This season has been one of the best seasons for the Atlanta Falcons in quite a while, and, with the Falcons performing at such a high level, many fans are coming out to support their teams as well. Although few are actually fans, I respect those who have stuck with the team throughout the hard years, but it upsets me when I see the bandwagon fans. Let's take a look at why it’s wrong for fans to jump on a team’s fan base when it starts to win.

Fans are truly respectable when they can stick through the rough times with a team, without losing their fandom. Recently in Atlanta, Falcons fans have been coming out in the bunches. I respect the few Falcons fans who have stuck by team in the past, such as one of my closest friends, but the ones who became fans this year are upsetting. Bandwagon fans think that wearing a jersey and pretending to know the team’s players and history makes them a fan. But that doesn’t define a fan. A fan is someone who sticks with a team through thick and thin, the hard times and the good, but that is not what many Falcons fans are right now. Their behavior becomes annoying and upsetting because those fans try to talk about how good the team is, and how they have stuck around for many years.

But more than just being an annoyance, there’s a bigger reason why it is so wrong to pretend to be a fan of team, when they are not truly fans. It’s morally wrong to pretend to support an organization which you do not. Would you support the Democratic candidate as an Independent supporter? No you wouldn’t. So why would you support a team that you have never supported before? And this statement doesn’t affect just Falcons fans. Two years ago when the Seahawks were the best team in the league, there were many fans who didn’t know who the quarterback was the year before. And when the Panthers were the best team in the league last year, many “Seahawks fans” migrated to the Panthers fan base. So, now when the Falcons are shaping up to be one of the best teams in the league, the fans are finding a notch in the Falcons fan base.

It takes respect, and honor to be a fan of a team. And the increasing numbers of bandwagon fans have turned football fan bases into mockery. While many believe that the issue lies in Antonio Brown’s cleats, or in late hits, the real issue lies in bandwagon fandom.