Re: Why you chose to be a Redskins fan:
 

My dad was a casual Skins fan but thankfully I've had this love affair with the Skins since birth. My oldest brother is also a Redskins fan but my other brother did the unthinkable and started rooting for the Cowgirls. I blame that all on my cousin who was a big bandwagoner in the 90's and the Cowboys were the cool team at the time.

Re: Why you chose to be a Redskins fan:
 

I grew up watching guys like Art Monk, Darrell Green, Charles Mann, Jacoby, Bostic, Schlereth, Byner...the list goes on and on. The one thing that all those guys had in common was class. I think that's why I like Jason Campbell so much - total class and has the talent to back it up.

Re: Why you chose to be a Redskins fan:
 

Born and raised in Jersey City, all my friends were Gi-aint's and Jets fans. But being a leader and not a follower I became a Skins fan because I was a running back and Larry Brown was my idol and since he was a Redskin the rest is history. Mind you since I was a leader I was able to convert many followers to become Redskin fans till this day! "HAIL"

Re: Why you chose to be a Redskins fan:
 

John Riggins arms did it for me as a 12 year old girl.

Re: Why you chose to be a Redskins fan:
 

generations of redskin fans... i grew up a skins fan and always will be a skins fan

Re: Why you chose to be a Redskins fan:
 

When I lived in Maryland years ago as a kid I turned on the tv one sunday and saw the Redskins playing and said to myself what is this game. Played baseball till then. Wanted to play the hot cornor like Brooks Calbert Robinson Jr! Saw these to old guys at least to me they were old Sonny and Billy playing QB. Everybody wanted to be Jonny U but me I loved the Redskins colorers. My Dad tock me to my first game to RFK. He was so so on football. He love baseball. Still a friend traded him some seats for something can't remember now. Then we moved to Cincinnati. till I loved the Skins and when they came to town I get my Dad to take me. Now I live out on the west coast. Can't wait till fall to see the Skins and the Raiders play. Have to go because the Raiders never sell out so the game will be blacked out here!

Re: Why you chose to be a Redskins fan:
 

I 'm only 19 and honestly never was around for the skins hayday, I'm also from a family of Pats fans in New England... but i never really felt connected to the Pats like i was with my BoSox due mostly because of the blue collar play style. any way i became a serious Skin's fan in 05' when Brunell threw those bombs to Moss to win in Dallas.

PS I've ALWAYS hated the Cowboys, and the "America's Team" BS-that nickname offends me as an American

Re: Why you chose to be a Redskins fan:
 

I'm glad this post exists. I'm 21, so I didn't grow up with the hogs but this is how I became a Redskins fan.

It was a cold January in Syracuse Ny-1992-where my family is from. Some family lives West of Syracuse which is big-time Bills fans. And everybody knows the Bills were hot for four straight years. My entire family and neighbors and whoever else you could think of were ecstatic about the Bills and Jim Kelly.

I was four, and I liked football. And I rooted for the other team to be the little instigator I was.

Burgundy and Gold won that day, and I knew from then on I'd always be a Redskins fan.

Re: Why you chose to be a Redskins fan:
 

I use to like the Colts when I was in Jr.High. I got pissed when they moved and started watching the Skins with my dad who was a longtime Redskin fan. I just fell in love with them and it's been that way ever since.

Re: Why you chose to be a Redskins fan:
 

Skins fans aren't chosen! WE ARE BORN Burgundy and Gold!!!..
Retarded and weak minded Cowboys fans are chosen by other retards!

Re: Why you chose to be a Redskins fan:
 

Just like a lot of things in life being a Redskin fan is something you fall into. With me it was the fact that I bonded with my Father early in life by watching Redskin games with him. Funny thing is during the Redskins/Dolphins Super Bowl he missed Jon Riggins Touchdown run because they had like a claper TV (turns on and off with a clap) and he yelled so loud when Riggins broke the corner it turned off the TV.

Of course I wasn't born yet but a lot of my earliest memories with my Dad stem from watching games with him. Weather it being him telling me about Cal Ripken Jr in 1991 and me subquently announcing every batter that stepped up to the plate as Cal Ripken or the 1991 playoffs where when my Dad was upset I would tell him "don't worry my Redskins are winning" (I had a little mock game with my cards and a stadium made of blocks). I was so pissed to when I found out he was going with my Uncle to the Redskins/Lions NFC championship game. Of course I didn't know the game was that big, I just liked going to see the games and getting hot dogs and diet coke. It's alright though, my Uncle kind of made it up to me later by giving my family tickets to see the 2002 Final Four. My little brother got to see the Kansas game while I got to see the Indiana game.

