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Beer, Banter And Blockbusters: These UK Fans Explain How They Got Into NFL

Beer, Banter And Blockbusters: These UK Fans Explain How They Got Into NFL

It's not all about cheerleaders.

Anonymous

Anonymous

Ever since the NFL was first broadcast on Channel 4 back in the 80s, there have been American Football fans in the UK. In the ensuing decades, the sport's popularity fluctuated, but thanks to diehard followers our country's fledgling passion for the game never disappeared entirely. Which is great for any Brit interested in the sport, because now the NFL is playing games at Wembley and even thinking about giving London it's own team.

If you're wondering who the hell these fans are and how they got into the sport, stuck with it through thick and thin, and got into the habit of watching late night games despite the horrendous time differences, then good - because we were too. So we tracked a few down to find out how they - pint-swilling, Queen-loving (possibly), cynical Brits - came to love the bold, brash, and unapologetically 'Murican National Football League.

Matt, 28, London

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Pic courtesy of Vici Holdsworth

I had no interest in American Football before I arrived at uni. During my first week, I went to the sports fair where all the various teams try to get you to sign up to play for them. I was a pretty big guy back then - pushing 20 stone and 6'5 - and I'd been at the fair for less than a minute when I saw a man literally sprint across the hall towards me. He was the head coach of the American Football team and, clearly impressed by the frame I'd built drinking tins and eating kebabs as a teen, was eager for me to sign up.

I was looking to get in shape and make a few mates, so I figured I might as well. They put me on the offensive line, and I was terrible at first. But I enjoyed watching the NFL with the team after our practices on Sunday, so I stuck around. I decided to support the Cowboys because I think my dad had visited their stadium in the 80s - that was enough of a connection for me.

I wasn't exactly a star during my first season, but I soon improved. That was about 10 years ago now. Since then, I've played semi-professionally in Spain, represented GB in American Football, and won a couple of National Championships with the London Warriors here in the UK. Coincidentally, I'm moving to Texas soon, so I'll get the chance to watch the Cowboys in the flesh.

I'll always appreciate the head coach spotting me in the hall that day.

Navid, 28, Edgware

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IMAG2496 (1).jpg

Coming from an Iranian background and being born and raised in London, you obviously didn't really think about American Football. But when I was a kid there was a film called Little Giants, and that planted the seed in my head. Years went by, and I watched films like The Waterboy and Remember the Titans, so it got to a point where I was really intrigued.

When I was in Primary School I went to a friend's house and we randomly started watching the NFL on Sky Sports. This was about 1999. I recognised the logo of one team from a jacket my brother used to wear. It was the Oakland Raiders. West Coast rap has always been my thing, so the fact it has that connection with the Raiders is perfect.

I started watching it very tentatively, as I didn't know when the schedule was. The first year I properly watched the Raiders was when they went to the Super Bowl and got destroyed by Tampa Bay at the end of the 2001 season. As the years progressed there was more coverage on TV and my knowledge of the game grew. And for the next 14 years the Raiders sucked.

But with Raiders fans there's always been sheer loyalty. Last year was the first time I went to watch a game in Oakland. I met the guys that I stayed with when the Raiders played the Dolphins at Wembley in 2014. We got speaking and they invited me to their house, and I was like 'yeah, I'm sure you're gonna invite me to your house'. The day the schedule got released they called me like 'Yo Nav, man, we got tickets, what's happening?' So I bought a plane ticket and stayed with them. It was crazy.

As much as this team has let me down over the years, I just keep going back for more.

Michael, 27, Milton Keynes

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Michael, number 12, in his Junior football glory days

When I was 14, my school had a flag team, which is a non-contact version of American Football. One afternoon when it was pissing it down, I decided it would make more sense to get drenched playing sport than to walk home in the rain, so I showed up to practice. I told my dad about it and he was psyched. I never knew this before, but it turned out he followed the NFL and was a huge Pittsburgh Steelers fan. He was so excited he bought me Madden to keep me interested in the game.

Despite being terrible I carried on playing at various positions until I was finished at uni, mainly for the post game shower beers and the fantasy football bants. That's what really keeps me hooked on the NFL now, the Fantasy Football side. It's like the sport was made for it.

Steve, 24, Cambridge

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Steve, on the stretcher :(

I got into football because there are cheerleaders.

But also I was interested in playing the sport as it was one I had not come across before starting university. I'd played rugby and thought they were similar in playing styles, but I had quite a rude awakening after my first gridiron practice. It was very fast paced, very violent, and way more tactical than I'd anticipated.

I got into the NFL itself because my uni team would watch the Sunday night games after we had played or practiced earlier that day. It's awesome to watch the NFL, because it truly feels like you're witnessing the best athletes in the world compete in the most intense sport there is.

I don't even care about the cheerleaders anymore.

Colin, 33, Streatham

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I watched Any Given Sunday in 2001ish, and I thought the guy who played Center - the one who throws an alligator into the shower while listening to Metallica ("Metallica rules, Hetfield is God!") - was totally cool. I wanted to be him, so when I got the chance to play football at Southampton Uni I joined up straight away and immediately said I wanted to go on offensive line. The coaches were probably pretty happy, because no one ever wants to play O-Line when they first start.

I started watching NFL on Sunday nights with the rest of the team. I met some Frankfurt Galaxy players, from the now defunct NFL Europe league, in a bar in 2004. A couple of them were originally signed to the New England Patriots. Those guys were cool to drink with, so I've rooted for the Patriots ever since.

..............

As you can see, these guys got into the sport thanks to movies, 90s hip hop connections, and through university. For our Football, Not Football series, we want to know how the rest UK's NFL fan base came to love watching the league. Maybe you played a lot of Madden as a teen? Perhaps you became a Dolphins fan after catching Channel 4 highlights in the 80s, or after watching Ace Ventura a few years later? Or, very simply, the thought of giant, armoured men knocking seven shades of shit out of each other entertains you in a way that say, darts, does not?

Whatever the case, we want to know - so leave your tales of your introduction to NFL fandom in the comments below.

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Topics: NFL