Favorite NFL team growing up?

Jim Wiseheart · Post by **Jim Wiseheart** » Thu Jun 10, 2010 8:58 am

What was your favorite NFL team growing up and why?

My first NFL memory was as an 8 year-old in 1971 as the (Baltimore) Colts beat the Cowboys on a last second field goal in Super Bowl V (yes, I'm that old). That began to get me hooked on the NFL.

My passion really started with the Minnesota Vikings of the 1973 - 1976 era. I loved the purple uniforms and the viking horns on the helmets. I grew up and still live in southern Indiana. The closest team was and still is the Cincinnati Bengals. Many people in the area also followed the Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers, or Chicago Bears with a few St. Louis Cardinals fans mixed in.

But I loved the Vikings. I loved Fran Tarkenton at QB and the Purple People Eaters on defense - Page, Eller, and Marshall. But, my favorite player was number 44, running back Chuck Foreman.

He was great to watch. He was Marshall Faulk before Marshall Faulk (at least for one season). In 1975 he caught 73 passes out of the backfield. His 1975 stats were 280 carries for 1070 yards and 13 rush TD, with 73 catches for 691 yards and 9 receiving TD. I think Faulk is the only other back with 9 receiving TD in a season. Foreman's 1975 stats equal 345 NFFC fantasy points (in 14 game season), which would still be pretty darn good today.

I loved those Vikings. Today of course I love my Indianapolis Colts. The Colts started my love of the NFL and now they are my home state team. Whoda thunk it?

What team was your favorite as a kid?

[ June 10, 2010, 04:52 PM: Message edited by: FF Addict ]

BillyWaz · Post by **BillyWaz** » Thu Jun 10, 2010 11:35 am

I grew up just outside of Erie, PA. Erie, PA has the unique distinction of being no more than 2:15 from Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Buffalo.

Well when I was really little, my mom told me I was a Redskins fan. Something about me liking Indians and their helmets.

Well,it didn't take long (I vaguely recall Super Bowl X)forthe family to convert me to a Steelers fan! The majority of me relatives bleed black and gold, and thatis when they used to have those rivalries with Bum Phillips and the Houston Oilers. In fact, I remember my mom and dad allowing me stay up and watch Pittsburgh at Houston on MNF (I had to take a nap after school....I think I was 9 or 10 ) Pittsburgh lost that night 20-17.

Today, I am a FANTASY fan, as I root for my players more than anything. However the irony is that I live in Richmond, and the closest team to me is the Washington Redskins! :rolleyes:

And while I am hardly a Redskins fan, I do share season tickets with a friend of mine. Funny how things come full circle sometimes.

Good topic Jim, and thanks for the memories!

Jim Wiseheart · Post by **Jim Wiseheart** » Thu Jun 10, 2010 12:07 pm

Great story Billy. There are quite a few Steeler fans in southern Indiana. There used to be a ton of Browns fans here, but they seem to be falling by the wayside for some reason.

When I got to be about 13, my Mom let me stay up late to watch all of Monday night football which ended pretty late in the Eastern time zone. Made for some groggy Tuesday mornings at school.

Diesel · Post by **Diesel** » Thu Jun 10, 2010 12:23 pm

I loved playing sports as a kid. I played baseball my entire childhood until an extreme break in my right ankle in the year that I was, bar none, the biggest kid on my team. Such high expectations, and then CRACK. Out for the season. I was 15 then. By the time my leg healed, baseball was on the back burner since I started dating. Once girls enter the picture, everything else is second when you're a teenager...lol

But I rarely watched sports because my Dad always had something "riding" on the game. VERY confusing for a kid to watch your Dad yelling at the TV because somebody kicked a 50 yard field goal to end the game, just to run time off the clock, when it actually put a team over the spread with that kick. So I didn't start watching sports until the Amazin' Mets, around 1984...Then the ROCK SOLID 1986 Giants were so good, I started watching a little more...By the time I was 18, I was a Giants fan, true blue, and playing "stone age" fantasy football. I was a late bloomer.

