How many true, lifelong Panthers fans are actually out there?

[TheCandyMan]

My Dad's from Ohio, so I grew up watching the Brown with him and naturally became a fan. I was a big Kosar fan.

The Panthers came along when I was 12. I got a t-shirt and sweatshirt with the Panthers' logo on it for my birthday the year they were announced, and have been a Panthers fan ever since.

I guess I can say I'm a lifelong Panthers fan, but it would be the Panthers life and not mine, haha.

So in summary, Browns fan because I didn't know any better, Panthers fan by choice.

[IMissChrisWeinke]

Cowboys. Emmitt Smith was the man and I collected his cards. My teacher made us make pennants for either the boys or the steelers, only person in my class to pick the right team -- cowboys won the SB. forgot my love for Smith when Panthers came. God, no offense, but how the heck can you have mass at the same time as the game. That was my hell.

[IMissChrisWeinke]

25

[alabamaroberts]

I grew up in South Dakota so I didn't have an allegiance to follow. My mom was a Broncos fan and my dad a Vikings fan. So that meant I couldn't like them. You know, rebellion and all. And sad to say, I chose to like the Cowgoys as a kid. Don't ask me why. I can't tell you. But I did. I had the posters and the football cards and the bobble heads and everything. But as soon as the Panthers came into existence, I was hooked. So no, not a life long fan, just a 2/3 of my life fan.

[ThPantherFan]

I'm an old fart and have been a Panther Fan from day 1.  Use to be an avid Bears fan.  I was a Bears fan before Ditka and McMahon.  I've never like the Falcons even from the beginning when they had their summer camps at the Blue Ridge YMCA in Black Mountain.  Now, top that one.

[trev230]

Dad bought PSL's when they were announced. We didn't even get to pick the row or seat, it was on a random lottery system. He just chose the section. I was 14 then. Haven't missed many games since then. Bleed Black and Blue in my house!!!

[Cary Kollins]

My first jersey was Kerry Collins' jersey. If that tells you anything.

Same. Mine has been missing ever since I wore it during the Superbowl.

[arbnranger]

I'm 25. Born in 1990 and have been a Panther fan since 95'. I was a new fan of the game and they were a new team. As a 5 year old I picked them for the logo and color scheme and have stuck with them ever since. Being a fan of a team in another region hasn't been easy. I remember "watching" entire games on ESPN Gamecast because there was no such thing as Red Zone or Sunday Ticket.

ImageUploadedByCarolinaHuddle1431575122.258129.jpg

Age 5 or 6 here rocking a Panther t-shirt. My bowl cut was the GOAT.

You really are the epitome of a "life long " Panther fan.

When I was growing up I moved around and never had a hometown team. I pulled for players back then. Walter Payton, Herschel Walker, Ronnie Lott .. Etc

When the Panthers came to town it was the first team that was ever " my team"

I was in the hospital with my newborn son when a few nurses came and told me that Kerry Collins had been brought in with a broken jaw. Aug 97

[SCP]

I was a college football fan before the Panthers. We didn't watch hardly any NFL except for Monday night and the playoffs. My mom and dad are from OH so they had a passing interest in the Browns but it wasn't something we ever talked about.

[DelhommesTheMan]

I'm 30, first game I actually watched and got into was 1995 Panthers-Cowboys NFC Championship game...The Panthers beat the mighty Cowboys and Panther fan was born. I have many pictures of myself 11-12 years old with a Wesley Walls jersey, and I live in Northeast NJ! Still live in NJ, travel to many games and too Charlotte at least twice a year for games. Love this team...

[CoastalCat]

Soooooo...in honor of the off season and because I think it would be cool to know, how many of you can claim to be a lifelong Panthers fan?  Don't tell a fuging lie if you are older than 26.

 

 

I still consider myself life-long, especially considering the life of the franchise. I was 12, growing up in Charlotte, when the team came to town, and didn't follow football before that. I think that counts.

[Ricky Spanish]

I was Born in DC to Washington Redskins fan in late 1987. That season, the skins won the super bowl. My dad called me his lucky charm. Through the first few years of my life, I was raised to root for the Redskins. I know the fight song, I have tiny outfits in my parents attic, and there are pictures of me as an infant decked out in redskins gear. To this day I can't bring myself to hate them like many around here do, simply due to the memories shared with my father.

 

One thing regarding Redskins lore actually stuck with me to this very day, and that was my distaste for the fuging Cowboys. So when we moved to Dallas when I was a young child, I didn't know what to do. I was surrounded by the enemy, and they were winning super bowls. I asked my father, "who beats the cowboys?" because at that point the Redskins weren't doing too hot, and he told me that the Eagles did. I didn't know who the Eagles were, but they had a bitchin bird mascot and they beat the cowboys, so I started to "root" for them. My father thought it was hilarious because it pissed the cowboys fans off. 

 

Well one thing you should know about Texas is other than their affinity for the Cowboys, it's a pretty sweet place to live. So when I got the news when I was 8 that we would be moving to North Carolina, I was crushed. Who would I root for? Who would I root against? There was no team in the Carolinas. 

 

Well it turns out I was wrong and there was a new expansion team "moving" to the Carolinas along with me. That made things a little better. I got a hoodie of that team, the Carolina Panthers, before we moved. I went to my first game for my 10th Birthday against the Bucs, the first recorded shutout in team history. I've been a fan ever since. In my spare time in Raleigh, I rooted for Maryland while everyone else was a State, UNC, and Duke nuthugger. 2002 was a good year for me, especially because I went to school with Carlos Boozer's younger brother. 

[Panther53521]

Grew up a Cowboys fan but always wanted a home team that I could go see in person not just on TV

 

So I have been a Panthers fan since "Thank you, Thank you, Thank you" If you dont know what that means ... maybe you need to work on your Panthers history.

 

I went to the Hall of Fame game with the tour out of Charlotte and sit in the endzone where Panthers had a goal line stand to win the game. I had so much fun screaming and yelling that I knew this was my team until the day I die. If we could win a Super Bowl I could die a happy man that I was loyal from day 1 and I will pass all the joy of watching this team onto the rest of you, so you all can enjoy many more Super Bowls.

 

BTW .... I am an extreme Cowboy hater today.

[CoastalCat]

Ban OP

 

Is there some kind of dirty bird past that we don't know about? Go on, it's safe here. (it's not safe here at all)