Before the Raiders moved south, I sensed that there was more of an East Bay/Raider loyalty for Cal fans and that Niner fans were generally more associated with the Peninsula and Stanford, in part because of Brodie, Gene Washington and later Bill Walsh.

When the Raiders left as the Niners were becoming great, I think that many in the East Bay, including some Cal fans, got on the Niner bandwagon for a great ride (that ended for some in the late 90s and for others on draft day, 2005).

I'm a Cal fan first and foremost. I like to see our alumni do well in whichever concern they end up in (Rodgers at Green Bay, Gonzalez @ KC, Lynch at Seattle, etc.), but otherwise
I don't care a snap.

My Dad was a Cowboy fan, I'm a Cowboy fan. We used to go to their training camps at Cal Lutheran back in the 70s. Back then, you could actually approach the players, walk with them, carry their helmets and pads. Dorsett, Newsome, Danny White, Too Tall Jones - all those guys were class acts to me.

Chargers fan too because I was born and raised in SoCal. Loved Air Coryell.

Aaron Rodgers is, without a doubt, my favorite player in the NFL. I was cheering for the Packers yesterday - even in my Cowboys' beloved house. I'm glad he got the Championship.

Can someone say - Brett who?

I root for the 49ers, as they were THE team when I was growing up (in the 80s), and I was from San Francisco. No-brainer, really. Since Eddie DeBartolo got forced out, of course, it's been hard times.

I don't think "most" Cal fans are Niner fans. It seems pretty evenly split between the Niners, the Raiders, and those who either root for some other pro team or don't really care about the NFL.

BerlinerBaer;472388 said:

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Interesting take on things. I was 14 then, but I don't remember Natrone as the problem. Our O line in those years was pretty bad and led to Humphries' early retirement. The biggest strength of the team was the front 7 on D, although Young and Rice just shredded our secondary that game.

There was no way we realistically could have hung with the niners and all their stars: Young, Rice, Deion... Such a team would be impossible now, but could maybe happen again depending on how the players negotiations go.:hammer:

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Natrone was your guys only chance that year. He had a good game even though he didnt have enough gas to finish some crucial runs that would have given you guys a chance. I dont remember all of the details, but I do remember thinking how lucky the niners were that your guys's running back was so out of shape. Either way those were goot times back then.

I grew up in the South Bay as a die-hard Raider fan (I still hate the Steelers, Broncos, Chiefs and Dolphins to this day). When the Raiders added insult to injury by not only moving, but moving to L.A., I switched to the 49ers. When the Raiders came back home, I was back to being gung-ho for them, but as Al has gotten senile, it's very hard to fully support them. Little by little, I spend more NFL time caring about the former Cal players in the league, whoever they play for. I guess that I am a College Football fan first, and Pro second. I'd still be excstatic if the Silver and Black won another Super Bowl, but it won't happen with this team, even though they have 3 former Bears on the roster.

Raidahs! Grew up a Niner fan though hating Favre and the Packers.

OzoneTheCat;472180 said:

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Steelers....

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Serious question. How can you root for a team with a big raping doofus for a quarterback? I assume you like the Steelers in spite of Big Ben?

drunkoski;472277 said:

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no double standard. I grew up a rams and raiders fan until they left and i stop rooting for them but I always loved montana. i never was a 49er fan really. i was a montana fan. i'm a packers fan now, but if they dump aaron i will root against them.

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Yep, me too on all counts.

Pitch Black;472168 said:

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I'm just curious. It seems like every Cal fan I encounter is also a 49er fan.

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love......

Just a thought.....anyone wonder what Jeb York now thinks of the pick of Smith over AR? :cheer

sycasey;472434 said:

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I root for the 49ers, as they were THE team when I was growing up (in the 80s), and I was from San Francisco. No-brainer, really. Since Eddie DeBartolo got forced out, of course, it's been hard times.

I don't think "most" Cal fans are Niner fans. It seems pretty evenly split between the Niners, the Raiders, and those who either root for some other pro team or don't really care about the NFL.

