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Not always true...I was always a fan of Archie Manning since his days at Ole Miss....he played for Saints and yeah I know he left but I stayed a Saints fan..problem was until recently wasn't too much to get excited about with the Saints...
Very true Kate, you know my DH is jersey born and bred but is a lifelong Saints fan. Oh yes, he wore the paper bag on his head for quite a number of years.
I do see the looks he gets now though when out in public with his Saints hat on. I'm sure those who don't know him are thinking that he is a band wagoner. Sad thing is, they probably didn't even notice the Saints hat on his head years ago. People are so self absorbed.
As a lifelong Jets fan (my father was an original New York Titans fan, by way of explanation) I am very conscious of that annoying sub-species known as the bandwagon fan.
I notice a direct proportional relationship between the success of the team and real Jet fans vs. the bandwagon variety. As a matter of fact, I notice that catalogs selling NFL team shirts, jerseys, etc. now carry merchandise with the Jets' logo. Last year, they came within 30 minutes of going to the Super Bowl...and all of a sudden you can buy a Jets t-shirt any time you want! Prior to that, catalogs only had merchandise from a handful of teams.
Yea--I would say the majority traveled from the tri-state area!!! Steeler fans are known to travel well!! I said it before, but will explain again--back when all the steel mills shut down, people had no choice but to move out of state to find jobs in order to support their families. This is why you see so many Steeler fans in different states, why there are Steeler bars in every major city, why there are Terrible Towels waving in the air at all those AWAY games!!
Y'all just LOVE to hate on our SB rings don't you?!?!?
I think it has more to do with winning than locals moving. By that logic the Detroit Lions should have a huge fanbase all over the country. When I lived near Chicago I met a lot of Steeler fans that were not from PA. They were teens back in the 70s when the Steelers dominated the NFL. Just like a lot of people my age are Niners and Cowboys fans.
Ever notice that the historically good teams (Cowboys, Steelers, Packers) have the largest fan bases? There are more fans of the team than citizens that live in the area that team is based. I've never seen so many Patriot decals stuck on cars and I live in North Carolina. When I lived in NJ, I knew lots of Steeler and Cowboy fans. None of them ever stepped foot in Pittsburgh or Dallas.
Yes, many are bandwagon jumpers but being a Bengals fan, sometimes I wish I did the same thing
In any event, who cares who has the largest fan base anyway? I could care less if I was the only Bengals fan on the planet. I know the NJ Devils have a small fan base because of the other local teams in the NJ/NY/PA market, but they certainly don't seem to care about the numbers of their fanbase. Nor should they.
Anyway, rest assured if the 70's were dominated by the Cardinals, Bengals and Falcons there would be tons of these fans around today.
The Steelers definitely have a bandwagon presence...although I live in PA, I'm in northeastern PA, a good 5 hour drive from Pittsburgh, and there are Steeler fans everywhere here, they're probably the biggest team in this area along with the Eagles and to a lesser extent the Giants. But there are hardly any Pirates fans around here.
But the undisputed #1 bandwagon team is the Cowboys..there are actually tons of Cowboys fans in PA, and I don't understand how you become a fan of a team in Texas when you live in PA, other than just jumping on the bandwagon. There aren't any Texas Rangers or Dallas Mavericks fans in PA, but Cowboys fans are all over the place.
But the undisputed #1 bandwagon team is the Cowboys..there are actually tons of Cowboys fans in PA, and I don't understand how you become a fan of a team in Texas when you live in PA, other than just jumping on the bandwagon. There aren't any Texas Rangers or Dallas Mavericks fans in PA, but Cowboys fans are all over the place.
There aren't as many Rangers fans in DFW, either.
I'm just joking a little, but the Rangers are usually after thoughts.
Sometimes, it does have more to do with winning.
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Sad thing is, they probably didn't even notice the Saints hat on his head years ago. People are so self absorbed.
