Once upon a time, it was very clear what team you were supposed to root for. In Cleveland, you rooted for the Browns. In St. Louis, you wore the red and white of the Cardinals. And in Baltimore, you cheered on the Colts. Now, everybody moves around.
People move across the country and so do football teams.
And while Baltimore, St. Louis and Cleveland all have lost their original teams and then replaced them with new ones, the identity of the hometown team depends much less on geography and much more on your personal attachments. Interestingly, the teams with the greatest expatriate followings tend to be from the cities that suffered the most during the recessions of the 1970 s and 80 s. Throughout the South and West, you ll find large communities of people who grew up in Green Bay, Cleveland, Pittsburgh or Buffalo. These people left to find better jobs elsewhere, but still miss their hometowns. And, they still root for the football teams that are in their old hometowns, whether they re the historic teams or the newbies.