How did you become a Skins fan?

[bj252004]

Born a REDSKIN!!!! Lived in Odenton, Md. My dad was in the Redskin band from 1969 to 1972. When Lombardi came to D. C. my dad spent the night at RFK to try and get season tickets, but he didn't get any so he bought a trumpet and took lessons and made it as an alternate in the REDSKINS BAND!! Funny thing is we moved to Arlington, Tx.(between Dallas and Fort Worth) in 1979 and when the Redskins would score he would run to the back yard and play HAIL TO THE REDSKINS on his trumpet over the fence to our Cowboy lover neibours.

[FedEx_Skinz]

My grandfather wasa big time Redskin fan and lived in the Lancaster, PA area. He couldn't get the Redskins on TV at the time so he traveled to our house every Sunday to watch them. We use to sit down together every Sunday to watch them, that was around 1980 or so and I've been a die hard ever since.

[Mania]

I started watching football when I was 5 yo back in 1971-2, the year they played the Dolphins in Super Bowl VII and lost. My father was a Skinz fan, that is how I became one.

[CGSKINS]

I'm from Richmond, VA. And when I was little I saw that the only team they showed on TV in the area was the Redskins and I fell in love with them since. My dad is die hard skins fan too, but he thinks I'm a fanatic.

My best memory of being a skins fan was the 1987SB and wacthing Timmy Smith run all over Denver.

[mikeyf316]

Born and raised until my teenage years in NW DC, within a block of the russian embassy. Mom was a DC native, and my earliest memory of the skins is from about 1980 (four years old) and getting spanked by dad for singing "Hail to the Redskins" in the National Cathedral. The funny part is that mom was singing, too, and she didn't get spanked. At least, not out in the parking lot like I did...

:doh: (I didn't mean to put that idea in my head)

I don't remember it, but my youngest interaction with the team was when I was less than a year old. I had broken both my feet as an infant, and our doc was apparently the Skins team doc. Occasionally, I had to go to RFK to catch him. Mom says I was passed around the locker room and that linemen could hold me in one hand, I was so small. I don't remember any of it, but wish I could.

:helmet: :logo: :helmet: :logo: :helmet: :logo: :helmet: :logo: :helmet: :logo: :helmet: :logo: :helmet: :logo: :helmet: :logo: :helmet: :logo:

[tlk2rn]

I was born, my dad said "Your a redskins fan" One year later, I was watching the Superbowl with skins winning! on my dads lap or somehwere around there. And my dad raised me to be one, he started taking me to games when i was 7 or 8, and when i became a real football fan, and started to really understand it, thats when i was a real fan.

Good to see yor Poppa raise you right young man.

[CGSKINS]

Born a REDSKIN!!!! Lived in Odenton, Md. My dad was in the Redskin band from 1969 to 1972. When Lombardi came to D. C. my dad spent the night at RFK to try and get season tickets, but he didn't get any so he bought a trumpet and took lessons and made it as an alternate in the REDSKINS BAND!! Funny thing is we moved to Arlington, Tx.(between Dallas and Fort Worth) in 1979 and when the Redskins would score he would run to the back yard and play HAIL TO THE REDSKINS on his trumpet over the fence to our Cowboy lover neibours.

Thats awsome!!!!!!!!!!

[fuji869]

I was 4 years old and my father got stationed back in Washington D.C. after Korea. I just remember him watching Redskin Games and I just followed. I had a Redskin Lettermen's Style Jacket in Kindergarten.

That was how the obsession started with me.

[TheDirtbags]

my dad used to tell me when i was little......

