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.

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

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 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.What town/HS?

What town/HS?

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.

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.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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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