An unnecessary thread regarding a change in fandom (long post)

After having a bit of an internal struggle, I've come to the realization that I want to/should revive my fandom of the Houston Texans, and reluctantly leave my Saints fandom behind. There is so much I appreciate about Louisiana, New Orleans and the Saints, but this feels like the right thing to do. In retrospect, I believe I made a mistake, and I wish to rectify it (this is serious business, man).


There was a time, in my first few years of following the NFL, when I attempted to be a fan of both the Texans and Saints, but it became clear that I wanted to settle on one or the other. Ultimately, I chose the Saints, as my first sports love was LSU football. From that love of LSU, I began to associate football with Louisiana, and that lead me to the Saints. And while my passion for the Saints hasn't waned much, I have occasionally felt a sense of disconnection from the team, for obvious reasons, as well as a tinge of guilt and/or remorse surrounding my fandom.

Houston is my home, it always has been. While I love New Orleans/Louisiana, it has never been home to me, as my plans of living there were unexpectedly altered. As a result of that, my personal ties to Houston far exceed those to anywhere else. Part of sports fandom is about embracing where you are from, and I'm only one team away from (once again) fully supporting the major Houston teams. Since the time I started caring about sports teams, I've been a fan of the Astros and Rockets (which makes me feel conflicted, when considering the obvious connection between the Saints and Pelicans), and I've even become a casual Dynamo fan. So, why wouldn't I support the local NFL team (again)? It feels right, makes sense, and would even make attending games far less of an inconvenience, and far less costly.

(There were additional elements that factored into the impetus for this change, but explaining them would add quite a bit of length to an already excessively long post, and no one here actually cares.)


While I don't love the idea of changing allegiances, I see this as more of a homecoming. And I fully intend for this to be a permanent decision, the final adjustment to my football fandom. I have no desire to be a bandwagon fan.

I will always have a soft spot for the Saints, and will never root against them, outside of Texans games. I hope New Orleans gets to celebrate many more great football seasons in the years to come, the fans deserve it. But, I'm looking forward to waking up on Sunday mornings in the fall, and taking the short drive to NRG Stadium to watch the Texans play, to cheer for my city's team. It will be good to fully embrace Houston, once again.

So, why create a thread about this? I don't know. Perhaps to put my thoughts into words, for my own sake; to bring a chapter to an end. I suppose I've also been here long enough that some of you might take notice, though I doubt that.

Anyway, to give this thread purpose, I'll pose a question: has anyone made a similar choice? If so, why?