NFL fans claiming to be a loyal fan of a team but switch teams, your thoughts

[Zag20]

17 hours ago, BillsPride12 said:

Where do you stand on the Seattle Kraken?  Just curious 

Love that we have an NHL team. I only know hockey from video games from the ‘90s and I have a lot to learn about all the nuances. The first Kraken game I watched was in this year’s playoffs and wow was it fun. Pretty cool to have a decent playoff run in their 2nd season. Tickets are very expensive.

[bearstobills]

I need to chime in here.  It happens.  

 

I grew up in Chicago. Bears, Bulls, Cubs all day (with some love for the White Sox and Blackhawks).  I moved all over the country and enjoyed some minor flirtations with other teams while remaining staunchly loyal to all jerseys  with Chicago on the front.

 

Moved to Buffalo in my late 30's.  The Bears had just signed Jay Cutler, and we were feeling Superbowl.  Trent Edwards was the QB for the Bills.  They were mired in a horrendous losing streak at the time and had just drafted Aaron Maybin.  I was at Bada Bing on a Sunday afternoon watching the Bears in a nearly empty bar.  The Bills game was also on.  My interest began to shift from the Bears game to the Bills game.  And low and behold, the Bills found a way to win and break the losing streak.  For some stupid reason, I began to clap.  And NOONE else in that bar seemed to care.  In fact, I sensed a deep resentment toward the Bills.  And I thought...."This team needs me."

 

After that day, I fell hard.  My love for the Bills exceeds any team I have ever rooted for.  And I was 12 when Michael Jordan came to Chicago, and would fall asleep at night with a transistor radio under my pillow listening to those games.  I grew up at Wrigley Field.  We soared with the 85 Bears.  And none of it holds a candle to my devotion to the Bills.

 

My friends were baffled.  But I moved to Buffalo....BUFFALO....from Los Angeles. And it quickly became my favorite city in the U.S.   I live in Japan now.  I wake up at 2 a.m. to watch the games.  I wished I cared less than I do, but dammit...I'm an addict.

 

Konichiwa from Japan Bills fans.   

 

 

Edited May 25, 2023 by bearstobills

[14774]

As a child I picked the Washington Redskins. I liked the uniforms. I stuck with them through the 80s and early 90s (sorry). Then...Snyder came along. I rooted for the Cardinals when they had Plummer. I follow the Bills because they are my local team. I don't really consider myself a fan of any team now.🤷‍♂️

[julian]

On 5/23/2023 at 1:35 PM, Logic said:

DM'd ya.

Witness protection hiding from the east coast mob ?

[BillsPride12]

5 hours ago, bearstobills said:

I need to chime in here.  It happens.  

 

I grew up in Chicago. Bears, Bulls, Cubs all day (with some love for the White Sox and Blackhawks).  I moved all over the country and enjoyed some minor flirtations with other teams while remaining staunchly loyal to all jerseys  with Chicago on the front.

 

Moved to Buffalo in my late 30's.  The Bears had just signed Jay Cutler, and we were feeling Superbowl.  Trent Edwards was the QB for the Bills.  They were mired in a horrendous losing streak at the time and had just drafted Aaron Maybin.  I was at Bada Bing on a Sunday afternoon watching the Bears in a nearly empty bar.  The Bills game was also on.  My interest began to shift from the Bears game to the Bills game.  And low and behold, the Bills found a way to win and break the losing streak.  For some stupid reason, I began to clap.  And NOONE else in that bar seemed to care.  In fact, I sensed a deep resentment toward the Bills.  And I thought...."This team needs me."

 

After that day, I fell hard.  My love for the Bills exceeds any team I have ever rooted for.  And I was 12 when Michael Jordan came to Chicago, and would fall asleep at night with a transistor radio under my pillow listening to those games.  I grew up at Wrigley Field.  We soared with the 85 Bears.  And none of it holds a candle to my devotion to the Bills.

