Your first NFL watching memories

User avatar
Ronfitch
Posts: 450
Joined: Sat Oct 11, 2014 11:41 am
Location: Twin Cities, MN

Re: Your first NFL watching memories

Post by Ronfitch »

Bryan wrote:First game that I can remember watching: Cowboys 51 Seahawks 7 on Thanksgiving Day, 1980

First game that I can remember attending in person: Packers 33 Bills 21 in 1982

First NFL play I can remember: Reggie Rucker not catching an endzone pass and falling into the baseball dugout during Raiders 14 Browns 12 1980 playoff
Ha! I was at that game. Back in the days of 976-1313.
"Now, I want pizza." 
 - Ken Crippen
User avatar
Retro Rider
Posts: 304
Joined: Sun Oct 26, 2014 4:03 am
Location: Washington State

Re: Your first NFL watching memories

Post by Retro Rider »

Bryan wrote:First game that I can remember watching: Cowboys 51 Seahawks 7 on Thanksgiving Day, 1980
Thanksgiving Day 1980 - my first Thanksgiving away from home. I had enlisted in the Air Force and watched the game with a couple co-workers at my supervisors home in Colorado Springs. It may have been the most embarrassing performance in Seahawks history. I remember Sam Adkins getting playing time at quarterback for Seattle.

My first memories of watching an NFL game are from November 29, 1970. The N.Y. Giants beat the Redskins 27-24. I was disappointed that Washington lost and decided to adopt them as my favorite team. The following week I saw my first NFL game in color as the Lions beat the Cardinals at Tiger Stadium, 16-3. Toward the end of that game CBS flashed a score showing that Oakland had beaten the Jets, 14-13. We should have been watching the Raiders @ Jets instead with Warren Wells' game winning miracle catch. It aired on Seattle's NBC affiliate KING-TV but we were watching the NFC game on KIRO. Prior to the birth of the Seattle Seahawks, Oakland Raiders games were shown with regularity in the Seattle market.

I saw part of my first Monday Night FB game on November 30, 1970. The Dolphins were playing at Atlanta but my parents weren't too keen on watching an NFL game on a Monday night. The channel got changed an hour into the game. I clearly remember watching the 1970 Conference Championships and Super Bowl V.

First NFL game attended: August 12, 1972. The Steelers beat the New York Jets 22-3 in a pre-season game at Seattle. As a 10 year old I was in 7th heaven. IIRC, both Bradshaw & Namath played the first half. Numerous future Hall of Famers graced the turf of Husky Stadium on that sunny summer afternoon.
Seattle-Kings-Jets-Steelers-e1300739925658.jpg
Seattle-Kings-Jets-Steelers-e1300739925658.jpg (79.71 KiB) Viewed 10786 times
Last edited by Retro Rider on Wed Dec 09, 2020 8:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
vikingsfan1963
Posts: 145
Joined: Sun Jul 02, 2017 9:19 pm

Re: Your first NFL watching memories

Post by vikingsfan1963 »

I know I probably watched some games on TV in 1967 but have no memory of anything other than the Browns playing (must've been a playoff game). My first memory is a 1968 Redskins-Saints game and the only reason I recall anything about watching this was because I was anxiously awaiting the arrival of my friend's father who was going to take us to the circus!!
Reaser
Posts: 1553
Joined: Sat Oct 11, 2014 11:58 am
Location: WA

Re: Your first NFL watching memories

Post by Reaser »

Retro Rider wrote:Thanksgiving Day 1980 - my first Thanksgiving away from home. I had enlisted in the Air Force and watched the game with a couple co-workers at my supervisors home in Colorado Springs. It may have been the most embarrassing performance in Seahawks history. I remember Sam Adkins getting playing time at quarterback for Seattle.

My first memories of watching an NFL game are from November 29, 1970. The N.Y. Giants beat the Redskins 27-24. I was disappointed that Washington lost and decided to adopt them as my favorite team. The following week I saw my first NFL game in color as the Lions beat the Cardinals at Tiger Stadium, 16-3. Toward the end of that game CBS flashed a score showing that Oakland had beaten the Jets, 14-13. We should have been watching the Raiders @ Jets instead with Warren Wells' game winning miracle catch. It aired on Seattle's NBC affiliate KING-TV but we were watching the NFC game on KIRO. Prior to the birth of the Seattle Seahawks, Oakland Raiders games were shown with regularity in the Seattle market.

I saw part of my first Monday Night FB game on November 30, 1970. The Dolphins were playing at Atlanta but my parents weren't too keen on watching an NFL game on a Monday night. The channel got changed an hour into the game. I clearly remember watching the 1970 Conference Championships and Super Bowl V.

First NFL game attended: August 12, 1972. The Steelers beat the New York Jets 22-3 in a pre-season game at Seattle. As a 10 year old I was in 7th heaven. IIRC, both Bradshaw & Namath played the first half. Numerous future Hall of Famers graced the turf of Husky Stadium on that sunny summer afternoon.
Enjoyed this entire post. A view of how it would have been for me had I been born two decades earlier.

