followed them when they were the LA Rams and then they moved. My old man went over for a work trip and bought me some LA Rams gear. From that day I became a Rams supporter.

 

[MC DUI]

My reason is pretty piss-weak but anyways, a mate of mine had NFL Quarterback Club 99 on the Nintendo 64 and I always picked the New England Patriots partly because their colours were red and blue like the Knights and because I liked the name.
I've always been keen on watching NFL but didn't really have a favourite but as soon as I started playing Quaterback Club 99 with the Pat's I've followed them ever since, must say they have been very good to me so far.

 

[half]

cos of ace ventura. lol

nah, i just like miami. will smith does too. we have this thing

 

[Special K]

Philly. I liked them because that was the home of ECW and I was really into wrestling at the time. Plus I mark for Dawkins 8)

 

[Dragons Cross]

When I started watching the NFL in the early 90s I chose the Pats because they would get flogged most weeks but I was a fan of Bledsoe. I really started getting into it in 95 when they went 6-10 but had an awesome team with Bledsoe, Curtis Martin, Ben Coates etc. Then in 96 my support was confirmed when they made the superbowl with the Terry Glenn on the flank.

When I get interested in sports from other countries (ie no local ties) I tend to support teams that are kind of crap but have endearing qualities and potential. In saying this I never thought that the Pats would be where they are today.

 

[pennywisealfie]

I think im the youngest regular poster on the NFL forum, im only 19 so Ive got the shortest history with my team of any of you blokes.

My love of the vikers started in 1999 I think it was when I met a lovely young lady (and by lovely I mean extremely attractive) from the US who was a vikings fan, so to give us something to talk about I started learning up and watching the vikes. Now she is long gone yet im left with this love of Minnesota. Funny how things like that happen.

LOL, im totally different, not that im a rugby fan but i used to date a chick who was fully crazy about the Canterbury Crusaders so i thought id support them as well. now that we broke up i despise that team haha!

 

[Steeden]

I love the old school teams like the Packers, Eagles, Steelers, etc. The teams where folk come out in blizzards every single week to watch their boys go round. Especially the Pack, where fathers put their kids names at birth on the waiting list for season tickets at the frozen tundra, Lambeau. I think the closest I came to that here was watching the Raiders go round at Seiffert Oval in the 80s. That place was stupid cold.

...would love to see the Eagles win it this year, though - or at least make it to the big dance!! They're due...

 

[Eelectrica]

Dolphins beause I live on the Gold Coast, and Miami is kind of like the Gold Coast - Not that I've ever been to Miami Florida.
So it's kind of like supporting a home team. I used to listen to the Dolphin games on the internet before the NFL figured they could make a few dollars out of it :x .

 

[MysteryGirl]

I have always loved my Vikes.
I can remember watching Fran Tarkington and Ahmad Rashad play and sitting on my grandpa's lap and loving his reactions to this game.

I was probably the only girl in the college dorms that couldn't be pried away from her TV on Sunday afternoons because the idea of missing a game was out of the question.

It was something that was a staple in my house growing up and to this day, when there's a game on - I have plans to watch it.

What can I say? I truly am a sports fan through and through.

 

[pennywisealfie]

Dolphins beause I live on the Gold Coast, and Miami is kind of like the Gold Coast - Not that I've ever been to Miami Florida.
So it's kind of like supporting a home team. I used to listen to the Dolphin games on the internet before the NFL figured they could make a few dollars out of it :x .

just look for a miami sports radio station on the internet and you are bound to find one that will broadcast dolphins games.

 

[Paullyboy]

Yeh there was a link up here last season which helped you track down any american online radio station by city, so you can listen to whatever game you want. Im gonna have to find that some time soon. Hey MysteryGirl, any insider information on whats the best online radio station in MN?

 

[MysteryGirl]

PB:

Try this site:
http://www.purplepride.org/live/media.cfm