Question: Why do people cheer for the University of Alabama football team when they didn't attend school there?

[TexasBama]

I hate this question because - even though I know this isn't YOUR intent - it's an Auburn-level objection. It's the old "anybody can pull for a winner, but it takes a REAL FAN to pull for a team that goes 8-4 more often than a hooker changes her underwear."

My fandom actually started with an insult on the school bus.

The day was September 14, 1978, and I'm not making that up. This dude who lived across the street from me, well, we'd only been neighbors less than three weeks. We were on the school bus, and he asked where I was from. When I told him I was born in Selma, Alabama - a place I knew at that time only as my birthplace - he told me people from Alabama sucked. If he would have stopped right there, I might not even be on this board nowadays.

But he then said that "the Ole Miss Rebels" were much better than Alabama and went on a fourth grade stream-of-conscious commentary worthy of Dennis the Menace (which, not making this up, was the real first name of my OTHER friend at school). I was vaguely familiar with the term Ole Miss Rebels simply because we had one of those little plastic footballs from the game with that on it. But I didn't like being told I sucked, any more than I liked finding out pro wrassling was fake about two years later.

So when I got home, I asked Mom. The cool part to me was since Mom grew up in Alabama (Lanett), she was able to tell me they were coached by a BEAR. I mean, you must be a good team if a BEAR can coach you and you're still good, right? Eight-year-old logic. She regaled me with the fact my uncle played backyard football with Bobby Hunt and Dave Hill, who had gone on to make it big at Auburn. Throw in the fact my favorite pair of grandparents lived in Lanett, Alabama, and you've made the sale.

That weekend - and I recall this distinctly because it was the night of the Ali-Holmes fight telecast on ABC - we went to see my cousins and "other" grandparents in Missouri.

Guess who Alabama was playing on the local TV station the next day? Yep, look it up.


When I got back home, I opened the Monday afternoon newspaper and right there at #1 - I didn't have to look far - was Alabama, who had just beaten Missouri. Ole Miss? They were nowhere to be seen.

I didn't know what the ratings meant exactly, but I was gonna figure it out even in 1978 with no Internet.

It's been a 45-year love affair ever since.

And JUST FOR THE RECORD......I APPLIED AND WAS ACCEPTED to school at the University of Alabama in the spring of 1987. I opted to go a less expensive route with no loan, but it's not for lack of trying or desire.

I remember that Missouri game. We score a couple of TDs in the first, then Missouri scored 3 TDs in the 2nd (one a pick six off Rutledge, who hadn't throw a pick in a year, since the Nebraska game in 77). We blocked a punt in the 3rd and returned for a TD and that was all she wrote for Missouri.

The following week, I celebrated my 21st birthday by going to the Bama USC game. They were probably the most talented teams I've ever seen in person - 6 college football hall of famers (Lyons, Junior, Lott, Budde, Charles White, Marcus Allen) , 2 hall of fame coaches (Bryant, Robinson), and a couple of pro football hall of famers (Stephenson, Munoz)

 

[tmv85]

I am a Bama alum, but I can’t remember ever making a conscious choice to be a Bama fan. I grew up in a house divided…Mom is a Bama fan, and Dad was a barn fan (but he was never really very vocal about it.) I spent more time around my mom’s family, and they all bleed crimson. I don’t think I even realized people cheered for any other team until I was school age, and then I couldn’t understand why they didn’t cheer for Bama 😂

We lived in Tuscaloosa for about 14 months in 1971-72 because Daddy was the Army recruiter there. I have such fond memories of that time. I think the influence of Mom and my aunt and uncles plus living there cemented my love for all things Bama, and I couldn’t wait to get back there as a student.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

I remember that Missouri game. We score a couple of TDs in the first, then Missouri scored 3 TDs in the 2nd (one a pick six off Rutledge, who hadn't throw a pick in a year, since the Nebraska game in 77). We blocked a punt in the 3rd and returned for a TD and that was all she wrote for Missouri.

The following week, I celebrated my 21st birthday by going to the Bama USC game. They were probably the most talented teams I've ever seen in person - 6 college football hall of famers (Lyons, Junior, Lott, Budde, Charles White, Marcus Allen) , 2 hall of fame coaches (Bryant, Robinson), and a couple of pro football hall of famers (Stephenson, Munoz)

You know what would be a good question to search?

Which college football game since 1957 (sophomores drafted in 1960 when the AFL began) had:
a) the most draft picks who played in the NFL
b) the most NFL HOFers

 

[TexasBama]

You know what would be a good question to search?

