Jump to content
Washington Football Team Logo
Extremeskins

The Day We Became Redskins Fans...


desertfox59

Recommended Posts

many of you were born into it...others converted...some like me made a decision early to become a fan in spite of family leanings...Lets share our stories shall we???

Here's mine:

It was the summer of 1982...upon learning that I no longer wanted to attend church, My Father said, "That's fine boy....but that means your gonna have ta watch Football with me." I guess to my Dad, who was a former college player and coach, if I didn't want to learn morality from church, then I was going to learn it from watching and playing Football.

The first lesson that he taught me was no bandwagon jumping. He said, "Boy, you can have one team. One. You have to stick to that team for the rest of your life. You can't change. There's no fair-weather-fans in this house. We watch Bears Football in this house. My Team's the Bears. Who's yours?" I guess he want me to be a bears fan, but being 8 years old and not really caring about football, I asked him, "Well, what do the Bears helmets look like?"

The only other game I'd watched was a Colts preseason game and I thought their Helmets sucked..."It's just a stupid U...!" I said. When I looked at the Bears helmets and they were just a stupid U turned sideways, I decided not to become a Bears fan (much to my Fathers Disappointment).

Then I saw a picture of the Redskins helmets...and it was a badassed Indian with two sets of feathers....there were two feathers!!!..one on the Indian and one on the circle that was around the Indian!...yes! that's the team for me...!

When I told this to my Dad he laughed and told me his second lesson, "Boy, it's the man inside the helmet that makes a good team not the fancy paint on the side." But I was adamant, "No dad, you'll see, it is the Helmet, these Indians will win the Super Bowl this year, you just wait and see."

Sure enough they won the super bowl. I got a Redskins helmet for Christmas that year.

It was only years later, when I was playing the game myself, that I recognized the value of my dad's second lesson. those Redskins players really were great men inside the helmet. Now that my dad has passed, I can look back on those time's and fondly at our rivalries and remember the many lessons he taught me about football and life. And I'll never forget the day I became a Redskins Fan.

:helmet:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I told this story before but I will tell it again. It was the summer of 1991 and my dad was starting to teach me all the football teams. He was playing a game on the boardwalk and won a hat. So he let me pick which one and I didn't know between the Bills or the Skins then I decided Skins and from then on I just always liked the redskins even though they are not the home team around here. Sometimes its hard because I have to search for news back in the day before there was internet but now I know a lot more about the redskins than all of the giant and jet fans around here. At school a couple buddies were talking about who is the biggest fan of any team in the school and I don't even hang out with them but they knew about me and my love for the redskins. Sometimes I think it makes me a bigger fan that they are not the home team because I am always against everyone.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

many of you were born into it...others converted...some like me made a decision early to become a fan in spite of family leanings...Lets share our stories shall we???

Here's mine:

It was the summer of 1982...upon learning that I no longer wanted to attend church, My Father said, "That's fine boy....but that means your gonna have ta watch Football with me." I guess to my Dad, who was a former college player and coach, if I didn't want to learn morality from church, then I was going to learn it from watching and playing Football.

The first lesson that he taught me was no bandwagon jumping. He said, "Boy, you can have one team. One. You have to stick to that team for the rest of your life. You can't change. There's no fair-weather-fans in this house. We watch Bears Football in this house. My Team's the Bears. Who's yours?" I guess he want me to be a bears fan, but being 8 years old and not really caring about football, I asked him, "Well, what do the Bears helmets look like?"

The only other game I'd watched was a Colts preseason game and I thought their Helmets sucked..."It's just a stupid U...!" I said. When I looked at the Bears helmets and they were just a stupid U turned sideways, I decided not to become a Bears fan (much to my Fathers Disappointment).

Then I saw a picture of the Redskins helmets...and it was a badassed Indian with two sets of feathers....there were two feathers!!!..one on the Indian and one on the circle that was around the Indian!...yes! that's the team for me...!

When I told this to my Dad he laughed and told me his second lesson, "Boy, it's the man inside the helmet that makes a good team not the fancy paint on the side." But I was adamant, "No dad, you'll see, it is the Helmet, these Indians will win the Super Bowl this year, you just wait and see."

Sure enough they won the super bowl. I got a Redskins helmet for Christmas that year.

It was only years later, when I was playing the game myself, that I recognized the value of my dad's second lesson. those Redskins players really were great men inside the helmet. Now that my dad has passed, I can look back on those time's and fondly at our rivalries and remember the many lessons he taught me about football and life. And I'll never forget the day I became a Redskins Fan.

