Picking an NFL team to cheer for...

[Temporary_User]

Seattle. Great upcoming team. Got robbed in the super bowl a few years ago (could make parallels to Flames). Great city that you will want to and will visit often. Close enough that you could make it down to the city in about 12 hours, meaning you could easily and cheaply make a road trip down for the game Sunday and be back for work on Monday (assuming you somehow managed to stay sober for the game and left prett quickly after).

I think the Seahawks are the best and I love Seattle. I think having a city that you can and will visit often (maybe even in off season) will make a difference in becoming a lifetime fan, because the connection will be deeper than picking a player now (who may leave soon).

Picking GB, are you really going to want to go there often? I mean being at a game would be awesome, but really being at a game cheering for your team in any city is awesome

Qwest (Seattle stadium) is also in a great location. So going to bars among otherthings is great while your down there.
Can't say same thing about other cities (Phoenix for example) every city is different and has plus/minus though

[Trojan97]

I've been a fan of the Texans since 2003. I got to a point where I decided I needed a team, I liked the idea of getting on board with a team that had a clean slate and I could grow as a fan with. I immediately loved Andre Johnson right from the start. Jamie Sharper, Jay Foreman, Aaron Glenn and Marcus Coleman on D had me convinced that it wouldn't be long until the Texans were challenging for playoff spots. I was sorely mistaken, but my love for them hasn't wavered over the years and has grown bigger and bigger each season. I'm now to the point as a fan where I'm at Schanks every Sunday watching them play, checking their website every day or two in the offseason for updates. I dare say they have surpassed the Flames for top spot as "my team".

Anyways, I completely agree with everyone who says you just need to wait until a team reaches out and grabs you. A friend of mine who is a casual fan tried to randomly pick the Cardinals as his team and he just never got into following them. Another friend came to Schanks with us for the better part of a season and by the end of it had fallen for the Chargers and is now a truly dedicated fan. I would recommend playing fantasy football if you don't already, the amount of NFL you will watch will rise exponentially just from following your players, it's a good way to open yourself up to teams you may have never thought about cheering for.

There's a number of factors I would take into consideration for picking a team if I was starting over as a fan, one team that has caught my eye this offseason is the KC Chiefs. They are a rebuilding team that you can grow with as a fan, they have a tremendous fan base composed of diehards which would make for a tremendous experience should you ever chose to go watch them play live, the architect of their team has some awesome credentials and just had a really solid draft (Eric Berry at safety is going to be special), they aren't a team composed of thugs/headcases. They're one team I would have my eye on if I was seriously considering following someone new.

[wpgflamesfan]

Originally Posted by Temporary_User

Seattle. Great upcoming team. Got robbed in the super bowl a few years ago (could make parallels to Flames). Great city that you will want to and will visit often. Close enough that you could make it down to the city in about 12 hours, meaning you could easily and cheaply make a road trip down for the game Sunday and be back for work on Monday (assuming you somehow managed to stay sober for the game and left prett quickly after).

I think the Seahawks are the best and I love Seattle. I think having a city that you can and will visit often (maybe even in off season) will make a difference in becoming a lifetime fan, because the connection will be deeper than picking a player now (who may leave soon).

Picking GB, are you really going to want to go there often? I mean being at a game would be awesome, but really being at a game cheering for your team in any city is awesome

Qwest (Seattle stadium) is also in a great location. So going to bars among otherthings is great while your down there.
Can't say same thing about other cities (Phoenix for example) every city is different and has plus/minus though

But Pete Carroll is the coach now. Being an Oregon Ducks fan I don't think I could ever get behind a team that guy coaches.

I'm in the same boat as the OP, I love the NFL (and playing fantasy football) but just can't seem to get behind a team.

