How/when did your Michigan football fandom begin?

When my son ('93) was a junior in high school and decided to apply to Michigan. First choice. My daughter followed ('96).

Fell in love with them when I was about 7-8 years old. Ricky Leach was at the helm of the Wolverines and to this day he remains one of my top five favorite players. Only got to see them 2-3 years on TV in those days, so one of my favorite memories was to wake up early on Sunday morning, read all about it in the Sunday paper and then watch the highlights on Michigan Replay. Still remember how cold the paper was to the touch once late October and November rolled around.

It was in the aftermath of the Michigan OSU game in 1973 AD vote and I was hanging out with my older brother and his older friends.  They had taken me in as their mascot, I guess. So I hung on everyone of their words. They were upset at this travesty of a vote, putting OSU in the Rose Bowl. That is where the seed was planted and it took a dozen years and Jamie Morris, James Joseph Harbaugh and John Kolesar to cement the feeling that I am BLUE until the day I die.

15 years old. Mike hart made me into a Michigan fan.

Even though I lived in NJ there were a LOT of Notre Dame fans in my school. I watched them play Michigan and I wasn't trying to be different but I was just drawn to Michigan and couldn't join the crowd. Then Leroy Hoard broke out and that was it . i'm rooting for the tean that the baddest man on earth was playing for.

I was so fucking pissed... and only 11 years old.  

It is my first michigan memory and probably the first time in my life that a loss, outside of the tigers (my first love), evoked such a memory to stick with me.  

sadly it took two years for me to feel the elation of beating the Irish...

 

Mid 70's, helping my Dad rake leaves, listening to Bob Ufer describe the heroics of Rick Leach and Rob Lytle.

Born in UM hospital and raised in Ann Arbor. My birthday always falls within a week of the spring game so as soon as I was old enough to appreciate it, maybe 6/7, my dad started taking me to them as a birthday present. 2004 MSU was the night I became a die hard.

Mine started when I was seven watching football with my dad!  I remember the announcer saying here come the Michigan Wolverines and I started to freak out, cuz at the time i was a huge Xmen fan and wolverine was my favorite character!  I thought he was their mascot and I was instantly hooked and never missed a game since! It was a couple years later I realized that he wasnt the mascot and a wolverine was an acutal animal!  By then I was hooked and never looked back!

I became a fan in 1996 when I was 7. When we went 8-4 over an upset win vs OSU

The 1980s.  My parents both have graduate degrees from Michigan.   We didn't seem to be able to get the premier games back then, but at least once a year my parents would take me to the Big House so watch the Wolverines beat the hell out of teams like Purdue or Maryland.  The smell of cigars, fall football, amazing.   Hooked ever since.   

At birth ...
Until I peace out for good.
Go Blue!!!

Mine began when I was a 17 year old infantryman in the Roman army back in 277 AD.  Thought they had cool helmets and thought they looked more comfortable than what I had to wear against the Normans.

 

Oh - I time travel

Gray cool Saturdays. Coming in from playing outside. Parents turning off the volume on the TV and turning on the radio to listen to Bob Ufer do the play by play. 

We had black in white TV so Michigan looked to me like they were wearing black striped helmets, black uniforms, black taped shoes.  It was cool.

In those days you could hear the band and crowd chanting "Let's Go Blue!" on the radio.

I asked my mom why is the announcer crying like that (his voice was cracking)?

"Because he loves Michigan".

I've never been the same.

 

 

Since I was 3. Dad had season tickets even though he was an emu grad. Been going to games since and went to school there. Love the place, but passion has faded a bit...getting old and 4 kids will do that I guess.

2002 Michigan v. Washington game

Michigan Replay clip
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tAX9sv3R6Do

Growing up in the Bay Area (and Omaha, NE for HS), I can't say that I shared a real connection to Michigan football before being admitted to the University in 2002. Sure, I was aware of Michigan Athletics -- it certainly played a part in me deciding to go to school there -- but my knowledge was only scratching the surface. Heck, I didn't even visit the campus before freshman orientation, which was the week before the school year started. However, I do vividly remember the genuine excitement I had to soak everything in when my mother dropped me off at West Quad (007 Wenley). I didn't know a single person and was (am) a shy introvert, but that didn't matter to me.