Very coincidentally, my Uncle stopped by tonight and it looks like he's the same age as you and we literally talked about how growing up -before the Seahawks existed- his favorite team was the Rams, and that there were a lot of the Raiders fans because they were always on KING 5.

Still today, a lot of Raiders fans in western WA, and inexplicably a lot of Broncos fans, too.
7DnBrnc53
Posts: 1234
Joined: Sat Oct 11, 2014 7:57 pm

Re: Your first NFL watching memories

Post by 7DnBrnc53 »

My first regular season game that I watched was Week 1 of the 1981 season (Chiefs@Steelers) I remember Thomas Howard recovering the fumble and returning it for the game-winning TD (don't remember watching the second game that day, which was probably Oilers@Rams. May have been out playing).
User avatar
74_75_78_79_
Posts: 2331
Joined: Sat Oct 11, 2014 1:25 pm

Re: Your first NFL watching memories

Post by 74_75_78_79_ »

rhickok1109 wrote:The first game I ever saw was an exhibition between the Packers and Giants at old City Stadium in August of 1946. I was 7 years old. (My birthday's in November, so I turned 8 in the course of the season.)

There was a lot of interest in the game, because the Packers were using the T-formation for the first time. They pretty much dominated the Giants but won by only 17-14.

It was also the first game at which my father was the official scorer for the Packers. He had recently replaced George Whitney Calhoun as news editor of the Green Bay Press-Gazette and he also took over Calhoun's role as official scorer (I'm not sure if that was an actual title at the time, but he performed all the tasks of an official scorer).

From that point on, I saw every Packer home game, including those played in Milwaukee, as well as all the games in Chicago, sitting next to Dad in the press box and helping him with the play-by-play and stats, until September of 1955, when I entered college.
This whole entire thread is remarkable, especially remembering watching a football game in the '40s yet alone seeing Curly Lambeau coach!

A lot of the Seahawks/Seattle comments stick out with me. Thanksgiving 1980, like most Thanksgivings growing up, was first spent at my maternal grandparents (first game/Detroit) and then later (second game/Dallas) at my paternal grandparents. Though the first game was sure-enough on TV, I really don't remember anything of it. Do remember the Seahawks/Dallas game though, and all the 'hype' leading up to it at school amongst my 4th grade classmates. This was when I found out that my paternal grandfather, always sitting in his rocker smoking his pipe, was a Dallas fan. Years later, I asked my father why grandpa was a Dallas fan being that Dallas was a relatively newer team and he being in his late-60s by the time of that very '80 Turkey Day event? He must have been a fan of a different team for quite some time before Dallas came on the scene, I thought. And by then, Dallas was the 'flashy' 'cosmopolitan' team; nothing real...'old school' about them. My father answered that he never quite rooted for the team, but the coach. Which explains things because he himself always wore a suit and a fedora when he went out.

Steelers (Bradshaw)/Jets (Namath) playing each other pre-season at Husky Stadium pre-'76 an interesting factoid I never knew! A friend of mine I grew up with who has Huskies season tickets had me fly out there a couple times to 'sail'-gate at the half! John L Williams...a name I haven't come across in awhile! As a Steeler-fan, I got to experience he ending his career during the peak of those '90s Cowher teams. He was a favorite at the time. Who was a better fullback for Seattle, he or Michael Robinson, would make for a good thread topic!


I have many memories of seeing bits-and-pieces of games throughout my first season following (1980) for often I would be out playing sandlot football or basketball with the kids in my neighborhood or, later in the season, sledding down the hills by my elementary school. One or two kids at a time would come outside at halftime or after having watched a game inside to tell us the score(s). Bengals beating the Steelers in Week #3 and it being big news Monday morning (4th grade schoolmates in the cafeteria making a big deal out of it), the beginning of the Steelers/Vikings game being on TV at a friend's house before we all went out to play, seeing the very end of Cincy beating Steelers again one week later, and then wanting so bad to see Raiders/Steelers Monday Nighter only for me to not be able to are basically the first memories immediately leading up to me officially being a true follower. After asking my Dad numerous times who's playing who this week or if a certain team was 'good' or not, he pointed me to the sports section of the paper. 'Buffalo' is the first word that comes to mind upon remembering glancing at the standings for the first time for obvious reasons.

First game I saw in its entirety would have to be the Dolphins/Steelers Week #13 affair. To this day, whenever I hear or think of Stevie Wonder's "Master Jammin'", I think of seeing both teams' helmets beginning of the game going into commercials with their respective '6-6' and '7-5' records on display. The 'Burgh won convincing-enough, now 8-5 and maybe a playoff team after all! After that, I saw yet another game in its entirety - Eagles at Chargers! Friends of the family came over for that one; hotdogs at halftime! The SB-bound Birds get handed just their second loss of the season! First playoff game I saw in its entirety was Raiders/Browns. I sat on the couch in the spot that my Dad normally sat in. He and my uncles were out watching it, but would all be back for the 'Duel in Dixie'. "Winner plays the Eagles!", they all informed me.