When i came to this country (from india) in 1983, i had no job, we were staying with your uncle, and the only thing i had to look forward to were the redskins games. i used to watch every play......

then when i was in first grade i really got an interest in football when i was looking through the newspaper and saw "The Redskins Grab Champ Bailey with seventh pick"

from that day til now i have been a HUGE skins fan and a big champ bailey fan and i havent missed a game that i could have watched (i didnt watch 2 when i was in india to visit family in 2001)

I also live just outside DC and my uncles and more of my dads frends are big skins fans

[trimee]

I'm an actor in the Los Angeles area. I used to live in D.C. and when I was 12 I booked and filmed a national McDonalds commercial with Jeff Bostic. It was a spot about the McDLT's (one side hot/one side cold) I was leaning on Bostic (he was in a three point stance staring down the camera) and I was talking about rushing into McDonalds and getting your McDLT before Bostic hunts you down! Then Bostic lets out this huge roar and rushes the camera. End of commercial. Need I say more? I have been a Redskin fanatic ever since. :logo:

[93skin]

I grew up in South Carolina. The Redskins were frequently on television in the 70s and 80s. I remember getting a Redskins jacket for Christmas around 1977. I thought that was the coolest thing ever. From that point forward I was hooked. My parents still show photo albums with me wearing that jacket next to the Christmas tree. Then my boys got hot under Joe Gibbs. There are a lot of Skins fans in the Carolinas. I still pull for my boys against the Panthers and Falcons even though I pull for those teams too. Skins rule!!

[Cycopath]

mym dad is a skins fan. his dad was a skins fan, had season tix until he passed away. therefor i am a skins fan.

[docsandy]

Great thread in my opinion. Love all the stories...

I have a few of my own.

I was born in 1953. At that point in time, my father had had season tickets to the Skins at Griffith Stadium for over 10 years (well, we're not sure exactly what year he started buying season tickets... but we know it was in the 40s, and he died in 1973.. so I can't ask him).. but he had been going to games for as long as they had been in D.C. - 1937.

So I was "born" a Redskins fan. The first memory of being a fan, though, was when I was about 6 or 7.. going to Church with my dad, sitting in the back of the church so we could duck out and get to the stadium (in those days, you didn't have to be there 3-4 hours early). I learned at a young age the best place to park to get out quick (and to this day, I'm home in Columbia, Maryland within 40 minutes of the final gun ... and I stay in my seat until the final gun sounds).

I remember SuperBowl VII because it was bittersweet. And not because we lost, but because my father had died that past summer and he didn't get to enjoy it.

My dad's tickets were then put in my brother's name (He already had two tickets and the ticket office said it would just be easier to do it that way).. to this day, I have the two seats that were my dads.. just as he asked for when DC Stadium was built.. they sent out a questionnaire to the then-season ticket holders and asked about preferences. My dad said "on the aisle, between the 40's, on the side of the stadium off Benning Road and near a restroom". He got: Section 120 (right on the 40), on the aisle, and all we had to do is walk up the steps and out the gate and we were on the way to our car).

I remember the December 31st game against the Cowboys that put us in SB VII. I have an interesting "souvenir" from that game.. I'll try to find a picture and post it later.. I can assure you not many people have one of these, though I probably am not the only one.

During the Gibbs glory days.. I was fortunate enough to get to go to SuperBowl XVII.. my charter flight was canceled at the last minute, but I was able to get a flight and was on the plane with the Redskins Band and Cheerleaders. We had a ball. My pocket was picked while at the game and I lost all my money... and I was there by myself. But we won, and everyone was in a good mood.. and people contributed to my fare to get to the airport (I did have my plane ticket).

I made many friends during the glory days of Gibbs -- all on line.. and to this day one of them is one of my best friends.. from Canada... who comes to games from Delaware.

I also drove down to SuperBowl XVIII.. that wasn't so pleasant... and the one thing I remember is seeing all the stupid billboards touting "EXCELLENCE. BLAH BLAH BLAH". Made me sick. In all honesty, as we drove up to the stadium, I felt in my gut we were gonna lose. I hated the feeling, but I just did.