Orientation was cool and I was thankful for being befriended at a Michigan Union party. I remember chopping it up on the steps of the Union with some of the freshmen on the basketball team like Lester Abram, Daniel Horton, and Chris Hunter. Daniel being from Texas was shocked that a white boy like me was so knowledgeable about guys like DJ Screw, Lil Flip, Paul Wall/Chamillionaire, etc. It was hilarious.

Anyhow, the main thing I was excited about that first week was not going to class (or even making friends) but seeing my first game at the Big House, and what a game it was! An action packed up and down game, with Philip Brabbs overcoming some early missed field goals to kick the game winner. The main thing I remember is that because he missed one with about two minutes to go half the student section it seemed had left the stadium.

Ever since that first game, I have been I love with Michigan football. I can't wait until my family and I move back in a couple of months so we can return to the Big House!

My second baby picture was taken in a Michigan sweater. Ever since everyone has known me as a diehard Michigan fan. However my whole family is an MSU family, so maybe they didn't like me? I like to think they probably thought more of me. Or maybe Harbaugh was an influence? I was born a few months after his last game with Michigan

Mine started at 8 years old. No one in my family is a Michigan fan, and we live in Florida. But one day in 2004 my dad was watching Michigan-Minnesota. My first thought was wow, that helmet is cool! Kids are very impressionable. And as the game went on the announcers were praising the big three of Mike Hart, Chad Henne, and Jake Long and how they were all just freshmen. One commentator made a remark about Mike Hart, saying how he ran with "heart," and that stuck with me. Then Braylon tops it off with a backflip after the last kneel of the game, peep my username. I spent the next couple hours outside pretending to be him and it took off from there.

I was born and raised in Dayton, Ohio roughly 50 miles west of columbus. From the time i was a little kid which was in the late 70's i always found myself rooting for Michigan. Needless to say it wasnt easy because i was surrounded by  hardcore ohio state fans. I eventually had to find places to watch THE GAME by myself to so i could cheer for the Wolverines. I may not have had the honor to attend U of M  like most of you but i have and always will be a wolverine fan.

1982 vs. Michigan

1991 Desmond Howard's catch against Notre Dame. I didn't know what football was, my parents didn't watch sports, but all my relatives were Irish fans. I was 4 years old and all my Notre Dame relatives came over to use our pool and they were watching the game. I started cheering when Michigan scored and then I remember Howard making "the catch". My cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and other relatives were pissed. That got me hooked on Michigan and my love for them exploded with the National Championship season and Woodson.
That's probably a lame reason to be a rabid Michigan fan, but it's my story.

My dad always watched Michigan when I was real young.  Started getting really interested in the 89 season when I was about six years old.  Became fascinated with football and was able to watch Des, Alexander, Steve Everitt, etc on the 90 season.  We bonded over football (dad was a quiet guy).  He got season tickets in '92 and got sick with multiple myeloma and leukemia and passed away shortly after that.  I still have the tickets in an envelope somewhere.  I continued to watch ever since.

 

No I'm not an Alum, I screwed off too much in High School :(

 

I was 7, and just moved back to Michigan towards the later half of the season. Between my dad's friends, family, my friends and the EA Sports NCAA football video games, my fanship cemented over the next few seasons. 

But I remember the watch parties we had for Ohio St. and the Rose Bowl that year. And I remember it being special. And wanting to be apart of that. 

...Ohio State game. I was ten years old and just happened to stumble on the game while it was being shown on television. Never knew about the Michigan Wolverines, as my interest at that time was watching professional football. Well, I fell in love with Michigan's uniforms. I was captivated by the maize and blue winged helmets. I was intrigued by the level of passion displayed by the players and the crowd...such a distinct difference from the professional game. I was hooked. I remember being so bummed out when, after the game, it was announced that Ohio State was going to the Rose Bowl. We was robbed! Upon hearing of the dastardly deed performed by the Big Ten athletic directors I went outside and took a long walk to ponder how such a travesty of justice could occur. Here I was, a ten year old boy, who had become emotionally invested in a college football team after only having seen it play on television one time. The rest, as they say, is history. Go Blue!

Since before I can remember...  I've heard stories about my dad and his brothers arguing over UM-MSU games back in the 50's, so I never had a chance at any other school.  Grew up watching games through Ufer while pheasant hunting in the Thumb area.  My first game was the infamous 63-0 beat down of Illinois - overwhelming success is a great way to get an emergent fanbase rolling!  

