Niner Noise
FanSided

Why our captivation for the NFL and all team sports is so strange

By Peter Panacy

SANTA CLARA, CA - OCTOBER 04: A fan cheers from the stands during the NFL game between the Green Bay Packers and the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium on October 4, 2015 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
SANTA CLARA, CA - OCTOBER 04: A fan cheers from the stands during the NFL game between the Green Bay Packers and the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium on October 4, 2015 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /
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NFL teams change players every season, and yet fans across the league pledge allegiance to their favorite franchises. Have you ever stopped and thought about the reason?

What bonds you to an NFL team?

Like many of you, I look back at the days I first became a fan of the San Francisco 49ers. Growing up in the 1980s, it was pretty easy. The Niners were good. Like, Super Bowl good all the time.

Those players, of course, are long gone from the franchise now. And while some are still associated with the team in one way or another, I’m now rooting for a red-and-gold squad comprised of names I may or may not see in Santa Clara two or three years from now.

San Francisco 49ers
San Francisco 49ers /

San Francisco 49ers

You see, that’s what makes our obsession for all things NFL — and professional team sports in general — so odd and intriguing at the same time.

We fall in love with teams that are in constant change on a yearly, and even monthly basis. It would be one thing if we cheered merely for the individual player and not necessarily the team.

For example, my dad is a huge Peyton Manning fan. When Manning was with the Indianapolis Colts, well, that was the team my dad rooted for. But when Manning ended up with the Denver Broncos, yeah, you can guess where his interests shifted.

Yet that’s not the case for all of us fans. Most stay with our teams.

Why?

A League of Independent Contractors

The NFL, like most professional leagues, is made up of teams comprised of individual contractors — 53 players, or so, committed to one organization based almost solely on words written on a piece of paper.

And the money associated therewith, of course.

Players may say they’re bound to the team, its fans and the location. But we all know most players would jump ship once a contract ended to land a better opportunity elsewhere. That’s the whole contractor part.

While you’re loyal to players wearing your team’s uniform, that loyalty probably diminishes a whole lot — perhaps completely — when he signs elsewhere.

Why We Remain Loyal

For the 49ers, we call ourselves The Faithful. Yes, we’re bonded to a number of players — both current and former — but we put the team first overall.

But what does the team represent? Ownership? Probably not. I don’t think fans scurry into Levi’s Stadium to see that which CEO Jed York and Co. created.

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So if the loyalty isn’t strictly about the players and certainly not for ownership, what is it?

Here’s an answer. Well, mine at least.

Our professional teams are a representation of us. A lot of this is local, of course — where we grew up or the big city closest to where we now live. We take pride in our upbringing, our cities and our communities. Teams are representative of those facets in a competitive setting. We can bond with fellow fans who grew up around San Francisco — or whatever team and city — and the experiences of rooting for said team.

Eric Simons of the Chicago Tribune agrees:

"A sports team, based on dozens of interviews and research articles I surveyed for my book “The Secret Lives of Sports Fans,” is an expansion of a fan’s sense of self. It is not an obnoxious affectation when an invested fan uses the word “we”; it’s a literal confusion in the brain about what is “me” and what is “the team.” In all kinds of unconscious ways, a fan mirrors the feelings, actions and even hormones of the players. Self-esteem rides on the outcome of the game and the image of the franchise.There are benefits to this: not just self-esteem but pride, identity, belonging."

In a way, our teams represent us. Even if the reasons don’t quite make sense, we look at our favorite franchises as a direct reflection of our own passions and all the associated ups and downs.

Next: Each NFL team's biggest question heading into 2017

And in a simple way, it’s what keeps us coming back to the stadium year after year despite the never-ending changes on a roster.