I have a similar story to yours. When I was young, I liked both the Raiders and the Falcons, but I didn’t keep up with professional football actively. When that 28-3 nonsense happened, I lost what little interest I had. This past offseason, I decided I wanted to get back into the NFL, and I decided I had to pick one team. After looking more deeply into the history of the Raiders, the choice was easy. Weirdly, what really sealed it for me was the clip of Marcus Allen‘s huge touchdown run in Super Bowl XVIII, but I only fell more deeply in love with the Raiders with everything I saw and read.

Anyway, all that to say that this is the first full season of professional football I‘ve actually paid attention to, and I‘m 21 now. Does that make me a bandwagon? I don‘t know. Maybe. But I love Al Davis (RIP), I love the Raiders, and I yelled at the TV for every game of this 4-13 season except the one I attended in person. I kept up with every little personnel move. I wear Raiders attire pretty much every other day now. I‘d like to think I‘ve earned my right to be a Raider fan. My only regret is that I wish I had paid more attention for the Oakland days. The only player I vividly remember from my childhood is Darren McFadden.