:helmet:

Now that was a great read.

Here is to football, fathers, and lessons learned :cheers:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sometimes I think it makes me a bigger fan that they are not the home team because I am always against everyone.

I totally agree and sympathize...I wonder if it is something about the American Indian that is so alluring to the youngsters.....it was in my case and sounds like it was in yours also...

:logo:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

many of you were born into it...others converted...some like me made a decision early to become a fan in spite of family leanings...Lets share our stories shall we???

Here's mine:

It was the summer of 1982...upon learning that I no longer wanted to attend church, My Father said, "That's fine boy....but that means your gonna have ta watch Football with me." I guess to my Dad, who was a former college player and coach, if I didn't want to learn morality from church, then I was going to learn it from watching and playing Football.

The first lesson that he taught me was no bandwagon jumping. He said, "Boy, you can have one team. One. You have to stick to that team for the rest of your life. You can't change. There's no fair-weather-fans in this house. We watch Bears Football in this house. My Team's the Bears. Who's yours?" I guess he want me to be a bears fan, but being 8 years old and not really caring about football, I asked him, "Well, what do the Bears helmets look like?"

The only other game I'd watched was a Colts preseason game and I thought their Helmets sucked..."It's just a stupid U...!" I said. When I looked at the Bears helmets and they were just a stupid U turned sideways, I decided not to become a Bears fan (much to my Fathers Disappointment).

Then I saw a picture of the Redskins helmets...and it was a badassed Indian with two sets of feathers....there were two feathers!!!..one on the Indian and one on the circle that was around the Indian!...yes! that's the team for me...!

When I told this to my Dad he laughed and told me his second lesson, "Boy, it's the man inside the helmet that makes a good team not the fancy paint on the side." But I was adamant, "No dad, you'll see, it is the Helmet, these Indians will win the Super Bowl this year, you just wait and see."

Sure enough they won the super bowl. I got a Redskins helmet for Christmas that year.

It was only years later, when I was playing the game myself, that I recognized the value of my dad's second lesson. those Redskins players really were great men inside the helmet. Now that my dad has passed, I can look back on those time's and fondly at our rivalries and remember the many lessons he taught me about football and life. And I'll never forget the day I became a Redskins Fan.

:helmet:

The only thing that I'd change is that I'd only show him the Spear helmet and the modern Profile (Two feathers) helmets!

No, but in all seriousness, your dad sounds like he was quite an amazing man with a tremendous grasp on the sport and what it means to be not only a fan or a Redskin, but what it means to be a person above all else. Here's to your old man. :cheers:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I told this story before but I will tell it again. It was the summer of 1991 and my dad was starting to teach me all the football teams. He was playing a game on the boardwalk and won a hat. So he let me pick which one and I didn't know between the Bills or the Skins then I decided Skins and from then on I just always liked the redskins even though they are not the home team around here. Sometimes its hard because I have to search for news back in the day before there was internet but now I know a lot more about the redskins than all of the giant and jet fans around here. At school a couple buddies were talking about who is the biggest fan of any team in the school and I don't even hang out with them but they knew about me and my love for the redskins. Sometimes I think it makes me a bigger fan that they are not the home team because I am always against everyone.

I can definately relate. I got in a big argument on here one time about fan loyalty and geography. Guy was trying to tell me you are supposed to root for your home town team. I grew up in NW Ohio and during that time, you were either a Browns, Lions, Bears or Steelers fan (mostly Browns). There were NO skins fans at my school. In January of '92, I placed the sports section of the newspaper in each of my friends' lockers just so they could see the SB Champs on the front page. I took a lot of heat in the years that followed -- as the team consistently got worse.

Now -- I live 30 minutes outside KC. Everyone told me when I left that I was gonna end up a Chiefs fan. They talked about how rabid the Chiefs fans were and that it would rub off on me. Guess what? I have been a Chiefs fan twice in my life: this yr when I needed them to beat Dallas and then needed them to beat NYG. They didnt do either so as far as I'm concerned they can eat :pooh: .

True fans make a connection with a team through experiences and their genuine love for the franchise -- not because they were born in a certain state......

