The first NFL game I remember was seeing Marino getting sodomized by the Jags in the divisional round in '99. Since then, being a Dolphins fan has been nothing but pain. The thing is, for some reason I’m totally okay with the Dolphins underperforming. Even this season, which is late playoff run or bust, I’m completely understanding of all our failures. As long as the Fins even smell like they’re on the right track, I’m ecstatic.
Within the same general time frame, one of the first college games I remember is the University of Miami destroying Nebraska in the National Championship. The Canes were dominant. Everybody was going to the NFL. These days I have no patience for the Canes. My standards are so much higher. It doesn’t make sense to view these two teams through such a different lens.
Is it just me, or do you guys also benchmark against your early memories? Trying to figure out why I didn’t love the Dolphins any less during their one win season, but a 5 loss Canes gives me heartburn.
I grew up in the 1980’s so even though the Packers don’t break all the way through as often as I’d like, I’m still excited every time they clinch a playoff spot. Same goes for the Brewers.
Bro, as a lifelong Seahawks fan, let me tell you about a certain Vinny testaverde touchdown scored in 1998 to dash my playoff dreams.
Let’s see… the first season I remember watching as a kid was about 1991 and I’ve watched and hated it ever since.
Yep, still a football fan.
Yes - Houston Oilers
Nuff said
Grew up with the Urlacher Bears. It’s all been 100% downhill since Lovie Smith was fired. And at least the Super Bowl team had a legendary defense and I could make fun of the Sex Cannon at QB. And that’s an actual funny joke. The Bears have been a really unfunny joke for over a decade now. Whenever the QB throws it deep and it’s picked off I can’t say “You just gotta unleash the dragon” and laugh it off knowing the defense is coming into the field. Now everything just sucks and it’s not funny at all. The whole identity of the team has been gone for years and years. And then the '18 team which was actually really good has its season end on the goddamn double doink. The Bears were good enough that year that they’d certainly have made the Super Bowl if they win that game. But nope…ended on a joke.
Besides WWE/Impact wrestling… I did not watch sports growing up, unfortunately. I started watching college football in the fall of 2006 when I was 19 years old. I started really liking it, love college football now. Then in 2018 someone asked if I would like to play in their fantasy football league. I never watched any NFL games besides a few Superbowls at that point but I said sure. I really got into and and playing fantasy football was fun. As an added part of it, I started watching the games to see how my players did. I mainly watch the Sunday night and Monday night games. The NFL has taken away the Thursday night ones to hide them behind having to sub. to Amazon…
Yes. My childhood was the golden age of QBs. Now i have to watch Tommy Devito, Dobbs, and Aiden Oconell
Steelers fan since the 80s. I remember when Chuck Noll left and Bill Cower came in.
Became a fan around the time Boomer got there so I was born in the darkness.
You may or may not know this, but in Hootie & The Blowfish’s breakout hit “Only Wanna Be With You” has a line “I don’t know why, but the dolphins made me cry.”
I met Darius Rucker in a bar 6-mo before they got big & he told me everyone thinks that line wasn’t about Flipper, but it was really about the year the Dolphins had the best record in the NFL after winning on Thanksgiving but missed the playoffs b/c Marino and backup Scott Mitchell had season-ending injuries. The Panthers didn’t exist yet, so I was a Dolphins fan at the time, and I cried that year, too.
We both grew up in the Carolinas and talked about how it was common was pick whatever teams were good in the year we started liking sports, which is why he and I were both Dolphins, Reds and Sixers fans.
Yes, and it’s been downhill ever since. I was 13 and 17 watching the giants win improbable super bowls, and it gave me this false impression that I would experience peak football glory every few years, adulthood has been a rude awakening 😂
As a Texans fan through the Kubiak and Buttchin era… The only thing I expect to see is an elite Wide Receiver.
I was cursed to be a titans fan when I watched the first Super Bowl I understood and saw them miss taking it to overtime by 1 yard. It was the first time my innocent optimism was taken from me.
There have been many times since. When they win a Super Bowl… if they win a Super Bowl… I can lay my burden down and never care about football again
Yes, probably. I’m a Cowboys fan, and the first season I watched was when they lost the NFC championship game to 49ers. “The catch.” I was nine at the time. After that, I lived through the 1-15 season before things turned around in the 90’s. So I can’t relate to fans that get so angry at every little misstep. I’m like, dude, it could be so much worse.
First game I really watched was the tuck game. Raiders have sucked ever since. Inb4 their run to the 2003 Super Bowl, that just makes it worse