 

My friends were baffled.  But I moved to Buffalo....BUFFALO....from Los Angeles. And it quickly became my favorite city in the U.S.   I live in Japan now.  I wake up at 2 a.m. to watch the games.  I wished I cared less than I do, but dammit...I'm an addict.

 

Konichiwa from Japan Bills fans.   

 

 

That's a pretty impressive story!  I loved those Chicago Bulls teams in the 90s, if I was a Chicago native I don't think my love for any other team/era would've surpassed that!

[bearstobills]

16 minutes ago, BillsPride12 said:

That's a pretty impressive story!  I loved those Chicago Bulls teams in the 90s, if I was a Chicago native I don't think my love for any other team/era would've surpassed that!

Maybe that was part of the problem....we had to share that team with the entire basketball world.  There was nothing like those first few years with Michael.  Just remembering the energy in the stadium still gives me chills.  But by the time they won, they were rock stars.  Rooting for the Bills is much more personal for me.  The team reflects the city in many ways.  Buffalo was just beginning its renaissance when I arrived.  And being part of both the team and the city's co-evolution was an absolute blast.

[GreggTX]

I'm 67 so I'm older than the franchise, but I have never waivered in my allegience. It has, at times, been tough. No doubt about that. I will remain a fan all my life unless this franchise is either dismantled or moved at which point the NFL will become irrelevant to me. I continue to hope that I will live to see the Bills hoist the Lombardi Trophy.

[Buffalo Junction]

On 5/23/2023 at 4:41 PM, Gugny said:

When rumors were heating up that Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez were going to buy the Mets, I was 100% prepared to dump the Mets if it came to fruition. 
 

My mind was made up that I’d switch to the Red Sox (because Fenway is the same distance from me as Citifield and I love Fenway) and only switch back if the team was sold to someone else. 
 

Luckily, it didn’t happen. 
 

Had it happened and I jumped ship, I would not consider myself disloyal, given the context. 
 

 

I certainly make exceptions for folks who change due to bad ownership moves. I certainly know a few former die hard Skins and Browns fans. If the team relocated, or a new owner is horrendous and drives the franchise into the ground switching loyalties is okay…. But, it should be a one time thing and you can’t switch to your former teams rivals. 

[PrimeTime101]

So if we took any afce team out of the picture.... IF I moved to KC? I will start watching KC chiefs football a ton BUT because my heart is forever in Western NY, I would always root for the Bills over the Chiefs. You can be a fan of multiple teams as long as your heart is home.. Now Flat out switching from buffalo to a KC fan? I could never do... 

 

This also depends on how long you were a fan of a team. Military families for example sometimes move around a lot. Its situational. 

[eball]

On 5/23/2023 at 1:18 PM, ddaryl said:

If the Bills left the city of Buffalo I would stop following the NFL all together.

I'm not a football fan, I am a Buffalo Bills fan

 

same thing goes for hockey. If the Sabres leave town I will no longer even follow the NHL

 

Losing either the Bills or Sabres would be a disastrous blow to my sports fandom.  I do love the NFL and NHL but without my teams I could not see myself becoming deeply invested in any other franchise.  I would become the proverbial “casual fan.”

 

[C.Biscuit97]

Yeah as others said, if the bills leave,l Buffalo, I won’t have a team. I think it’s weird that raiders fan follow the team no matter where they go. For me, it’s only about Buffalo. Buffalo vs the world. I grew up liking the Mets and Knicks but I can never really get invested in other non Buffalo teams. 

 

I would say I’d quit the nfl all together but I love gambling and fantasy. But I would watch their games illegally.

[IronyAbounds]

Born in Buffalo and went to games in the early 60's. Family moved to AZ when I was a kid but I never have wavered in my love (and sometimes disgust, lol) for the Bills. Oddly enough I kinda liked the Cardinals when they were in St. Louis, but haven't cared for them at all since their move to Phoenix. I've stuck with all my teams (Bills, Yankees, and Celtics) that I loved as a kid. Haven't had any desire to adopt any other teams.

