SUPER FAN

Lydia

This looks like a job for SUPER FAN!

PART 1

For many NFL fans, their game day fashion turns them into another person. Like Superman, in a way. On a normal day, one can be a "mild-mannered reporter" or accountant, teacher, bus driver… you get the idea. However, once Sunday comes, when the citizens of a great NFL city need their team to beat a nasty opponent - their "Super Fan" personas kick in. It is with the help of fanatical fashion that the civilian morphs into someone else - a crusader for their team. This crusader is a person with a mission. That mission is to lead all others, more mildly dressed fans, in cheering their team to victory. Some Super Fans are almost as famous as the team's players themselves!

I have had the chance to meet and see many Super Fans who have made the pilgrimage to Canton, Ohio, the birthplace of the NFL and home to the Pro Hall of Fame. Currently, we have a display that includes fan memorabilia like a dress from a Washington Redskins "Hogette."

I saw a man at the Cleveland Browns vs. Seattle Seahawks game on Sunday who calls himself, "Captain Cleveland" (see picture below). He was being approached by a kid who had stars in his eyes, enthralled at being able to meet a hero to the Browns' fans. This Super Fan's game day persona turns him into a caped crusader who is on a mission to bring Browns' fans to glory. He helps to cheer his team to a win and earn some respect for this "cursed" football city!


There are Super Fans out to save almost any NFL team. Over my next couple of blogs, I will highlight a few of these people whose game day fashion turns them into a symbol of team pride. If you have any special Super Fans at your NFL stadium that I may not feature and you think deserve to be recognized here, please share with me in the comments section and salute the grandstand greats!

I am going to start with the Hogettes. When I lived awhile back in Tampa, Fla., my roommate was a huge Redskins fan and I was someone who was born-and-raised to cheer for the Browns. We would both commiserate with each other about our less-than-stellar favorite football teams. We would discuss how even though our teams usually had some bad days we were proud to come from die-hard fan bases. The Redskins most famous fans are a group of men known as the "Hogettes."

According to their website, the idea started with a Halloween costume in 1983, and became a group of a dozen "wild and crazy family men" who would dress up in dresses and then visit and raise money for sick children in area hospitals, in addition to cheering on the Redskins at home games. The Hogettes Team was born and, according to their website, "the first time out, the Team put on their dresses (old-fashioned cheerleaders), pig snouts, wigs, and white 'good-guy' leather hats and ventured to the Philly game (11-27-83) at the Pig Pen." They have had a very solid and important presence ever since. They have even had their own Visa commercial.


The Hogettes are great Super Fans not only because of the way they use their game day fashion to unite Redskins fans, but they use their Super Fan personas for charitable causes as well. I think this makes them ULTIMATE SUPER FANS.

You can become your own Super Fan with cool team merchandise from the Hall of Fame Store. We have Fan Face masks that are sure to frighten any opponent team's fans! Shop Now!


Who do you want to see featured in my next blog? Let me know!