But the Redskins became even more important to me because in 1994, I met my future husband. We were online in a sports chat room discussing none other than Darrell Green. We had an "argument" about his run-down of Tony Dorsett. We were both at that game and it was a stupid, silly argumen tabout what end zone he was running towards. It ended up we were both right as we were sitting on opposite sides of the stadium. We met for lunch one day and the rest, I'll say, is history. We met because of #28, my birthday is the 28th of the month, my husband's is the 28th of the month, we started our honeymoon on the 28th of the month.. and the last #28 is not good.. I buried him on the 28th of the month just 3 years after we were married.

We went to the last game at RFK together. When the tickets for FedEx came.. I had heard horror stories about seats and where they were. Our seats were: Section 120, on the aisle, near a restroom (though at FedEx it's not hard to be close), and I walk out the section, out the gate, and down the steps and there's my car... just as my dad would have loved it.

In the years I've been a fan, I've been to away games in Tampa, Philadelphia, New York, Pittsburgh, Baltimore (Colts), and Kansas City.

So.. how did I become a fan? I was born a fan.

My goal next year is to get my father-in-law to a game. He lost both legs this past summer from complications from a surgery and he wasn't quite "able" to be able to go this year. But I do want to get him to a game next year.

So in my short novel, I hope you get some entertainment on some of my early memories of the Redskins just as I have from yours.

:point2sky :type:

[Atown]

raised in Virginia

[MontanaSkins]

Well the first Super Bowl I remember watching was SB XVIII against the Raiders. Although the Redskin didn't play well and lost my dad (a Bronco fan) told me I was not allowed to cheer for the Raiders. The next couple seasons when I saw the Skins on TV I would remember them and sit down an cheer for them. A couple of clothing items for christmas later I was hooked and have not looked back. I even remember trying to like another team during the dark times right after Joe left and depsite the loses I didn't even make it two games.

And with getting Sunday Ticket this year and for the first time in my life seeing all of the Skins games this has been a extra special season for me.

Now go and finish off this great season Redskins. :eaglesuck

[SloppyOneXXVI]

First, DocSandy I love the stories, everytime I am at the stadium, (all 8 times a year) I tell my buddies with me, "I know my future wife is somewhere in this stadium, I just don't know where." But I digress.....

Super Bowl XVII was on my mother's 29th birthday, and just happen to be 26 days before I was born. My mom loves to tell stories how I was kicking her the entire time she was watching the game. So I guess you could say I have been a Redskins fan since the womb. Even if I hadn't been, my family has a rule about being a Redskins fan, its mandatory.

My first real VIVID memory is the 1991-92 season. When the Skins were going on their run Joe Jacoby and Charles Mann had a signing period at Lakeforest mall in Gaithersburg, md. My mom took me and my friend to the signing, we got there 2 hours early and were the first couple people in line. We got to talk to the guys for a bit before the signings started. Charles Mann was such a nice guy, I will always remember meeting him. We obviously won the Super Bowl that year, and I've been a fanatic ever since. I still have super bowl champions Coke cans from that year.

Love all the stories, its nice to see everyone has a story and rich history of Redskins love. HTTR!!!

[Darth Tater]

I've told my story many times here. When I was little, my favorite color was blue, so one Sunday my Dad and I sat down to watch a football game. One team wore blue, so I began to root for them. Something strange happened, my Dad would no longer talk to me. I switched who I was pulling for and saw Christian pull a beautiful comeback.

[Doctor ToughLove]

Born a Redskins fan. Watched them with dad & grandad.

[Epistopheles]

I was born.

[dcoles11]

I was 5 years old living in North Carolina (NC is still Redskin country by the way) I saw the Redskins playing the Giants. I had no idea what was going on, I had a hard time knowing what the score was because when they would put up a graphic for total yards or something I would think that was the score.

I remembering going in the kitchen to tell my dad and uncle that the score was like 172-184. They got a kick out of that.

