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Old 09-13-2017, 05:33 PM
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vintagebaseballcardguy vintagebaseballcardguy is offline
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Default What draws you to football/football history?

Net54 may not be an accurate representation since it is a baseball board that just happens to have this football section, but it appears that there are many more baseball collectors compared to football collectors. We could go on all day about how baseball has a glorified past which really helps drive the game and the collecting of it. The point has also been made on this board that the NFL has done a less than great job of celebrating its past. If it didn't happen after the Super Bowl era began, it's like it didn't happen.

All this being said, why football for you?? What is it that drives you to collect football? All of us sports card/memorabilia/autograph collectors make up a small part of the general population, so that automatically makes us rare/odd . But, again, why choose to be a small minority of a small minority and collect football? Did you play? Did your dad or uncle or someone pass on the love of the game or take you to games? Did you become a fan of a particular team/school at an early age?

The answer for me is multifaceted. I grew up and live in the South where football of all kinds is king. It is a rare thing for me to encounter people (especially men) who don't at least casually follow football. I can remember playing neighborhood football on freezing cold nights until it was too dark to see. Another factor which sucked me in was the fact that as an 8 year old boy in 1981, I discovered the NFL by way of the San Diego Chargers. Those lightning bolts on the jerseys and helmets and that up-tempo style of play known as Air Coryell, caught me hook, line, and sinker! I will forever be able to picture Dan Fouts taking that snap from center and taking that three or five step drop and throwing to Jefferson, Chandler, or Joiner or pitching the ball to Muncie or Brooks! I was the kid in the South who grew up loving the Chargers. And it isn't just the NFL or SEC football. A small time high school football game has its appeal, too. There's something about the air getting crisp, the leaves turning, and the ball sailing through the goal posts that captures my imagination. Men like Pat Summerall and John Madden captured my imagination together for a long time.

Ok, I collected baseball for quite a while and have a baseball username, but more and more the pigskin sport captures my imagination and pulls me in like it did when I was 8. There is so much I don't know about football history (I am learning). I felt like I've heard the same baseball stories a million times. There is a lot to be discovered and learned with football. From a practical standpoint, a good part of the football collectibles I see are relatively affordable, too. It is really a wide open hobby!

What about you guys? Why?
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