By Adam Goldstein
Titans 21-Bills 18
Canton, Ohio was my first stop on my 2009 football tour. Canton is not a home for one NFL team, but you could argue it is home for every NFL team, as this is where the Pro Hall of Fame is situated. A wonderful museum dedicated to the NFL and all its glory, a must see for any football fan.
Last weekend was their “Enshrinement” weekend, with the whole city going football crazy. On the Friday I arrived at a hotel some 40 miles from the hall of fame. I could see NFL tents and BBQ smoke billowing from the adjacent lawn; I knew I had found my guys.
Pro Football’s Ultimate Fan Association (PFUFA) is a unique body of football fans. The group started out as having just one “extreme” fan per NFL team. Now it has over one hundred and every year current members nominate other extreme fans, who get “enshrined” during the weekend much like the NFL enshrinement.
Many of PFUFA fans recognised me from my trip last year, though it was hard to recognise them as they were not “in character”. I had to wait until 6 am the next morning to see them in their more extreme football attire. It was surreal getting on a Cleveland Browns Bus with so many extreme fans from all over the country. Next time you see one of those extreme fans on T.V it is likely they are in this elite group.
I joined the 50 or so PFUFA members upon the float that travelled through Canton high street, on Saturday morning, for the third longest parade in the U.S. It was the first time I have been in a parade and I felt honoured that Sergeant Colt, who is the President of the PFUFA asked me to join them on the float. It was awesome. I didn’t have a full costume but I wore my custom made Chicago Bears hat and that was good enough.
Soon after we were at the Hall of fame itself and the PFUFA members were signing their fan cards, just like they were professional football players. Before we knew it was 7pm and I made my way into Fawcett Stadium, which is right next door to the Hall of Fame. There was a large stage set up in the end zone and seats were placed on the field. The stadium was nearly full as we watched six people get enshrined into the Hall of Fame.
I was unsure how one gets enshrined, as it was coming across as a quasi religious celebration. Were the six enshrines going to be blessed with holy water? The format however was far more straightforward. Someone introduced a speaker, who then talked about that player, then that player made a speech, then they uncovered a bronze bust of themselves that will get placed into the Hall.
Many of the current hall of fame players turned up in support, such as Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas and John Madden to name just a few. The Kansas City Superfan, Arrowman was sitting behind Dallas Cowboys owner, Jerry Jones. Arrowman introduced him to one of the Cowboy PFUFA members and before long Jerry Jones gave him two free tickets for any Dallas game at his new stadium!
I wasn’t sitting next to any NFL owners, but plenty of Bills fans, who have made the trip to Canton for three reasons. Firstly their current owner, Ralph Wilson Jr, who created the Bills team when it was the AFL back then (This year is the 50 year anniversary of the AFL), who is in his nineties and still going strong. He made a humorous and heart-felt speech. Secondly, Bill’s sack legend, Bruce Smith was inducted and they left his speech for last, (which was by far the best speech of the night). The “Sack attack” shared a few tears before fireworks ended the event. The thousands of Bills fans chanted “Bruuuuce” that sounded like they were booing. Thirdly, the pre-season kick off game the following day was a challenge of two original AFL teams, the Bills and the Oilers (now the Titans) and both teams were set to play in their original 1960 uniforms.
Four other people got inducted and they were Randall McDaniel of the Vikings, Derrick Thomas, of the Chiefs, Bob Hayes of the Cowboys and one of my all time favourite players, Safety legend Rod Woodson, who mainly played for the Steeler Nation. Rod’s speech was based around his family and Christianity. At the end he told us we should not harm each, “but heal”, which I thought was slightly contradictory as Woodson made a career from hitting people pretty damn hard playing safety. Still the evening was magical and I couldn’t believe I was in the same stadium with so many legendary players.
The event did go on for quite a few hours and I surprised that there was no “performance”. Usually at American event they love to have a band on, or do some kind of show. This was simply speeches and highlight reels. Good enough for me, but for the neutral, I’m not so sure. I would defiantly go back if a Chicago Bears player was to be inducted; hopefully they will enshrine Richard Dent soon.
Game day.
On Sunday morning, I joined the PFUFA members once again, this time for breakfast that was at the Hall itself. It was their turn to have their enshrinement, and the 14 nominees all made it. They were in full costume and each one of them made as heartfelt and emotional speeches as the NFL stars from the night before. This is indeed a special group of people and I can’t think of any other sport that has such selected fans from across the league and who support each other so much.
After the ceremony Sergeant Colt came up to me and gave me a draft card, telling me I am just the third person he has nominated in five years, as well as being the first “international” to be nominated. I was flabbergasted, speechless and incredibly proud. It was a surreal moment. An NFL fan from London getting nominated as a Super fan!
It was back to a small grass lawn outside someone’s house by the stadium, where Jay the Tailgate Guy was hosting a tailgate party. It was the first time many of the PFUFA fans had seen the wonderful and radical rig that Jay has created, and what I will call home until the Super Bowl. Jay had converted a school bus into a tiki bar on wheels and thus the ultimate tailgating vehicle, with a sweet roof deck.
An hour before kick off thousands of fans flocked to the stadium. We were stopped in our tracks as the Tennessee Titans arrived. With a Bills heavy crowd very few people seem to recognise any of the players. I spotted two Titan players wearing Chicago Bear jerseys, which surprised me. One was wearing a Gayle Sayers jersey and the other a Walter Payton jersey.
Fawcett stadium has an open design, more akin to college stadiums and once inside I spotted all 32 NFL jerseys and it reminded me of the NFL games in London, where all NFL fans are welcome. The “let’s go Buffalo” chant was loud as the game kicked off, with all eyes on Terrell Owens. The Bill fans were very loud during the enshrinement the night before, and I thought the atmosphere was going to be more like a Bills home game, but with the Titans scoring a TD on their first drive the Buffalo faithful became deflated. The first TD took us all by surprise as the Titans punter faked it and ran 40 yards for the TD!
The fans got back into it the game when they saw T.O grace the field, wearing red boots and gloves, so he can stand out just a little. His first play he got pushed around, trying to block, but on his second play he made a sweet catch for a gain of fifteen yards. Despite it being a pre-season game the Titans came out with some hard hits, and after just two catches T.O was done for the night. A Titans interception and another TD looked like it was going to be a one way game. 21-6 to the Titans was the score at half time, and I stretched my legs. Word of advice if anyone is planning to see a game at the Hall of fame, take a cushion with you as they do not have seats, but metal benches!
During the third quarter the announcer asked all of the PFUFA fans to stand up and once again it was an honour to sit with all of them during the game. A lady from Buffalo to my left gave me a gold coin for good luck on my travels this year and to be honest the Bills defence needed it as they looked porous especially against the pass. Vince Young played the second half and he looked strong and accurate. The Bills finally pinned the Titans back but the Bills punt returner muffed the catch and gave the ball right back leading to another Titans TD and the game was practically over.
The Bill fans finally did see a touchdown. The Bills cornerback, named Corner, got beat deep and left his receiver open as he done so most of the game, then oddly the Titan’s QB simply threw it straight at him and the player who played poorly got his interception, which lead to a Bills Touchdown. It was too little too late for the comeback and many of the fans had left, leaving the scoreline to end 21-18, which sounds a lot closer than actually was. The Titans gave up a safety in the last play by running out of the end zone with the ball to run the clock down.
The game kicked off the NFL season and it was a blast watching the game with PFUFA fans, now I just have to go to as many games as possible this year, get as involved with as many footballing communities and charities as I can and hopefully next year I will be back, but this time as a member of the PFUFA group. All I need now is a character name, and costume, any suggestions?
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