[SportsJunky]

Vikes fan since '91 or '92 I guess. My very first real job had an outside sales guy that I admired and wanted to emulate. Up to that point I didn't really have an NFL team that I rooted for. Anyway, this guy was a massive Minnesota fan and during football season he talked about them constantly. One Monday morning he came into work ranting about Rich 'The Cannon' Gannon and how he was going to break all the records. I decided I would check this team out the next week and the rest is history.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by wpgflamesfan

But Pete Carroll is the coach now. Being an Oregon Ducks fan I don't think I could ever get behind a team that guy coaches.

I'm in the same boat as the OP, I love the NFL (and playing fantasy football) but just can't seem to get behind a team.

You and the OP just need to go with GB and never look back.

They lack very little and offer things no other team can. Tradition, histroy of successes, and the coolest thing IMO is they are owned by the fans. On top of that last year they were the youngest team in the league by average age. It looks like it could be a real good run for the next 5 or 6 years at least...and hopefully they can win the big one but being in the NFC nothing will be assured for any team. The power is shifting from AFC back to the old league.

And what else could be better than wearing a big hunk of fake cheese on your head?

[mykalberta]

Denver, all other team pale in comparison.

[howard_the_duck]

Originally Posted by rubecube

Weirdly enough, I became an Eagles fan because of Ricky Watters. I thought Ricky was awesome when I was a little kid, and was sort of a Niners fan when he played there. I was more of CFL fan back then so I really only kept track on the players I liked. When Ricky went to the Eagles I sort of started cheering for them.

However, I became a diehard Eagles fan after I got to go to a game at the Vet. I was able to go down to field level and meet McNabb and Corey Simon. Also met Harold Carmichael and had some pictures taken. I was 14 at the time so that pretty much cemented it.

That's awesome. If that doesn't cement it I don't know what does.

I'm excited to see what Kolb can do, but it's gonna be awfully tough not seeing number 5 behind centre come September.

[Erick Estrada]

Been a Raiders fan since 1981. Despite the lunacy of Al Davis IMO one of the best franchises in professional sports period. The Silver & Black transcends the football team. There's simply nothing like cheering for the Silver & Black. Even being a Flames fan just can't compare.

As well it appears that the team is actually close to turning the corner as they had a great draft in April and the team showed last year they could be more than competitive with mediocre QB like Gradkowski. Campbell should be a huge upgrade.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Been a Raiders fan since 1981. Despite the lunacy of Al Davis IMO one of the best franchises in professional sports period. The Silver & Black transcends the football team. There's simply nothing like cheering for the Silver & Black. Even being a Flames fan just can't compare.

As well it appears that the team is actually close to turning the corner as they had a great draft in April and the team showed last year they could be more than competitive with mediocre QB like Gradkowski. Campbell should be a huge upgrade.

Campbell is an upgrade? Lateral move at best. The guy has absolutely no pocket presence.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by rubecube

Campbell is an upgrade? Lateral move at best. The guy has absolutely no pocket presence.

Lateral move compared to Gradkowski? No way. Not even close. ESPN did a comparison and by last years numbers McNabb and Campbell were in a dead heat. I agree that he needs some polish but he's never had any stability surrounding him with all the OC changes in Washington and was a square peg in a round hole playing in the West Coast offense. He's a classic drop back passer which is exactly what Oakland asks of their QB. He won't be a pro-bowler but he won't lose games for the Raiders like Russell did.

[Sainters7]

Originally Posted by Chump

The seahawks could be a good bet they have been crap the last couple years but they have some good young talent and if you live in Calgary you can see every game on t.v. Plus Seattle is pretty close to catch a live game and Quest field is dope place to see one.

I'd say this. I'll always get Sunday Ticket so I can watch my Saints, but that shyte gets more and more expensive every year it seems. Seahawks are always on TV, and you don't have to pay a dime. Plus its a cheap road trip to see a game(in a sweet stadium too, which is also one of the loudest in the league. Great atmosphere, even for pre-season).

Honestly, if Seattle had a good team when I was growing up, I'd probably be a Seahawks fan right now.