Then when I moved to Chicago in 3rd grade I found myself with a yearning for all things Maryland. Everything was better in Maryland from the weather to the sports teams (even though they had Michael Jordan and the Bulls). Most of the time I could easily be found going to school with an Orioles shirt or a Redskins shirt when I switched things up.

Eventually I reconnected with the Redskins after an early phase where I stopped caring about football (from 93-98 I was more of basketball/baseball fan so I missed a lot of the dark ages during the mid 90's) when I started playing High School football (ironically one of the first games I saw was against the Lions). And I've been following the team religiously ever since. The level of obsession turned up a notch when I joined the site in 2006, and at the same time got a quick lesson in forum etiquette. Funny thing is it's thanks to this site that I easily have surpassed my own Father in terms of knowledge about the team, at least the team since the turn of the century. I'm still a little rusty when it comes to the history of the Redskins.

Anyway admist all those reasons the fact remains that my "fanhood" for the team is now deeply ingrained in the mammalian section of my brain (the level of the brain that controls emotions). Everytime I see the team coming out on TV with the burgundy and gold I just get excited. It's not something I really control anymore, instead it's just become a very powerful emotional response. Part of it's probably because I spend so much time following the team that technically I'm invested in it, but another part of it is probably because of the feelings and memories that are linked to my childhood.

Thats why when I claimed I was jumping ship earlier this year I knew I was full of shit. I knew that when I saw the team come out of the tunnel wearing those white jerseys and burgundy helmets they always wear that my heart would start pounding and I would find myself hard pressed to turn away from the TV. Especially here considering the fact that I get less games then most of you. TVAnts and company include.

The freakiest thing about it is a lot of the physiological reactions I've experienced in relation to watching the Redskins(short of the obvious perverted one) are very similar to reactions I've experienced when I've been in love (dilated pupils, increased heart rate, euphoria, depression, lots of depression). When the team wins I feel great when they lose I find myself feeling horrible. Again nothing I can really control, just the way things are. In fact there are studies that back this sort of thing up.

[I]"Men who watch their favourite sports team compete experience a similar testosterone surge to the players, say researchers at the University of Utah"[/I]

Re: Why you chose to be a Redskins fan:
 

[quote=Dirtbag359;543503][B]Then when I moved to Chicago in 3rd grade[/B] I found myself with a yearning for all things Maryland. Everything was better in Maryland from the weather to the sports teams (even though they had Michael Jordan and the Bulls). Most of the time I could easily be found going to school with an Orioles shirt or a Redskins shirt when I switched things up.

Eventually I reconnected with the Redskins after an early phase where I stopped caring about football when I started playing High School football (ironically one of the first games I saw was against the Lions). And I've been following the team religiously ever since. The level of obsession turned up a notch when I joined the site in 2006, and at the same time got a quick lesson in forum etiquette. Funny thing is it's thanks to this site that I easily have surpassed my own Father in terms of knowledge about the team, at least the team since the turn of the century. I'm still a little rusty when it comes to the history of the Redskins.[/quote]What town/HS?

Re: Why you chose to be a Redskins fan:
 

[quote=GTripp0012;543505]What town/HS?[/quote]

Naperthrill. I mean Naperville. The one that got all those awards for being the best place to raise your kids for so many years. Thats where I first tried cocaine. Lol jk, that was Georgia. Never went to high school there though I moved to Atlanta for my Freshmen year, but if I had gone to a HS in Chicago it would have been Nequa Valley.

The sick thing though about me and Chicago was that before I was a Bulls fan (about a year before). After I lived in Chicago for a few years I became a Bullets fan. On top of that I also decided in 1992 that the Braves were going to be my NL team. Now look where I am.

Re: Why you chose to be a Redskins fan:
 

[quote=Dirtbag359;543506]Naperthrill. I mean Naperville. The one that got all those awards for being the best place to raise your kids for so many years. Thats where I first tried cocaine. Lol jk, that was Georgia. Never went to high school there though I moved to Atlanta for my Freshmen year, but if I had gone to a HS in Chicago it would have been Nequa Valley.

The sick thing though about me and Chicago was that before I was a Bulls fan (about a year before). After I lived in Chicago for a few years I became a Bullets fan. On top of that I also decided in 1992 that the Braves were going to be my NL team. Now look where I am.[/quote]Cool beans. That would have been my first guess, given the whole massiveness of the place. I'm from just north of Arlington Heights.

Chicago sports taught me to hate teams from my locality. The 2000-ish Bulls taught me to hate the NBA.

