Far-Away Follower

Like virtually every person that follows sports I am a football fanatic, especially for the NFL.  With the talent that is in the league at every position what is there not to love about the pro game? For most avid fans Sunday is a time to kick back, flip on the tube and get ready for a 10 to 12 hour session of pure football, even more so now with the Sunday Ticket or the Redzone.  But for the select fans out there, the fans that live in the 23 lucky states that are home to the elite franchises of the world, there is no need to veg on the couch and hope for a good game, they get to experience the real deal in person.

That is a small percentage of the NFL’s fan base and I, being a football nut in a state that has only two major league franchises, the Jazz and Real Salt Lake, would like to give fans the scoop on what it’s like to follow a league in which the closest team is 530 miles away.

I will be writing about the experiences and observations of the NFL fan in Utah, what I watch and who I root for during a game since I’m not team loyal, and give player analysis throughout the season, all from my cozy couch, local bars, or my select friends who have chosen to cheer for a team hundreds of miles away.  We always get a perspective of the game from reporters who were there, this will give everyone a chance to hear from the people that aren’t.

Utah, and I’m assuming the other 27 other states that aren’t host to an NFL franchise, is a melting pot of fans of almost every team in the league.  How and why people choose to follow a team in a state that isn’t even close to the franchise they root for is beyond me.  Personally I chose the band-wagon route and followed the 49ers as a kid, the Packers as a teen, and the Patriots for a year or two until I realized that for one, following a football team besides the Utes in Utah is ridiculous; and two, the free agent market has made it impossible to stay loyal to one team unless you live in the state a team plays in.  My passion at this point has become that of following a league and individual players, with the occasional side bet being my only means of getting on the edge of my seat for a team.  This has allowed me to appreciate the game as a whole, and especially individual players, rather than those of a favorite team.

For instance all the Tom Brady hate over the years is really getting me down.   My only guess as to why NFL fans love to hate this guy is because he picks apart their team’s defense, is married to a super-model, and has three Super Bowl rings.  No I’m not a bandwagon fan and could name dozens of other players that fans love to hate for no reason other than the fact that they beat up on their favorite team.

I’m assuming that the cities and states that host an NFL franchise are communities in which we unlucky states know nothing about.  But these communities know nothing about what it’s like to live in a state with no pro football team, people who choose who to root for rather than accept their fate, and I will document their passion  and perspective throughout the NFL season.