Who Do I Cheer For?

A nation divided.

While the most publicized people in NFL culture are the players, the most important ones are the fans. They're the ones buying the tickets, merchandise, and overpriced stadium beer. Players get their fame and fortune from the adoration of the people who cheer them on. But what makes a football fan more than just a lover of the game in general? What makes him support one team above another? How does someone go from "I like football" to "I hate the Patriots"?


Probably the most common reason is geography. You root for the home team; that's standard fan etiquette. True-blooded Minnesotans are going to despise Cheeseheads, and vice versa. Fandom is often inherited or de facto, just a matter of circumstance. But that doesn't have to always determine what team you like. For example, I'm a Floridian, and I have three teams to choose from. I'm not a fan of any of them. But we'll get to my own preference in a moment.

Another reason can be the players. People who love Peyton Manning probably used to be Colts fans and are now Broncos fans. It's possible fans of the Greatest Show on Turf were rooting for Kurt Warner in his Arizona Cardinals Super Bowl appearance. And maybe if you're a huge Beast Mode supporter, you switched allegiance from the Bills to the Seahawks. That's a somewhat facetious example, but certain players do become bigger than the teams they play for, and fans will follow (coughTebowcough).

Those two are probably the biggest causes. From there, it can be almost anything. Maybe you love an underdog so much, you start rooting for a recently or historically unsuccessful team like the Chiefs, Lions, or Browns. Maybe you have familial ties to a team, despite living elsewhere, or maybe you married into it. For me, it was a combination of that player love I mentioned and fantasy football. I only really became a fan of the NFL once I started playing fantasy. In my rookie season, I got the number one draft pick. My franchise player: LaDainian Tomlinson, one of the greatest running backs to ever play the game. That got me following the San Diego Chargers, and I've been a fan ever since, despite living on the opposite coast.

I think the overall point to be made is that it doesn't matter too much how you become a fan of a team. If you enjoy it, who cares how arbitrary it is? It's kind of arbitrary that we enjoy the game at all, much less develop rooting interests. As long as you don't take it too far, as some are wont to do (stabbing opposing fans and whatnot), go right ahead and root for the Bills just because you want the Patriots to lose, or the Browns because it's your favorite color, or the Buccaneers because you like to dress as a pirate.