Oklahoma loves football. The Bedlam rivalry is nationally recognized, OSU/OU games are sold out every time, and high school football is a way of life. As a state with two major colleges but no professional football teams, it would seem as though the NFL would not have a prominent fan base in the Sooner State. But contrary to logical thinking, people love the NFL here in Oklahoma.

There are NFL fans everywhere. The “which is better, college or NFL football?” argument still swings toward college ball but professional football still has a large following. Knowing this, being from Oklahoma, who is everyone rooting for? Sitting down and giving it much thought, there are several types of NFL fans here in Oklahoma despite the lack of an actual team.

1. Hometown pride fan- Not everyone that lives in our great state is from our great state. Coming from a state like Texas or Florida that has multiple teams, people still root for their home team. 

2. Family ties fan- When your family is rooting for their favorite team, you fall in line with them and cheer them on as well. I have plenty of friends that have family in Pittsburgh, Houston and San Francisco that love their Steelers, Texan and 49er football. 

3. Fantasy Football fan- For the fantasy football fan, Sundays become a competition. You are not necessarily rooting for a team, but for a certain player to score points or a team to keep a player from scoring points. Fantasy team owners are usually the ones flipping between every game possible to see constant updates on their players’ performances. 

4. Professional College fan- In 2012, we saw the Cleveland Browns draft Brandon Weeden. We also saw the population of Browns fans in Stillwater go from one to everyone. Basically, OSU fans immediately loved Cleveland because they could continue to watch their Fiesta Bowl winning quarterback continue to throw passes on Sundays. The same thing in Norman; Vikings jersey sails skyrocketed in the OKC area in 2007 when a certain prolific running back was taken in the first round. People feel a connection to their favorite college players, having watched them grow and excel in their beloved program and now supporting at the pro level. 

5.“They seem cool” fan- Everyone knows that guy that picked some random team from out of know where because, “they seem cool.” I would know, I am one of those guys. Seven-year-old Thomas was not a fan of his Dad’s hometown Dolphins because they were awful so he decided to find his own team. Then he saw Donovan McNabb and Brian Westbrook playing in that midnight green and a devoted (borderline obsessive) Eagles fan was born. Being from a NFL-less state, Oklahomans have the rare excuse to just pick whoever they want, which seems to happen often.

Honorable mention goes to Bandwagon fans. The reason they did not make the official list is, though they watch football and cheer for a team, they are not true fans if they just starting following them based off success (looking at you Tom Brady and Patriot fans).               

I love the NFL and I love to talk about the NFL. Many Oklahomans are right there with me, even without an NFL team.