HAIL

Link to comment
Share on other sites

GREAT story. my mom and dad came here from india (i was born here) so i didn't know too much about football till about 2000. the skins were a local team (even though the ravens were really our home team, we lived closer to them). so since then, i've stuck with them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It was like football puberty. I was born in to a Redskins family, my mom is a die hard Skins fan and always said she would "kiss all four of Art Monks cheeks". But at first it when I was a kid it was love by association. I loved to see my mom so passionate and animated by the Redskins. (She drank during Redskins games) I got "the bug" in middle school though. I started playing for my school (fullback and middle linebacker) and really started paying attention to my Skins. From 6th grade on I knew players, positions, and that Gibbs was the person who made the team what it is. I did a book report on Jack Kent Cooke that year and have been a Skins junky since. Yep, a pivitol point in my life was becoming a true Redskins fan. Now, games are a regular occurance.... like church on Sunday and Im a whore for Redskins Jerseys and autgraphed collectables.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest BleedinBurgundyandGold

I am a 3rd generation diehard. My grandfather, I am told, loved the hitting that the game of football had and he, being born in 1925 has only known one team to root for, the Redskins. He passed on his passion for the game to my dad, and his four other brothers. My dad and one of his brothers got hooked the worst. Since then, my dad has passed it on to me and my brother, which we will pass on to our sons. Friends of mine always make fun of me when I tell them I cant go to Redskin parties with them because I have to watch it with my family......but being fans since the team first came to Washington from Boston, usually shut them up.

Hail!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can definately relate. I got in a big argument on here one time about fan loyalty and geography. Guy was trying to tell me you are supposed to root for your home town team. I grew up in NW Ohio and during that time, you were either a Browns, Lions, Bears or Steelers fan (mostly Browns). There were NO skins fans at my school. In January of '92, I placed the sports section of the newspaper in each of my friends' lockers just so they could see the SB Champs on the front page. I took a lot of heat in the years that followed -- as the team consistently got worse.

Now -- I live 30 minutes outside KC. Everyone told me when I left that I was gonna end up a Chiefs fan. They talked about how rabid the Chiefs fans were and that it would rub off on me. Guess what? I have been a Chiefs fan twice in my life: this yr when I needed them to beat Dallas and then needed them to beat NYG. They didnt do either so as far as I'm concerned they can eat :pooh: .

True fans make a connection with a team through experiences and their genuine love for the franchise -- not because they were born in a certain state......

HAIL

Thanks for the kind words....only when you are in the darkest valley can you ever appreciate how magnificent it is on the highest mountain top...when you look back on our valley years just remember we're almost at the top ...And the View is gonna be awesome...!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great reads on this thread!

I was born into a redskin family, I'm a fourth generation fan. However, when I was little, 4 or 5 years old, I mentioned once that I wanted the cowboys to win, because I liked cowboys (western cowboys). My dad then asked, "You want to stay out there with Shamrock in his house?" (Shamrock was our Irish Setter). Of course, I replied no, it was cold outside anyway.

Later on, as I grew older, I fell in love with the Redskins. It has really been a bonding source between me and my dad. The '91 season was the best, I was 10 years old and just starting to REALLY get into football, and that year just sold me... I was truly a skins fan for life. I saw how the family was about this team all season. It was so exciting having all the cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents... everyone getting together and having a great time. But it was awesome for my dad and I.

And then with the dismal mid to late 90s, I was still a fan, but I had lost that drive. Every season I had high hopes, only to be dashed later on early in the season.

The past season... well, what can I say. It was awesome, to say the least. I'm back in my hometown now after school working. I get to spend every weekend watching the games with my dad, and it is so nostalgic of my youth- having a great team to love and be proud of. This season was probably the best for me, I finally made it to my first game.

The home game against the Giants. I purchased tickets for my dad and I- his Christmas present. :) That was probably the best day of my life, period. And, as my mom has told me, my dad thinks no less of it. She says he is still bragging to his buddies, to everyone. Not only did we get to experience one of the best games of the season, but we were there together.

Now that I'm older, I am able to truly cherish what this bond of football has done for me and my dad's relationship. We were both kids in those stands, jumping up and down with 90,000+ other kids, and I tell you... There was nothing else like it.

Here's to football:cheers:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The only thing that I'd change is that I'd only show him the Spear helmet and the modern Profile (Two feathers) helmets!

No, but in all seriousness, your dad sounds like he was quite an amazing man with a tremendous grasp on the sport and what it means to be not only a fan or a Redskin, but what it means to be a person above all else. Here's to your old man. :cheers:

thank you....he was..:cry:I miss him.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am a 3rd generation diehard. My grandfather, I am told, loved the hitting that the game of football had and he, being born in 1925 has only known one team to root for, the Redskins. He passed on his passion for the game to my dad, and his four other brothers. My dad and one of his brothers got hooked the worst. Since then, my dad has passed it on to me and my brother, which we will pass on to our sons. Friends of mine always make fun of me when I tell them I cant go to Redskin parties with them because I have to watch it with my family......but being fans since the team first came to Washington from Boston, usually shut them up.