That 2004 MSU game...  I watched it in a Thumb bar a few miles outside of Bad Ax with my brother and brothers-in-law.  What an awesome time - half the place exploded when one team scored, the other half when the other team scored.  What a great game!!

The last game Ufer went to, against Iowa, when he stuck his head out of the window.  Gave me goose bumps and choked me up with the Standing O.  Everyone knew, everyone...

This thread is fantastic.  Gotta love the diverse nature and the memories associated with when/where the light switch flipped on to become a fan for life.  Go Blue everyone!  I think this year will be something special as many many more will forever be cemented in to become rabid fans.  Can you all imagine what the incoming class of freshman are about to witness?  Good Lord.  Harbaughmania.  

20 days and some hours til kickoff, can't wait!  

I grew up in NW Ohio with my dad who grew up a Michigan fan. We'd watch a few games together each fall, but by far my favorite memories were when I was 8 years old to my early teen years.

My dad's college buddies - all diehard OSU fans would throw huge parties for the game. This was during the era when Coopers Buckeyes couldn't beat UM regardless of the circumstances. We'd get ridiculed as UM fans the entire day but walk out with our team winning - and on multiple occasions winning the squares game too.

The Michael Taylor, Demetrius Brown, Tony Boles, Leroy Hoard, McMurtry, days. Right before MSU went to the Rose Bowl, my brother, a diehard Michigan fan, moved to Texas. My Dad is an MSU grad so I went to the Michigan-Michigan St. game that yr and MSU won and went fuckin bananas like they do. Me, being from Lansing and being in 2nd grade or so, knew no better. And since I got to hang out with Andre Rison and Bobby McAllister all of the time, liked MSU that year.

 

There is even an incriminating (full color) picture of me on the front of the Freep greeting my 2nd cousin James Moore on Sparty's return trip/party from California. Sidenote:my Mom showed my kids the pic one day fml. Anyway after Andre got drafted, my brother moved back from Texas and promptly brought me back from the dark side. I went on to be the loudest, most obnoxious, Michigan fan in life. Once I went back to school and graduated from there, shits gotten worse. LOL. Fuck em!!

1968

The womb.

2nd grade. Desmond Howard winning the Heisman and the Fab Five in the news. I have a picture of me sitting next to my grandpa with my Michigan hat on when I was that old. Growing Up in Southern Illinois that was very outside the norm.

It was early 90s I was around 7 or so and I watched a game and Tyrone Wheatley made me a fan. A couple years later Dougan Fife went to Michigan he was my basketball coach when he was in high school that sealed the deal for me

My Mom graduated from WMU, My Dad from "the school of hard knocks" as he liked to put it. Our neighbor used to give my Dad and I WMU tickets so they began as my team.

Then one Saturday in 1962 I was riding in the car with my Dad and The UM-MSU game was on the radio and my Dad said: "son, these are the top 2 schools in the state." For some reason I decided to pull for Michigan and I have never looked back. I can't even say it was the helmets- the game was on the radio!.

We got pounded by MSU 28-0 on our way to a 2-7 season, but I was steadfast. You can't call me a fairweather fan. Just 2 years later I was rewarded with a glorious 9-1 season capped off by pounding Oregon State in the Rose Bowl. 7 years later Bo came to Ann Arbor and the year after that I joined him (as a student). It has been a roller coaster of emotions over the years, but it has been glorious.

The moment I stepped on campus

I was interested because of the high ranking of the university and the strength of the econ department. I wanted to go to a big school for the breadth of campus life options. I grew up on the golden side of the ND rivalry, but it all changed with my campus tour. It felt like my future home in the first 100 steps on campus and I've bled maize and blue ever since.

Great thread. Go Blue!

At Walmart

When I saw Cazzie Russell play for Michigan on ABC's Big Ten Game of the Week. I was 14. Never looked back and never rooted for any other team, ever.

I grew up in Peoria, IL.  I'd root for Illinois to beat Michigan.  Never happened.  I moved to Michigan during High School.  I only became a Michigan fan my freshman year at UM.

I was there for Desmond Howard...the Fab Five...1990-1995

Forever Blue!!