[Don Otreply]

Loyalty to a corporation is odd, in which corporations have no loyalty whatsoever to you, The NFL has long been loyal to only money and what it takes to get it.  I’m a Bills fan, a fan for the home town team sporting aspect, its a past time / hobby for me, if the Bills leave Buffalo my fandom leaves with them.  I have little to no attachment to any other football team at this point in my life. I like sailing my boat up and down the east coast and the Bahamas avoiding snow as I go south every winter, this is my life style, following the Bills is a hobby within that life style. 

 

GO BILLS!!!

[dpberr]

Fans can divorce teams.  You can fall out of love. There are times where a team no longer deserves your interest or your money. 

 

I divorced the Pittsburgh Pirates several years ago due to their crap owner and lack of any identifiable plan to be a remotely competitive baseball team.  If he could care less about the team's performance, why should I?

 

 

[Chicken Boo]

Having to endure the Ted Thompson years, wasting Aaron Rodgers career.  I won't hold it against the guy.   

[BuffaloBillyG]

Loyalty works both ways. I have been a devoted Bills fan since childhood. Even during my military days when I lived out of the area. When streaming games, oversaturated coverage on all NFL teams being readily accessable or having the ability to follow day to day happenings was really possible. I had a subscription to Shout but that was always way behind. Family would send out the Buffalo News sports page from time to time. But I always stayed loyal to my team.

 

That said, had the Bills moved to Toronto or some other place and left the area...I was full on ready to be a Giants fan. Even more so with the current set up of ex Bills GM and HC and several former Bills players rostered they would be easy enough to switch to...likely casually at first but closer to diehard as time moved on. 

[BuffaloBillsGospel2014]

I think the great thing about being a fan of sports is nobody can tell you how to be 1. 

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

On 5/23/2023 at 1:13 PM, Patrick Duffy said:

 

I have to think this has happened to quite a few ppl here before at some point or other.....

 

Anyways, to quickly set the scene for you just a bit, stopped for gas while I was out running some errands and have one of my many Bills shirts etc, and have a smaller 3-4in tattoo of Bills charging buffalo on the back of my neck people notice sometimes that often is the first thing they comment on getting my attention starting a little football talk....

 

Told him I was a loyal die hard Bills fan for almost 40 years now and he was a die hard fan of the Packers for however many years, but at some point is now a die hard Raiders fan lol 

 

So how can one be a "loyal die hard" fan when you switch teams like that? I could never do it, I can't imagine myself being a fan of any other team besides Buffalo.

 

 

I grew up in the NYC area and was a Mets, Jets, Knicks, and Islanders fan.  I hated the Yankee's but didn't hate Giants.  I'd root for Giants other than if playing Jets.  Not sure I'd have called myself a die-hard fan as a kid had better things to do, but certainly rooted for them.  Moved to western NY in 1976, still rooted for Jets over Bills.  Then from around 1983 till 86 both teams were very bad and really didn't follow much of either one and wasn't all that much news to follow.  Then in 86 Bills came alive and ever since then have followed them closely and would call myself more of a die-hard fan. 

 

Back then there was little to no internet, sports bars were just starting to open so hard to even watch games of out of market team particularly when there is an in market team near by.  I've since moved out of western NY and live in Carolina, but still follow and root for Bills exclusively, much easier now with internet, ST, streaming sites, etc all around.  Same thing kind of happened with me with the Sabre's and root for them now too, though admittedly living in NC, not much of any hockey to follow all that much down here. (even with an in-state team).

[eball]

20 hours ago, dpberr said:

Fans can divorce teams.  You can fall out of love. There are times where a team no longer deserves your interest or your money. 

 

 

Absolutely.  Many fans have divorced the Washington Football Team out of disgust for Snyder…it will be interesting to see how the fan base responds to new ownership.

 

I’m sure some Cleveland fans have divorced the Browns over the Watson signing — and their owner is a crook also.

 

It’s harder when you still live in the community, though…

 

[DJB]

So basically you are asking if we are Patriots fans?