Hail!

Yours is a tradition that is truely amazing....1925...wow...that rawks!:notworthy:notworthy:notworthy

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good one desertfox59. Mine was Super Bowl XVII when my father was watching the game with a Dolphins fan. I asked who was going to win, and the Dolphins fan said Miami would blow the Redskins away. My father said the Skins, and as any good son would do, I asked my dad why he pulled for the Skins. He said, verbatim, "Those are our people, son." My grandmother was full blooded Cherokee and my dad was half, so naturally, that means that I have some indian blood as well. Riggins broke off that 42 yarder to get us the ring and I've been a die hard since. So for me, when I say that it's in my blood, I mean it in more ways than one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

...since before conception...

actually my parents put me in front of the TV at the age of 2 when my dad was watching thema and I just stared in amazement...probably 3rd-4th grade is when I really started to watch every game and it became a sunday ritual in the fall...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Born into it, although my family's gene seems to be slightly defective.

My dad and grandfather are from the DC area, so I inherited the Redskins and Orioles from them. The defective bit comes from the fact that around 9-10ish through puberty it seems you have to root for someone else. My dad said when he was younger he was a Raider fan, while I was a 49ers fan. My brother (who is 10) is also a 49ers fan, although I'm not sure how that happened as they were at least worth rooting for when I did :D. From the late 90's until a couple of years ago I was strictly a baseball fan, and pretty much ignored football. It may have been the hire of Gibbs, or a flip of a switch on the gene or something, but for the past couple of years, I've been with my dad every Sunday jumping up and down and yelling right next to him.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I evolved into it. My mom remarried and my stepfather is a huge skins fan, season ticket holder for 25 years. When they got married one of his ways to bond with me was to take me to skins games. This was perfect because I was very young at the time and just starting to understand the game (so what better way to learn then from a Gibbs coached team right?)

One of my ealrier memories is actually going to the 91/92 SB and every since then we have been attending every home game together for 18yrs now. Needess to say the season tickets will be passed onto me and I will do the same thing when I have kids.

B&G...Keeping the tradition alive.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My father was watching a game one day during the 1982 season. It was the first game I knew absolutely nothing about football. As we watched he taught me all the rules and from that moment on I was hooked. At halftime, I begged him to take me up the road to purchase my first football. Needless to say, we didn't go until after the game. He use to turn the volumn all the way down on the TV and crank up Sonnie, Sam, and Frank. After the Redskins scored that amazing voice would boom "Touchdown Washington Redskins" and my dad would bounce me up and down and cheer. I watched every game that year and watched win the superbowl against Miami. How lucky is that. The following season I watched every single game and cried my eyes out when they lost the Super Bowl to the Raiders. I cursed them and said that I hated them and they sucked. My mom and my dad wouldn't let me give up on the team I had come to love. They explained to me what it means to be a fan and stick to one team. Needless to say, I kept on watching.

I get chills right now just thinking about it.

Back in 1999 I had a pretty decent job and I purchased season tickets from a lady and I would have kept purchasing them every year but I had to move to SC :( I just moved back into the area and I've been to a few games this past year. I can't wait until next year. Hail to the Redskins.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Born into it. My grandfather had season tickets since before the 73-0 loss to the Bears in the 1940 NFL Championship game. I think he got them when the Braves moved to Washington and became the Redskins in 1937. My mom attended every game until I was born (1987).

It literally is in my blood. There's no way I couldn't be a Redskin fan. I mean, I was raised in Philly, with an Eagles fan dad (moderate Eagles fan, he roots for the Skins and Eagles unless they play each other), and I'm still a Skins fan. Anything else would be abnormal to me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My love for the Redskins began in third grade. A friend of mine had asked me to play some football with him. I diddnt know what football was so he taught me and asked me "So ... now that you like football who is your faviorite team?" I asked what teams there were. He had a collection of Football Team Pencils. He said " Here look at theseand pick which one you like the most. The Redskins was the last one I looked at. I knew right then the Burgundy and Yellow the Indian with the feathers and the outer feathers. I was just amazed and back then i was really in to family heritige and being part indian too booti had to go with the Redskins.One of my (close in age) Uncles (who is a Giants fan) told me "Now that you are a Redskins fan you can never choose another favorite team. No FrontRunning! " The he explained what that was. So Ever since then its been nothing but the Redskins. Gotta Love'em. HTTR!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...