Being a little kid I was just drawn to the uniform of the Redskin, I thought it was pretty amazing. The colors were great and the indian on the helmet was so much cooler than just a stupid blue helmet with the word "GIANTS" written on it.

After that my parents made sure I was infront of the tv when they were playing and they beat the Broncos in the Super Bowl that year.

[Sid]

I was born in Fairfax, went to High school at Yorktown in Arlington. Became a skins fan after their last superbowl victory. Have been ever since.

HTTR!!

[Matt [Redskins Fan]]

I've never told this story before.

When I was a teenager, I hated my father. He liked the Redskins, and thus, I was a Cowboys fan. I didn't care who won the games, I just knew that being a Cowboys fan annoyed him, so I did it.

I know. Crucify me on another thread. The fact is, I never even watched football. I didn't care about the Cowboys OR the Redskins. I just knew that my dad hated the Cowboys more than anything, and I wanted to get under his skin. It was that bad.

Anyway, as time wore on, I found myself trying to find ways to connect with my father. During the 1999 season, I was away at college, and I fell in with a group of Redskins fans. I had not given a damn about football one way or another until that point, and had just worn the blue and silver for a few years when I was a teenager, just to piss my dad off. Well, the passion I saw that year from my friends, when the skins actually had a CHANCE to do SOMETHING, was so great, that I found myself wrapped up in the moment. I didn't consciously see it coming, but somehow, during that season, I started to like the team. People were saying, "Wow, the Redskins are actually winning," and I had NO IDEA how bad we were for ten years. I really didn't. But the passion caught on. And, almost as an aside, I realized that if I could come to his side, and cheer for his team, maybe, just maybe, we could bridge the gap in our relationship. I had once been a Cowboys fan, but now, I was a Redskins fan, for all the right reasons. I saw the fire in the eyes of my buddies, and I saw that they really cared about this, in a way that I had rarely cared about anything before.

The rest is history.

Yes. I know that 1999 was the only good year out of the last fifteen, and you may call me a bandwagon fan. I can accept your criticism. But finally, instead of constantly warring with my father, we had some common ground. Even if it was just ****ing about how bad Spurrier was, or how much we wished we had Stephen Davis back, and about how bad things were, we finally had something in common.

Now I know way more about the Redskins than my father even has time to know. Within the last five years, this has transformed from something that I merely used as leverage in family arguments to something that transcends almost everything I do in my daily life. Sometimes I sit back and think about how ridiculous it is that I care about a guy carrying a ball across a line on a field in some god-forsaken patch of turf in Texas, and then I realize it:

The Redskins give me something to BELIEVE IN even when all hope seems to be lost. Even at their worst moment, they fight, and give me hope.

Hail to the mother****ing Redskins. LET'S BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF SOME EAGLES!!!!!!!!

[Capt'n Obvious]

Born and raised a Redskin fan. Burgundy and gold forever. :eaglesuck

[tlk2rn]

I was 5 years old living in North Carolina (NC is still Redskin country by the way) I saw the Redskins playing the Giants. I had no idea what was going on, I had a hard time knowing what the score was because when they would put up a graphic for total yards or something I would think that was the score.

I remembering going in the kitchen to tell my dad and uncle that the score was like 172-184. They got a kick out of that.

Being a little kid I was just drawn to the uniform of the Redskin, I thought it was pretty amazing. The colors were great and the indian on the helmet was so much cooler than just a stupid blue helmet with the word "GIANTS" written on it.

After that my parents made sure I was infront of the tv when they were playing and they beat the Broncos in the Super Bowl that year.

Ahhh good to see fellow Carolinians be it North or South, stick with the Skins.

[Joe_328]

Dad was born and raised in Philly. Mom was from Springfield, VA. Dad was also military and we moved to california when I was 4 or so. Dad wanted me to be an eagles fan, but he didnt buy me gifts like grandma and grandpa! So go redskins go! haha. In 7th grade my dad was transferred to the pentagon, where he retired. Rest is history!