Alright, before you shoot me down for treason, hear me out.

While Georgia Southern may be home to one of the most successful football programs in college football history, I think it’s a pretty safe bet to say that most students were not born and raised True Blue, but rather came to love Eagle football just as they came to love Georgia Southern as a whole. Most of us were probably raised by parents who were either alumni or proud lifetime supporters of a bigger team, more specifically, probably an SEC, Big 10 or ACC team. From the time you were a newborn you were dressed in “Future Bulldawg” or “I roll with the Tide!” attire so that your parents could transform you before you could even think for yourself.

And I’m here to tell you there’s nothing wrong with that.

It happens all the time. A student wears another school’s attire on campus and people have to get all worked up about it. Why, after 18 years of rooting for the same team should I completely give up my loyalty? Why am I considered less “True Blue” for rooting for a team that is not even in the same conference as us? To me, as someone who is very passionate about my favorite teams, I cannot possibly just forget my roots because I chose to go to school somewhere else. I have been a proud Georgia Bulldawg fan since I moved to Georgia in 2000 and I plan to remain a fan forever.

“So, who are you going to root for on November 21?” I get asked this question 9 times a week. The answer is complicated and not exactly straight forward. Would I love to see Georgia Southern pull out the upset? No doubt. Georgia Southern is creating a strong and bold reputation of consistency and ability to compete at high levels and another W in the “SEC” column would be a good reinforcement of that. However, if UGA is in contention for the playoffs and the SEC title come week 11, it is going to be really, really difficult for me to pull for the underdog. Will I proudly show up to Sanford rocking my True Blue? Absolutely. But will I keep my outbursts regarding Georgia to myself while surrounded by my peers in the visiting student section? For sure. Either way, I’ll be celebrating loud and proud singing “Glory, glory” or screaming “WHOSE HOUSE?!” while downtown that night.

So for all of my fellow peers who might leave at halftime during a Georgia Southern beat down to catch their favorite team on TV; it’s okay. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. To give up fandom of a team you have loved for a majority of your life just because you didn’t go to school there is more fairweather than being able to love both, in my opinion.

Keep on pulling for your Dawgs, Buckeyes, Crimson Tide and… dare I even say it… your Yellow Jackets. Cheer for whatever team you grew up loving (unless of course for some odd reason that school was crApp State) but don’t forget your alma matter, because at the end of the day we’re all True Blue.