Re: Why you chose to be a Redskins fan:
 

Nice post Dirtbag! It's really hard to explain the emotions that go with being a fan. I don't know why I act the way I do, but I go absolutely nuts when our team is winning, and either get mad as hell or get depressed when we lose. Maybe it's living vicariously through the team. I almost get high when one of our guys knocks the snot out of someone or we score. Part of the reason I loved Sean Taylor so much I guess. Even though I don't know these guys personally, it's almost like I do. When Sean died it was like losing a family member. I couldn't figure out why I was upset as deeply as I was. It really hurt. I've been following these guys for a lot of years and even though I get upset with some of the things they do and threaten to just say the hell with them, I really can't see that ever happening. Once you're in it with the Skins, you're in it for life. Just the way it is I guess. Nice post man.

Re: Why you chose to be a Redskins fan:
 

I may have the most politically correct answer ever to this question!

Growing up in VA, The Skins are the home team & are on every weekend. When I started watching football w/my dad, he always got excited for Skins v. Boys. My dad studied Native American culture a bit & collected antique artifacts. He explained to me how us white men came to North America & took over, putting the Indians on reservations.

For that reason, the Redskins were always on higher moral ground to me, while the cowboys were the evil gun slingers! A classic American battle, cowboys v. Indians. It helped too that the Skins were on every week & I developed a familiarity w/the game by watching them in the late 70s.

Oddly enough, my dad, who watches football but doesn't follow teams too closely, was a Skins fan as a kid but started to like the cowboys when they came into the league in the 60s. He was a rebel & I was too, so I also rooted against his team. His rooting for the cowpokes probably helped make me into such a diehard skins fan.

Re: Why you chose to be a Redskins fan:
 

My dad was a fan so I guess he raised me right. My 2 year old daughter is a fan and evertime I have on any skins stuff she points to it and sticks her arm up in the air like she is chearing them on. Then she drags me up stairs to get her skins shirt so I think the tradition will live on. Oh, and my 24 year old daughter is a fan.

Re: Why you chose to be a Redskins fan:
 

you have a 2 year old, and a 24 year old? are you insane?( j/k)

Re: Why you chose to be a Redskins fan:
 

I wanted to be like my older brother and his friends, and they were and still are big time fans.

Re: Why you chose to be a Redskins fan:
 

I grew up in Md, right outside DC. Sundays were spent in front of the family tube (usually with many in attendance) watching Billy, or Joey T, Doug, Ryp, etc do in the Cowboys, St Louis Cardinals, etc.
NOT a matter of choice. Though I have lived many places since, I remain faithful.....as does my 17 year old son, whom has never lived in or near DC

Re: Why you chose to be a Redskins fan:
 

[quote=skinsfan69;543100]I love this team but I really don't care for the owner or Vinny C. As Sfredskin fan said, they're like family. I can remember in 1977 when I was 7 years old and they started off 6-0 and ended up not making the playoffs. They were the hometown team and that's how it started for me. I've lived in the DC area my whole life so I follow this team closely.[/quote]

Yea, i find myself bashing VC/DS on Warpath but yet i tend to want to take up for them to the "outside" world. Kind of like family. I can call my sis an idiot all i want but when someone else does i'll take up for her.

Re: Why you chose to be a Redskins fan:
 

Why I chose to be a Redskins fan is different than why I choose to be one now.

When I chose to become a Redskins fan they we're on the television all the time (still are), they were a good football team, and they were the hometown team (still are).

Why I choose to still be a fan is because of loyalty . . . . masochistic, painfull, gut-wrenching loyalty. I guess it would be like being married to a woman who put on a few pounds after she's had children. Sure there are plenty of other good looking women available but your wife is your wife, for better or worse.

I've made a commitment to this team for better or worse. There are a few things that could happen that would break that bond but not many.

Re: Why you chose to be a Redskins fan:
 

Born and raised in Montgomery County, my parents are casual sports fans who root for the Skins and O's. So growing up, that's what I was drawn to. My love for sports outgrew my parents' casualness, and now I'm a diehard Skins/O's/Caps/Terps/Manchester United fan.

What locked me up with the Skins for life was November 15, 1987. Skins/Lions game at RFK. Naturally I had a Redskins jersey, and wanted to be a gunslinger like Jay Schroeder. So my Mom's best friend and her family took my Mom, sister and I to the game. They had season tickets, 10 rows up in Section 12? (middle of the end zone opposite the Budweiser sign, sitting just about the middle of the uprights), and I was in awe the whole time. I was a little perturbed when I found out that my favorite player was being replaced, but that disappointment didn't last too long when Doug Williams threw 2 TDs in the first half. The Skins won 20-13, and marched their way onto the Super Bowl, and the rest they say is history.

