How I became a Detroit Lions fan...

At the age of 36, I became a football 🏈 fan and at the age of 36, I became a Lions fan.... In fact I became a Lions fan first....yeah!

I am an Indian citizen and have been to the US many times for work. During my last long stint there, I was in Virginia and then landed in, what turned out to be my favorite city, Toledo, Ohio.
I didn't know anything about American football 🏈. For me football was what Americans would call soccer ⚽.

When I came to Toledo - spent 2 amazing years there - I came in touch of my cousin and her kids, of which 2 were boys - one a 7yr old and the other 5 at that time. This 7yr old boy taught me what 🏈 is, basic rules and actually made me a fan. He would talk about it so enthusiastically and sit with me the whole time until I understood it.
My elder brother was in Detroit for his undergrad in late 80s and 90s, and even now I have a lot of extended family around Detroit, and as I became more interested in the game, under their influence I got drawn towards the Lions.

Being from India and a fan of game of cricket, I grew up in the 80s and 90s, watching the Indian cricket team (also blue colors) with extremely talented players but still losing regularly or not winning much tournaments, except sporadic success. For some reason I could see a semblance between the two.
My brother would keep talking of Detroit city and the Lions team of 90s and how they always got screwed in key games by rules and refs. Then I saw a documentary on Barry Sanders on YouTube and I fell in love with the Lions. I started watching the games and saw how Stafford and Calvin Johnson kept the team going.. I saw someone like Louis Delmas giving it everything for the team despite his injuries and I had no option but to go for Lions. I developed a soft spot for the Detroit city too...

Now, I live in India since 2014. In these last 4 seasons, I have not missed a SINGLE lions game even though the games are played at either 22:30 or 23:30 hrs on Sunday nights India time or 2 in the morning on Tuesdays. I look forwards to that all the time.. Most of the times I go to bed frustrated but wake up the next day full of hope that 1 day my Lions would be the Champs and I would throw a party in India to celebrate that.

Think of it.... I have spent sometime around Boston, New Jersey and Virginia and so I had many teams to pick from to be a fan...  could have picked Patriots, Jets/Giants, Redskins... But I ended up being a Lions fan and I don't regret it a bit! Go Lions!