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I think the Niner fans here are most vocal, especially in defending the franchise against the repeated insults to Cal (I listed Shell over Rivera and Smith over Rodgers, but I forgot about the poaching of Mooch the week before LOI day and then Walsh (a paid 49er advisor and Stanfordite) recommending Tom Holmoe for head coach.:chainsaw

Oakland Raider and Oakland A's fan.

calumnus;472484 said:

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I think the Niner fans here are most vocal, especially in defending the franchise against the repeated insults to Cal (I listed Shell over Rivera and Smith over Rodgers, but I forgot about the poaching of Mooch the week before LOI day and then Walsh (a paid 49er advisor and Stanfordite) recommending Tom Holmoe for head coach.:chainsaw

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I don't know, it seems like Raider fans are equally vocal about disparaging 49er fans for their team allegiance (despite the fact that both franchises basically suck).

Calcoholic;472473 said:

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Serious question. How can you root for a team with a big raping doofus for a quarterback? I assume you like the Steelers in spite of Big Ben?

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I've never been a fan of Big Ben, even before sexual charges were brought up against him. He's a big lumbering oaf who somehow manages to do just enough on the field to keep his job. The idea that he could somehow "redeem" himself by winning a Super Bowl sickened me.

That being said I still root for Pittsburgh. I grew up idolizing the Steelers teams of the 70's, trying to emulate Lynn Swann and John Stallworth on the playground....while admiring the standard of toughness set by Mean Joe Greene and Jack Lambert. Those teams had everything on both sides of the ball and made me a football fan for life.

Go Chargers!

One Bear a decade isn't enough. Pete Schbaurm, Capt. Matt Hazeltine, Ray Wershing, Gary Plummer and Jeremy Newberry, and we're right across the Bay. The 9ers loss is lots of there teams gain. Go Seahawks and Pack and maybe Oakland for right now.

SleepyBear07;472252 said:

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+1 East Bay baby!

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This!

grew up in the OC.. was a rams fan until the deceased cocktail waitress from Vegas buried the team and then moved them to St Louis.. Now Raiders fan and waiting for Al to be committed.

Cal_Fan2;472171 said:

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Far from it.... many Raider fans on here....growing up in Oakland I was a diehard Raider fan UNTIL they moved to L.A....then they lost me and I became a 49er fan in 1981..... they left me, I didn't leave them....

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I started going to the raiders game at old Frank Youell field and later brother & I shared season ticket back in the '70s. Became an Al Davis hater after their move and a 49er fan afterward.

Life coulda' been worse with the Cleveland Rams.

LIONS my whole life,. football has been a rough sport for me over the years...

Cal_Fan2;472171 said:

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Far from it.... many Raider fans on here....growing up in Oakland I was a diehard Raider fan UNTIL they moved to L.A....then they lost me and I became a 49er fan in 1981..... they left me, I didn't leave them....

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ALMOST like me.
I was a big time Raiders fan. Hated the move to LA.
Am happy that the Raiders are back; but I cannot stand Al Davis.
I will happily be a big time Raiders fan again if Al Davis gives up control of the Raiders.
I "like" the 49ers because they are a Bay Area team; but my heart belongs to the Raiders.

Go! Al Davis, Go! Away!

49ERS!

Seeing all those Niner references on the ESPN after-shows yesterday, from Rodgers' inclusion in the 300yd.-3td Super Bowl Club with Young and Montana to the 49ers sitting second between the Packers and the Steelers for most Super Bowl victories, was very very nostalgic. :cry:

(on a total off-note, why is there no regular sad face emoticon? are crying and bawling really the only options on this board?)

Raiders, but Al makes it very very difficult.

CAL, A's, Sharks, Raiders, Warriors and MAN-U!
Even though I have never lived in the east bay(hopefully i will next year as a freshman) my parents raised me as East Bay fans. I think it is pretty evenly distributed between the Raiders and the Niners.

the whiners suck.