I now root for NOONE. I root for my players. When the Giants beat the "unbeaten*" Patriots in the superbowl a few years ago, I lost $10,000 on that freakin' Plaxico TD(in the NFFC's Post Season Contest). That was when any solidarity was lost for me.

So full circle, my son now watches me, watching football, and HE'S confused and not liking football because he doesn't know who or what I'm rooting for. Sound familiar? lol

Ry's Guys · Post by **Ry's Guys** » Thu Jun 10, 2010 4:18 pm

Growing up I had Sweetness to cheer for but the Bears weren't very good. I loved the San Diego Chargers with Dan Fouts,John Jefferson, Wes Chandler, Chuck Muncie, Kellen Winslow and Charlie Joiner. Loved watching the AFC teams throw the ball all over the field.
The fantasy football stuff was a natural thing for me, I remember Every Monday Night Football game I would get out a notebook and #2 pencil. I would list all the QB and RB stats for the game. The QB's stats looked like this;
1-1 12 yds.
1-2 12 yds.
2-3 33 yds.
3-4 54 yds.
I had complete notebooks with full seasons of these stats. Wish I still had those

And when Sunday night football happened...more notebooks!

Thanks for bringing out these memories!!!

Sabretooth · Post by **Sabretooth** » Fri Jun 11, 2010 1:03 am

I was born and raised in Columbus,Ohio so it was natural that i grew up a huge Bengal and Buckeye fan. although there were a lot of browns fans. In Columbus it was about 50/50 Id say between the Bengals and Browns. I choose to follow James brooks,Ken anderson,Boomer esaison,Collinsworth,..etc. My favorite players were Eddie Brown and james brooks.

pizzatyme · Post by **pizzatyme** » Fri Jun 11, 2010 5:08 pm

Born in Colorado, raised a Broncos fan from afar.

Became a Redskins fan during the John Riggins/Fun Bunch era.

Officially became a Colts fan one snowy morning when the Mayflower trucks arrived with a bunch of football stuff on board.

Ted's Cracked Head · Post by **Ted's Cracked Head** » Sat Jun 12, 2010 4:26 am

Great topic.

I grew up and still reside in Chicago but from as far back as I can remember I have been a Raider fan. From the Mad Bomber, Daryl Lamonica, to Charlie Smith to Marv Hubbard to Lester Hayes and Jack Tatum to the Mad Stork to Ray Guy to George Blanda to Branch and Biletnikoff.......

I have stuck with my team through the thick and thin (lots lately) even enduring the "moves" that broke my heart. Seriously, how do you move the Raiders from Oakland?

This thread is probably going to result in me traveling a little more this fall and I will surely be ordering my Lamonica jersey to sport at this years FF Drafts! Week 16 in Oakland vs the Colts, me watching live with the rest of Raider Nation while my Classic team wins a second trophy? Could it get any better than that?

Oh and the Steelers and Patriots, I hate them both - I will NEVER forget! Franco Harris can go TUCK himself!

Thanks for the stroll down memory lane. I know that my experience with the NFL growing up, my passion for the game and wanting to be close to it is why I will likely NEVER be able to stop playing FF.

[ June 12, 2010, 11:11 PM: Message edited by: Rob B ]

Jim Wiseheart · Post by **Jim Wiseheart** » Mon Jun 14, 2010 5:33 am

Great stories and memories here. Besides the Vikings I also liked the Rams of that era. I had a thing for horns on helmets I guess. Lawrence McCutcheon, Harold Jackson, Jack Youngblood, Fred Dryer, and Merlin Olsen were a few names that stick out. A couple of actors on those teams. I loved Merlin Olsen as a football player, commentator, and even on Little House, may he rest in peace.

What about Greg and Tom? Packers fans from the womb?