My fondest memory from that day was the 4th quarter, how incredibly LOUD the stadium got. Watching the stadium rock back and forth, listening to the people jump up and down on the metal platforms connecting the seats to the concourse. It was amazing, and a memory I'll never forget. I went to several more games at RFK over the years, including 2 games during the final season at RFK. I saw Boomer Esiason throw for over 500 yards in a 37-34 OT Cardinals win over the Skins (which my buddy and I missed the end and OT because we wanted to miss the crowds getting on Metro, and that there was no way the Cards would score again...they did with 20 seconds left). And I saw the Giants lose their last game at RFK from underneath the Budweiser sign.

I feel bad and sorry for those Skins fans who didn't get the chance to experience a game at RFK...it was definitely an experience like none other.

Re: Why you chose to be a Redskins fan:
 

I grew up in upstate NY surrounded by seemingly equal parts Jets, Giants, Pats and Bills fans. I didn't really have a team until the '82 Redskins with Theisman, Monk, Riggo.. I fell in love with the team and haven't wavered since.

Ironically, I've never seen the Redskins play in Washington. I've seen them play in Dallas (4 times), Philly (twice), Miami, Tampa (twice), Atlanta (twice) but never in DC. I've never lived in or around DC but my best friend (who's a stinking Cowboy fan) recently moved to DC so I am sure I will make my first home game this season.

Re: Why you chose to be a Redskins fan:
 

[quote=dmek25;543609]you have a 2 year old, and a 24 year old? are you insane?( j/k)[/quote]
Insane is the nice word my friends use to describe it. My wife is younger and I knew when we got married she want a child and its been pretty cool. The loss of freedom is really the biggest thing but I don't mind that.

Re: Why you chose to be a Redskins fan:
 

[quote=Schneed10;543084]It's not something you choose, it's something that chooses you.

I honestly believe that. You can't "choose" to be a fan of a team. You're just drawn to them for some reason, and [b]if you're a real fan you feel a passionate connection that you can't get away from, no matter how many losses they ring up.[/b][/quote]
So true! I am a Redskins, Mets & Georgetown fan. It's been 20+ damn years since I've tasted championship glory in any sport!

I adopted the Jordan era Bulls just so I could feel good about sports again! :-)

Re: Why you chose to be a Redskins fan:
 

Family.. and grew up in the DC area.. I'm big on hometown teams and extremely loyal, which is why I like the Nationals existing, but I'm an Orioles fan because that's who was around when I grew up

I remember one day when I was 3 and we had a family friend over that was an Eagles fan and he said that the eagles were his favorite team.. for whatever reason I said they were mine too, I guess trying to fit in

edit: (I was a skins fan already, but I was 3)

my family literally had an intervention and later that afternoon we had a "Redskins Party" at my aunt's house to teach me that I'm a skins fan and how I'm not allowed to like other teams along with the redskins, especially not the eagles or cowboys

my family is crazy, but that's where I get all of this from and I don't have a problem with it

during the 1987 superbowl we were at a superbowl party and I wasn't allowed into the adult room... I sat there bored for hours because I couldn't watch football, didn't even want to play with the other kids

Re: Why you chose to be a Redskins fan:
 

[quote=Defensewins;543113]I became a fan around 1974 or so...I loved those old uniforms with the yellow pants.
I remember seeing the old bumper stickers on cars all over town, "I am for Sonny" or I am for Billy".
Getting those free Redskins drinking glasses at Shell or was it Sunoco (?) gas station if you pumped 8 gallons or more. I still have a lot of them.
7-11 had those plastic player collectors cups. Even though the skins were not very good then, it was easy to become a fan.
Sonny, Billy, a young Joe Thiesman returning punts, Larry Brown, Charlie Haraway, Roy Jefferson, Charlie Taylor, Jerry Smith, Chris Hanburger, Ron Mcdole, Diron Talbert, Coy Bacon, A young Dave Butz, Pat Fischer, MIke Bass, Ken Houston, Speedy Duncan...
It was rewarding as a fan to suffer through those early losing years to later have George Allen take us to SB 7 (loss) and then the Gibbs/Bethard dynasty.
I now relaize that for you fans that are too young to watch the Gibbs 92 SB win live, have suffered through 17 years of average to below average football. That is a long time.[/quote]

I was young but I watched the super bowl, that's still one of the happiest days that I can ever recall

man how cool is it to see your team that you've supported go to the super bowl and win it convincingly? and how about detroit stomping dallas one week and we made them look inept in the nfc championship?

glad that I cared more about sports than cartoons as I could've easily missed that being only 8; I remember being so sad because I wasn't allowed to watch the MNF game where Monk got the receptions record.. I knewwww he was going to get it vs Denver and he sure did

Re: Why you chose to be a Redskins fan:
 

[quote=IRISHSKIN24;543456]I 'm only 19 and honestly never was around for the skins hayday, I'm also from a family of Pats fans in New England... but i never really felt connected to the Pats like i was with my BoSox due mostly because of the blue collar play style. any way i became a serious Skin's fan in 05' when Brunell threw those bombs to Moss to win in Dallas.