First game I attended...(as I mentioned previously here)…Steelers at Philly in '91. Brister vs McMahon, Noll in his final year vs, and losing to, Kotite. Saw Saints at Eagles opener the following year - very unfortunately missed the Jerome Brown ceremony before kickoff - and also attended my first Steelers home-game in Jaunary '98, which not only was my first playoff game attended, but the last playoff game the Steelers would win at Three Rivers! Yes, Cowher over Carroll/Bledsoe's Pats in quite a defensive slugfest, 7-6! Would like to attend Heinz one of these years. Considered Steelers/Eagles at the Linc in '16, but balked considering $280 for nosebleeds. Save more money simply watching it at home. Only ever went to the Linc for a Penn St/Temple affair years ago.
7DnBrnc53 wrote:My first regular season game that I watched was Week 1 of the 1981 season (Chiefs@Steelers) I remember Thomas Howard recovering the fumble and returning it for the game-winning TD (don't remember watching the second game that day, which was probably Oilers@Rams. May have been out playing).


I was outside during that entire game only to come home and my Dad giving me the bad news that KC won! I did see the previous year's KC/Pit game in its entirety, ate an entire bag of mini-marshmellows. I was like, "They beat them the end of last year, why did they lose to them now?" We went to my aunt and uncle's for the second game which was...Oilers/Rams! Was playing with my cousins most of the game but caught that kick-off return at the very end. Was upset being Oilers were in the Steelers' division. The previous year, I actually had all 28 teams 'ranked' from 'favorite' to 'worst'. I actually remember Oilers being my '5th'-favorite team all through 1980, mainly because a friend of mine was a fan and did like the unis and was a Bum Phillips and Earl Campbell fan; and Burrough fan (because of #00), and Rob Carpenter (had his card), etc. All through that year - Bears/Oilers game being an example - my Dad would say, "If you're a Steeler-fan, you should want to Oilers to lose." For whatever reason, that suggestion didn't 'sink-in' until right before the '81 season when I threw those 'rankings' out the window thus now 'hating' Hou/Clev/Cin along with Dal/NYG/Wash/StL being that I also like the Eagles.
User avatar
Todd Pence
Posts: 754
Joined: Sun Oct 12, 2014 9:07 am

Re: Your first NFL watching memories

Post by Todd Pence »

First game I remember watching was Super Bowl XII, when my parents hosted a neighborhood watch party. Of course, I had at that time only the faintest conception of the rules or what was going on. By the time the next fall rolled around, I was a full-fledged football fan.

First NFL game attended - Minnesota's 39-14 win over the Redskins in 1980 at RFK.
Terry Baldshaw
Posts: 81
Joined: Sun Oct 12, 2014 4:37 pm

Re: Your first NFL watching memories

Post by Terry Baldshaw »

I have very vague recollections of my first experience with pro football. It was Nov. 25 1962. The Steelers played at Cleveland and lost.

My first vivid recall of a pro football game was the 1962 Texans-Oilers double overtime AFL championship game. I watched much of the game with my father and recall Tommy Brooker's winning field goal.

The first game I attended was the Steelers vs. Giants on Oct 15 1967 at Pitt Stadium. It was a beautiful autumn afternoon and the Steelers led 24-14 after three quarters. In the fourth quarter, Fran Tarkenton scored on a seven yard run after it appeared he had been stopped at the line of scrimmage. late in the game the Giants recovered running back Don Shy's fumble. I'll never forget a disgruntled fan sitting next to my father predicting New York would win on a flea flicker. Sure enough, that play was called and Tarkenton connected with Joe Morrison for a fifty-nine yard touchdown pass. The final score was NY-27 Pgh-24. It was a disappointing end to my first game and typical of the Steelers of that era. Fortunately better times were ahead.
nicefellow31
Posts: 233
Joined: Tue Oct 14, 2014 12:28 pm

Re: Your first NFL watching memories

Post by nicefellow31 »

Todd Pence wrote:
First NFL game attended - Minnesota's 39-14 win over the Redskins in 1980 at RFK.
I remember watching that game. My Redskins had won two in a row and there was a belief that they were starting to come around to 1979 form. Then 3-5 Vikings came to town for a late afternoon game and beat the brakes off the Skins. A DB named Kurt Noff had a big return for a TD. I think it was 34-0 at one point in the 2nd half. After that game it was apparent that the Redskins were done for 1980.
Mark
Posts: 148
Joined: Thu Oct 30, 2014 10:52 pm

Re: Your first NFL watching memories

Post by Mark »

The first game I recall watching on TV was the 1976 playoff between the Redskins and Vikings. I was throwing a fit because the Vikings were killing my Redskins. The first game I attended in person was not until 1993 at RFK which was also between the Redskins and Vikings. That one was closer but the Vikings won again. You would think I would hate the Vikings but I don't.
Post Reply