Fans of less-notable & successful teams - what drew you in?

BizzyC

Bit of an odd question I know, but I was thinking about the success that the Patriots have had since I became a fan back in 1997 when I watched my first Superbowl and decided to back the underdogs... yes I was a fan before Brady, but I hardly picked a middle of the pack team from that season, they were in the bowl...

That sense of backing teams in the big games seems to be a fairly common way that people come to their choice of team in Ireland, but it left me thinking - for the fans of teams that haven't been in a Superbowl or many winning seasons in 20+ years and don't have a big legacy name, what drew you in to support them?

Primarily when looking at the teams with the worst records and few winning seasons, the ones that stand out most are; Browns, Lions, Washington, Jags, Jets, Texans.

Teams like the Raiders and Giants have had worse records than some of these in recent years, but they are bigger, more recognisable/marketed names internationally so you can understand them picking up more international fans.

So that's my question, for the Irish fans of these teams, what was it about them that convinced a neutral Irish person to pickup their banner from thousands of miles away without the draw of success?

davetherave

The Bears were big in the 80's but I wasn't around much back then, only caught the last year or so of that decade. How I started following them, and American Football is one of two things, both were around the same time and I can't remember which came first. I got an Urlacher jersey in Arnotts in the sales after Christmas, or I had gotten Madden 2003 and when sorted alphabetically Bears is the first team in the list. No relatives that had moved to Chicago, no connection to Illinois, had no clue about the Monsters of the Midway, Walter Payton, or the SuberBowl Shuffle. It was just either "That navy and orange looks like a nice Jersey" or "I have no idea who any of these are, lets just pick the first one". 🤣 20 years later, the record has been 149-155, 6 post season appearances with one lost Super Bowl, 22 different starting quarterbacks and they still manage to occasionally getting think this could be it

Lionbacker

I became a fan of the Lions, when growing up in the 90's. I used to watch a Channel 4 program called Blitz! which profiled that weeks NFL games with highlights and previews. Well with it being the 90's there was a certain player with the Lions who was absolutely mesmerising every time he touched the ball & caught my eye as a young teen. As I was someone new to the sport I chose to follow said team.

So now turning to the present day, I can thank Barry Sanders for years of pain & anger from following this mostly luckless & unfortunate franchise. Still would'nt have it any other way though.

Fr Tod Umptious

Back in the 80s when I was a kid I liked the Falcons because they went 4-0 to start 1986 and were on the cover of First Down magazine.

But I grew out of it.

I too followed the pre Brady Patriots from about 1996, because I lived there.

Now I live back in Ireland and follow no particular team, I just love the game.

MileHighGuy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118434677#Comment_118434677

That was a pretty good Atlanta team, Dave Archer and Gerald Riggs. Lovely unis too.

Funny wbough, I chose the Broncos in 1986 (they had only been to a single Super Bowl 10 years previously) because First Down magazine had a centre spread poster of John Elway that week (they lost 9-3 to the Chargers!!) but I loved the uniform and hitched my wagon to what would turn out to be a pretty successful franchise, but man, those first 4 years were tough :)

BizzyC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118434576#Comment_118434576

I used to watch that show as well, used to be the only way to get highlights back in those days!

Sanders could have been the GOAT at RB had he not landed at a team where he had to do everything by himself....

Fr Tod Umptious

The thing about following the Lions or the Browns, or the Bears is that they have heritage and history.

They have been around since the pre Superbowl NFL era.

And that is something that can attract people.

They can read old stories from the past, lookmat old videos of legends and legendary games.

But with the likes of Houston or God forbid Jacksonville, that's a different story.

Obviously Jacksonville have a certain level of UK interest ( and I'm not sure how deep it actually goes) because of the deal they have to play there, but beyond that I doubt they have a fan outside north Florida/south Georgia.

And I'd bet most people this side of the world could not find Jacksonville on the map in a million years.

BizzyC

Thats why I was focusing on the last 20 years in particular.

The Bears have appeared in a SB, have a known name due to their success in the 80s etc, but neither Lions or Browns have achieved anything noteworthy since 2000, and neither has a Superbowl appearances in their history... So aside from someone who got drawn in by the genius of Barry Sanders, or Calvin Johnson more recently, I'd be really curious to see why someone would choose one of these teams from across the atlantic.

HalloweenJack

Similar to someone above, I played Madden years ago and hadn't a clue who any of the teams were.

I didn't really go for any team until I found out that one of my favourite musicians made a song for the Bengals so I adopted them.

https://youtu.be/76d0yNnhN0U

I don't follow football much, just check up on the scores every few weeks and watch the odd Super Bowl but obviously I've been paying a bit more attention with the way the playoffs have panned out this year.

Xavi6

Played Madden, watched NFL Blitz with Gary Imlach on a Saturday morning, took a shine to old Marcus Allen, started following the Chiefs. That was 1995 and they've been my team since.

Getting to a game in Arrowhead was the number one item on my bucket list and I ticked it in November 2018, Mahomes' first year as a starter. They beat Josh Rosen's Cardinals comfortably. I like that they aren't from a "mainstream" city because I'd have never visited otherwise and the experience in the snow was fantastic. Really welcoming people and I'll be going again for sure.

dakar

Started lurking around this corner of Boards coming up to the 2018 draft.

I had been distantly aware of what was going on in the NFL since the mid 80’s but decided to commit and pick a team.

Probably should be a Bears fan since the Payton/McMahon/Perry Super Bowl team first caught my 12 year old attention. But I decided to pick a proper underdog team (still should have stuck with the Bears, I guess…). Choice boiled down to Browns or Jets and I hitched my wagon to Baker over Sam. And so I find myself a dedicated Browns fan, and I’m enjoying the ride. Kinda…

Benimar

Dan Marino.

I got into the game in his 2nd season, watching highlights on Channel 4 and loved watching him play. They made the Superbowl that season but its been all downhill since then.

Outside of the Lions and possibly Browns, has there been a more mediocre outfit in the last 25 years than the Dolphins? Since 2000 we have 4 seasons that were outside the 10-6 to 6-10 range, 3 playoff appearances, resulting in defeats by 17, 18 and 18 points in the WC round. Oh, we have scored a TOTAL of 24 points in these games.

Our 3 most recent Top 5 draft picks were Jake Long over Matt Ryan (Cleo Lemon and John Beck were the 'QBs' at the time), Dion Jordan and Tua. (Yes, I'm not a Tua fan)

I'm starting to hate Dan!

Christy42

Jags fan. Played fantasy first and watched for that. Nearly went with Carolina since it was their players that gave me a respectable first season.

However at the time it felt like bandwagonning. Jags had a young team and I liked the helmet and I had no reason to go for another team so went with them. Worked out for 1 season...