Which college football game since 1957 (sophomores drafted in 1960 when the AFL began) had:
a) the most draft picks who played in the NFL
b) the most NFL HOFers

I would probably start with that game first. Krauss, Nathan, McNeal, Rutledge et al all played in the league. Clay Matthews and Calvin Sweeney for USC.

as far as guys that played in the nfl, Bama v Miami 1993 might be worth a look. Almost our entire defense made the nfl. And one of the Miami linebackers did pretty well in pro wrestling and the movies

 

[Tide Rev]

Grew up in an Auburn household, learned early to hate AU, and fell in love with Coach Bryant and Bama in the late 60’s, been hooked ever since for 50+ years. I just cannot stomach most Auburn fans. When I met my wife, she was an Aubie. But not anymore, I have converted her to be a Bama fan! RTR!

I might add that when I was in the 5th grade, my teacher had graduated from UA the year before. She had been a Crimsonette and at the time was dating Kenny Stabler. A few times (Fall Break, Christmas and Spring Break) he flew her out to Oakland to see him. She brought back all kinds of stuff from him.

 

[tidefan39817]

Dad was in the Army. It was bragging rights amongst my friends.

 

[BadgerTidefan]

I grew up as a Bama fan in the 1950's and 60's. We always either watched on tv or listened on the radio. I didn't attend the University and neither did my Dad, my main influence. My Grandfather on Mom's side did attend. Dad's brother, my uncle went to Auburn and tried to get me to root for Auburn , but dad would have nothing to do with it. Before I was born, my Dad would hitchhike to Tuscaloosa to see the games. That was during the early 50's. I've worked all over the eastern United States, usually staying several years in a place. Everywhere I've worked, I found Bama fans that had no connection to the University. Mostly they just seemed to admire the teams and the tradition.

 

[pigsinspace]

Everyone loves a winner. That appeal extends beyond the State of Alabama.

 

[rolltide7854]

I've been a fan since I was 8 years old and I have never pulled for anyone else. The first game I remember watching was the Orange Bowl against Texas when Joe Nameth SCORED in spite of what was called.

 

[Down4ttown]

Everyone loves a winner. That appeal extends beyond the State of Alabama.

It’s not just the winning. It’s the passion and devotion to something bigger than a specific team. The Capstone has hosted the greatest minds to ever walk a sideline. Tradition, history, pageantry. College football is Alabama, and Alabama is very much one of teams on the Mount Rushmore of college football.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

And let's be honest: the NFL wasn't a big thing until the 1958 overtime game between the Colts and Giants...

College football was local, regional, and you had gone to school with the players. My aunt went to school with Fob James and my uncle with Bobby Hunt and Dave Hill, all of whom played at Auburn. I can't emphasize how BIG A DEAL that still was in the 80s (my uncle played in the street throwing the ball around with the latter two). Alabama, of course, had a much bigger reach than Auburn and had been to the Rose Bowl, etc.

And the NFL didn't put a team in the Deep South until 1966 (and yes, I know why).

And what happened in T-Town from 1961-66, when Atlanta and New Orleans DID NOT have teams?

I mean, that explains it for that generation, and it got handed on down, too.
And about that time television proliferated, and it was Alabama winning the big games (and getting nationwide press, some good and a lot bad).

The crimson shows up very pretty on the TV, you know.

 

[Probius]

I grew up as a Bam fan because they were my home state team. If you have to have attended the university in order to be a fan of the team, what would you say about children who are fans? To the people who believe you have to have attended the university to be a fan, are children "allowed" to be fans? Do you say that you can be a fan until you are 18-22 years old, then you have to either attend the university or stop being a fan? Do you actually need a degree from the university or is it enough to simply enroll in a few classes? If you cannot afford to attend the university, does this mean you can be a fan of the team? What do Atlanta Braves fans need to do to be fans of that team? If you can't tell, I'm being a bit silly with these questions. I'm from Alabama, this is my home state and I feel a lot of loyalty to Alabama. That was always enough for me to be a Bama fan. Sure, I graduated from Alabama in 2004, but I was a Bama fan long before I ever enrolled in any classes, and I would have been just as much of a Bama fan had I never attended any classes at Alabama.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

Everyone loves a winner. That appeal extends beyond the State of Alabama.

I grew up when the Dallas Cowboys were being called "America's Team" with a wide reach - and NOBODY dared said, "How many Cowboy fans have ever even set foot in the state of Texas?"

Same with the Yankees or Celtics or Canadiens.


So I don't dispute there's a certain truth to what you're saying.

At the same time, the country was far more rural. I don't know if anyone has any idea how far away Tuscaloosa SEEMED to be to me back in 1979 from Columbus, MS (it's 60 miles and since the four-lane opened in 1991, you can make it in 45 minutes if you don't stop for gas or see a trooper).

Tuscaloosa - and oh yeah Atlanta - were SO FAR AWAY back then. But the radio or TV brought them to me.