[DropIt]

Bears fan for about 5 years now. Brian Urlacher got me into it deep. Badass, neo-nazi looking mother f-er got my attention instantly and I was consantly in awe of how well he could play the position and dominated. Io still remember him playing the Falcons one game where he was spying Vick all game and ran him down on every scramble attempt. First time that I caught myself cheering out loud at the TV to an NFL game.
They are becoming very relateable lately to me because they are the NFL's equivilent of the Flames. They have been making the huge offseason moves with Peppers and Cutler, deepening themselves all around, but yet continue to dissapoint.
Cannot wait for this season to start!!!!

[malcolmk14]

I'm a huge fan of NFL football, not a big fan of any particular team.

Why choose a team? Just watch the games and let the love for a team develop over time if it's meant to be.

Individuals in pro sports interest me more than teams do anyway, I'd rather root for players I like than a team.

[Jiggy_12]

Like some others mentioned, the NFL is the one pro sport where I do not have any strong allegiances. Baseball, diehard Jays fan. NHL, Flames obviously. I like the NFL just as much as I do the MLB or NHL...but no teams in particular that I really get up to root for.

Teams I like, based entirely on entertainment purposes are the Bengals (especially this season with TO!), the Ravens (Anquan Boldin is my favorite WR), the Cowboys are always fun to watch, same with the Packers.

[themedicineman]

I've been a Saints fan since about 2000 (this was really the first time I could comprehend what was going on in the sport). I really don't know how I became a Saints fan but it probably had something to do with those amazing black and gold jersey's and they also beat my dads team the Cowgirls in the first game I watched with him on t.v. The team is fantastic to cheer for they play a really up-tempo and creative offense and the defense since Williams got there has been hard hitting and explosive. The fan base is great lots of informed fans massive message boards with good regular posters and the relationship between the team and their fans is quite honestly the best in pro sports.

[SebC]

I'd say look for a team with a former Stamp you like.

[Vulcan]

I don't have a big favorite team but I have family connections in Seattle so I mostly cheer for them. I often cheer for teams with a CFL connection. I used to cheer for Minnesota as they had an old QB from Calgary, Joe Kapp who also played for the BC Lions. Their coach, Bud Grant used to play and coach the Blue Bombers also. I also followed Buffalo when they had Flutie and any team Garcia played for.

[Scoopdogg]

As you can tell by my avatar I'm obviously a fan of the Steelers. I fell in love with them in 2005 because I liked their smash mouth football style. The Bus, Hines Ward (best character guy in the league) and Palomalu (Best safety in the league when he's healthy).

Bill Cowher was one of the most intense individuals in the league and now they have Tomlin who is a polar opposite of him, but still gets the job done.

If the QB could only keep his **** in his pants they'll be alright this year. Hopefully Big Ben's suspension won't hurt the team too much.

With one of the best D's in the league they are a team to be reckoned with. Man I can't wait for NFL to start already.

[alltherage]

Some excellent points in this thread. I have kinda made a 180 from when I started the thread already. I started looking with a more open mind.. trying not to concern myself with the influence of others.

I think the teams I had "finalized" there were teams suggested extrenally. Da Bears for example, because I won a Bears jacket in a contest at Jack Astors last year... not a good reason. Plus Cutler is too whiney and I hate his face!!!

Green Bay just doesnt do it for me after some soul searching. They remind me too much of EE and although Rodgers has great potential, its just not a click.

Broncos.. meh. I dont feel any sort of pull to them other than I like the logo and they are in the mountains. Pretty weak. The Cheifs? They have the same colors as the Flames.

After some searching... I have decided. Its a team in transition, coming into a new era. A team of underdogs who performed last year when nobody thought they would. A team with a promising new quarterback and a classy organization. A coach who will mix it up with opposing players to protect his players. Sick colors and identity. Smokin hot cheerleaders. In the NFC. Tied to the Flames in their own way.

Nobody's going to influence me away, and that's FINAL!

GO FALCONS GO!!!

[Sainters7]

Blech.