Growing up, I didn’t watch football. When I got to college, it was one of the few pleasures I had on Sundays while stuck on post at VMI. At that point, I picked the Detroit Lions as the team to pull for. Bobby Ross was the head coach (a VMI alum), Barry Sanders was still playing, and they were actually showing games on, and Matt Millen had yet to make his mark on the team. However, it’s become more and more difficult to actually keep rooting for them.
Living in Virginia, it’s been difficult to catch games…though I see highlights of other teams running all over them all the time. With yesterday’s absolute shellacking by the Packers, I’ve come to the point that I am renoucing the Lions as “my team.”
For the rest of the season, I will just be a fan of football as I evaluate other teams to pick a new team to root for. Since this decision is a long-time coming, I have two preliminary front-runners, though this is all subject to change, based on my whims :) …
Washington Redskins: They’re geographically close, so I can watch all their games. Another plus is that a close friend of mine has a bunch of season tickets. They’ve got a pretty talented offense, though the head coach I think may need a year or two to get good at the job.
Pittsburgh Steelers: Mike Tomlin is a William and Mary alum and was a coach at VMI when I was there. He’s from Newport News and is always giving talks to kids down there. They’re one of the most storied franchises, though the mess with the NFL’s meddling to keep the Rooney’s in an ownership role disturbs me a bit.
I think some of my criteria for choosing a new team will revolve around the stability in the head office, the current coach’s and players, geographic location, and future projects, along with past treatment of players. This may also expand, but as of right now, I’m in the market for a team.