Cal everything, A's, and Raiders.
And of course the Packers as my no. 2 NFL team.

have always been a Cal / 49ers / Giants fan

Wow, I was expecting maybe a a few answers but not 5 pages worth!! :acclaim:

First time poster here. Little background....I fell in love with Cal after 'THE PLAY' in 1982.

Grew up a Raiders fan. Had my heart broken when they moved to L.A. Tried to like the 49ers (and did after they won Super Bowl XVI) but found that I only breathed an autumn wind and stayed loyal to the Raiders. Whatever interest I had in the 49ers was gone when Montana got the boot.

In baseball I was growing up a Giants fan. However, one day I turned the channel to see how that 'other team' across the bay was doing......and then IT happened.......I saw Rickey Henderson for the first time and was hypnotized. Never had I seen a more exciting ballplayer. At first I would only watch the A's just to see Rickey and then I found myself only watching A's games and never looked back. The 'Billy Ball' era was rocking and have been an A's fan ever since.

Moved to Texas 6 years ago and still my heart belongs to the bay area and always will. Took major heat at a sales job for being a 'Cal fan' and was awakened to how sports fans are in this part of the country where not only does your team get ripped on but the conference they play in as well. I kept hearing how 'cream puff' and 'soft' and gay the Pac 10 was and I would get soooo ****ed. Over 200 sales guys on the floor and I was the only Pac 10 fan in there. Most everyone else had allegiances to the SEC or Big 12. Just know that I really hate teams like Washington, USC and Oregon but after working with these yahoos I rooted for our conference rivals anytime they were in a bowl game (and yes, even Stanford). I was talking so much smack after the Pac 10 went 5-0 in during bowl season a few years ago. I wish I still worked there after yesterday so I could cram Aaron Rodgers' Super Bowl MVP down everyone's throat!! LOL! :beer:


Anyways, thanks for listening and thanks for your responses. GO BEARS!!!!

68great;472668 said:

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ALMOST like me.
I was a big time Raiders fan. Hated the move to LA.
Am happy that the Raiders are back; but I cannot stand Al Davis.
I will happily be a big time Raiders fan again if Al Davis gives up control of the Raiders.
I "like" the 49ers because they are a Bay Area team; but my heart belongs to the Raiders.

Go! Al Davis, Go! Away!

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Cried when they left, had to pull my car over to scream when I heard on the radio they were coming back, season tix since 1995, paid outrageous money to see them whitewashed by Tampa Bay in the Super Bowl - crushed when I thought they traded up to grab Rodgers only to pick Fabian Washington.

Desperately wanting Al Davis to go away.

Have never liked the 49ers.

pride AND poise

Born and raised in SF, so I was definitely a huge Niner and Joe Montana fan growing up, well before I became a Cal fan or even really understood football. And I continued to be a Niner fan after college, up until they hired Dennis Erickson. It was all downhill from that point on. My interest in them dropped more and more each year...and at times, I was even rooting against them.

Had they gone with Rodgers instead of Smith, I think that would have been just what was needed to make me a fan again, but they didn't...so...I'm pretty much a Packer fan now (would have never thought that would be a possibility back when I was teenager rooting for the Niners!). Of course, I also root for the Seahawks, Eagles, and Lions now...

calgldnbear;472210 said:

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RAAAAIIIIIIIIIDERRRRRRRSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!! all the way

Even when they left, it is hard to get the silver and black out of your heart

First and foremost, I live and die with the California Golden Bears but after that, I am east bay all the way .... Cal, Raiders, A's, Warriors

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Ditto! Of course l keep tabs on other franchises in other sports in other places, but it's all about the East Bay teams for me...

:beer:

it used to be the Rams but has been Packers the last 20 years or so....

Favorite sports teams in this order:
Cal (any sport)
Lakers
Dodgers
Packers

GO BEARS!

prospeCt;472810 said:

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pride AND poise

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yea.....whining is a bitch huh?