How did you become a fan?

Justin

As Lydia pointed out last week, the Hogettes are an extremely passionate group of fans who cheer for not only the Washington Redskins, but the often forgotten offensive line, AKA "The Hogs." Hall of Famer Russ Grimm is proud to represent "The Hogs," and signs "Hogs" alongside all his autographs. The Hogettes and "Hogs" have even impacted the merchandise for the Redskins as seen below with the Redskins foamhead that is a Hog. While Lydia begins to feature the different super fans from around the NFL, it makes me think about why fans cheer for the teams they do.
Fans have different reasons why they like certain teams. For some fans it doesn't seem like a choice at all, but they like many other members of the family have inherited their passion from generations before them. So often one's love for a particular team like the Green Bay Packers is just in their blood. Or, there's the instance where a woman may not be too interested in football, but marries a man that loves the New York Giants, and in turn develops into a Giants fanatic. Other fans may have a favorite player from their youth such as Walter Payton, and now they remain a dedicated Chicago Bears fan decades later. Some fans had a favorite animal, such as a horse and now cheer for the Indianapolis Colts. Maybe it was a youth football team named the 49ers that converted a kid from Ohio into cheering for a team located more than two thousand miles away.

Most of my family is from Northeast Ohio and the Cleveland area. You would assume that I would be a die-hard Cleveland Browns fan. However, I cheer for a different team. Not just any team. It is the Browns most hated rival the Pittsburgh Steelers. I was five at the time and was on a visit to my grandparents. My grandpa took my twin brother and me to the department store to pick out a toy. Now I don't quite remember why I picked out the Steelers Nerf football. Maybe I wanted to be different than my twin (who picked out a Browns football), maybe I liked the black and yellow colors, or just maybe I could see the futures of the Browns and Steelers. But, whatever the reason was, it was at that moment that I became a Steelers fan. Twenty-plus years later I couldn't be happier with my decision and my dad still has no idea why my grandpa would purchase a Steelers' football for me.

Be sure to check out the Hall of Fame Store's extensive collection of footballs. We have the official NFL game football, along with team logo footballs representing all 32 teams in full-size, youth-size, soft footballs you can throw around the house, and even footballs that literally cheer for your team

Everyone has a story of why they cheer for a team. Go ahead and add a comment below to let me know who your favorite team is and why you are their fan.