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NFL - Are You A Fan of Teams or Players?

Jeremy

Jeremy

CF Founder
Staff member
Feb 28, 2006
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Waukee, IA
I have to say, the constant events and drama surrounding the NFL has got me thinking about what it is I like about sports and leagues. The events continue to feed my strong belief that I'm more of a fan of players than teams, of "the right way" vs "the winning way", and of sportsmanship over gamesmanship.


A perfect example... I love Peyton Manning and will always consider him the best QB in history (well ahead of Brady) not because of rings or wins, but because he is a terrific human being, great family man, incredible role model, he has never been around off-field trouble, and he never talks trash about others.


I get that everybody bends the rules, that's human instinct, but there are very few people like him in sports where you can tell your kid that is a real role model and not worry about the repercussions.
 
Both teams and players.

I love the Vikings. I love AP.

I also love Aaron Rodgers and Jordy Nelson, when they're not playing the Vikings. RIP Jordy's ACL.
 
Spent my childhood in Cincinnati, so I'm a diehard fan of the Bengals. Even followed them during the dark days of the 90s and early 2000s. I don't play fantasy football, so I don't get hung up on specific players.

And, the negative and the bad that famous people do is always amplified, so I try to be the role model in my children's lives.
 
Da Bears.

If one of my favorite players leaves, I hope they do well when they are not playing Da Bears.
 
The NFL has more bad eggs than any other professional sports league so I understand the reasoning behind that thought, but at the same time, there are still respectable teams with players who don't have constant moral and character issues.

That said, the Packers are the best.
 
Don't get me wrong, I'm a big Packers and Eagles fan, but I also find myself rooting increasingly for teams that keep their heads down and don't create their own drama.

Good example is I was a big Colts fan because of Manning, didn't like the way they treated him, so now I'm a Broncos fan and lesser of a Colts fan. Likewise, I never liked the Pats by proxy of their domination of the Colts, but absolutely turned against them once it was obvious they cheated and then had a multi-offense murder on their team. A single player's actions should in no way be indicative of a team's moral compass, but their actions (or inactions) relating to that player's actions certain is... and a series of events even more so.
 
I have been a Minnesota sports team fan since age 3 when my family moved to Minnesota. When the AP stuff hit the press last fall I was of the mind set the Vikings should let him go and move on. Then I figured every NFL team (it seemed) has players with character flaws and off the field issues. I finally rationalized it as I like the Vikings (or Twins, T-Wolves, etc), hope they do well, but if they lose I move on pretty quickly. If the Vikings had let AP go, another team would have gladly picked him up, so in the end I am glad he is still a Viking.

The results of pro games don't affect me as much as college team results.
 
MeowingCows said:
Both teams and players.

I love the Vikings. I love AP.

I also love Aaron Rodgers and Jordy Nelson, when they're not playing the Vikings. RIP Jordy's ACL.
Click to expand...

I love the Vikings but I really don't care for AP anymore.

As far as players outside of the Vikings, I really like Marshawn Lynch.
 
Both. I agree with Jeremy. I really like the players you hear nothing about unless it's regarding on the field play.

Another example is J.J. Watt. Everything non-football related stuff he does is amazing. (Takes pizzas to firehouses, writes personal notes to employers so a lady can go to his charity event, etc.)
 
roundball said:
I'm a fan of the league more than any teams or players. I love what it represents and Roger Goodell is a true leader.
Click to expand...

Sometimes, on the internet, sarcasm can be hard to detect.

...And sometimes it's not hard to detect.
 
I find these guys pretty inspiring: http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/7...skins-stephen-bowen-bonded-grief-losing-child

Other than that, I look more at the teams. I have some players who I enjoy watching, and others who I despise, but other than Bowen and Ware I don't really look to many of the players as role models for my kids or anything. There's too much we don't know about that could be going on behind the scenes. I mean, Favre was a role model for years for his "family man" persona, but was texting photos of his junk out. We just don't know.
 
First, I'm a fan of the game.
Next I'm a fan of Iowa State and the St. Louis Rams.
Then I'm a fan of watching great players, college or pro. I also love high school football.
 
I don't really care for the whole fantasy football. I don't think it's good for the game, but it does bring more attention to the NFL which is a good thing.
 
I'm a fan of football. I like the game. I have a favorite team at each level. Then, I have secondary teams that I like, though not as much as my favorite team. I am a fan of certain players, and that will influence some of the secondary teams that I like. Larry Fitzgerald, for example. I like him a lot. Think he plays the game the right way and for the right reasons. I don't particularly like the Cards, but because he's on the team, I'll root for them, casually.

But with that being said, players playing "the right way" or for "the right reasons" aren't necessarily that important to me. It's all entertainment. There have got to be heroes and heels, and if there aren't we create them ourselves.
 
It's cool to like both.

Where it gets weird is when a person is over the top. We all know that guy. Way too into it.

These are pros. They don't care all that much about the average joe. Tone it down a notch and enjoy the game
 
I grew up a Vikings fan, was a family thing, have from some reason kept that alliance.....
As I have gotten finer (aged), way more player fan, don't root for Steelers but love A. Brown, Big Ben, Miller and L. Bell, hate the Cowboy's but love watching Dez and Romo, not a Philly fan but love Chip Kelly's offense.... Hate the Packers but Rodgers when on is a thing of beauty.....
 
Interesting question. I've never been a fan of the NFL or any teams/players, but with the two sports I really care about the most, it depends.

With MLB, I'm a fan of the Twins first and foremost, then the teams who haven't had success in a while (I loved seeing the Royals make the World Series last year, am excited for the Astros this year, etc.), and then I've got players who I like regardless of what team they're on (Clayton Kershaw, Felix Hernandez, Bryce Harper, etc.). Increasingly, it seems like teams are hanging on to a core player or two and building around them (Angels with Mike Trout, Giants with Buster Posey, etc.), so maybe the teams/players will become a little more congruent in the future.

With college basketball, I'd say the order is Iowa State > other coaches > other teams > players. One of the things I love about college basketball (and one of the reasons it hurt so much when Fred left) is that it's so coach-centric...there are some really iconic figures who've been around a long time or are inseparable from the teams they coach(ed), and that history and experience helps make it such a special sport for me. That stands in stark contrast to the nature of the one-and-done player era; I just find it hard to care about a player that much when he's an 18/19-year old kid who's only there for one season. It makes players like Niang a real treasure, but overall I believe it's hurt the game a lot. Gone are the days when you'd be treated to a couple senior-led squads battling in the title game, with all the emotions associated with their four-year tenure coming to a close with everything on the line.
 
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