PS I've ALWAYS hated the Cowboys, and the "America's Team" BS-that nickname offends me as an American[/quote]

Damn man, sorry for the past almost 20 years

that pats thing would've worked out well for you haha

Re: Why you chose to be a Redskins fan:
 

I have never been to DC or been to a Skins game. I don't live in the US nor am I a US citizen. Started watching NFL in 81, a team with in b'n'g colors with hard nosed RB caught my eye. Started following the team, through the 80's and the SB trophies. Haven't watched any football til 2003, found out there were some new teams in the comp, (broncos and the bucs now look cool in their new uniforms and logo). The one thing that hasn't changed is my love (and loyalty to the Skins), try as I might to adopt a new team like the Ravens or Texans but its a hollow feeling, b'n'g is inside me and it always be there.

Re: Why you chose to be a Redskins fan:
 

Born in Bethesda, MD. Raised in Herndon, and Virginia Beach, VA... The Skins ARE THE HOME TEAM of VA! (which a lot of people who live there like to ignore, and CHOOSE to root for other teams!) I have always been a fan of the Skins, I can remember going to super bowl parties with my parents and watching the Skins win and loose SBs in the 80s and 90s. Went to my first Skins game in 1985 at RFK, it was magical for a 7yr old kid, and I've been hooked ever since. I live in New Orleans now, and have season tickets to the Saints for 4yrs now, but I just don't feel the connection like I do to the Skins. Its like being male, or heterosexual, being a Skins fan is just part of BEING WHO I AM...

Re: Why you chose to be a Redskins fan:
 

Hometeam.

Re: Why you chose to be a Redskins fan:
 

I came out of the womb wearing Burgandy and Gold...literally. I just stuck with it.

Re: Why you chose to be a Redskins fan:
 

It was Lombardi and George Allen who got me hooked about the time that I was old enough to get hooked. By the mid-70's it was all over for me in terms of fandom.

A few years ago my political conscience told me that maybe I should root for a team with a more correct nickname. So I tried rooting against the Redskins. I couldn't pull it off for more than 5 minutes. I have burgundy and gold blood. Not rooting for the Redskins was like rooting for the Cowboys - it cannot be done!

Re: Why you chose to be a Redskins fan:
 

Well this is my first post and I figured what better way to pop the cherry then to post in this thread.

I choose to be a Redskins fan because I was born into it. My whole family are die hard Redskins fans and to love any other team might as well be a sin. I was brought up into it and have been a die hard Skins fan ever since. I couldn't imagine rooting for any other team and lord knows I wouldn't want it any other way either.

Re: Why you chose to be a Redskins fan:
 

Welcome aboard!

Re: Why you chose to be a Redskins fan:
 

[quote=tryfuhl;543701]I was young but I watched the super bowl, that's still one of the happiest days that I can ever recall

man how cool is it to see your team that you've supported go to the super bowl and win it convincingly? and how about detroit stomping dallas one week and we made them look inept in the nfc championship?

glad that I cared more about sports than cartoons as I could've easily missed that being only 8; I remember being so sad because I wasn't allowed to watch the [B]MNF game where Monk got the receptions record[/B].. I knewwww he was going to get it vs Denver and he sure did[/quote]

This was a memorable game for me. My first game being there live, first monday night game, saw elway play, and monk broke record. Cool day indeed.

Re: Why you chose to be a Redskins fan:
 

It's especially interesting to hear about how Skins supporters with no connection to Washington became fans.

Re: Why you chose to be a Redskins fan:
 

Dead show@ RFK smoked grass and passed out under Jocobes wife's, well; snatch. Lived there for weeks....

Re: Why you chose to be a Redskins fan:
 

[quote=Dblock804;544567]Dead show@ RFK smoked grass and passed out under Jocobes wife's, well; snatch. Lived there for weeks....[/quote]

Was that the Dead with Bob Dylan and Tom Petty? I was there (kind of) that day...fond memories.