When did you become a Nole fan?

i grew up a die hard penn state fan as my dad went there for his college career….i even remember rooting for penn state during the 2006 orange bowl…they were my team since i was little so it was hard for me to jump ship…..somewhere along the way though i got the itch to be a nole…..i think it was somewhere in my senior year when i realized what a great thing i got to be apart of…the friendships i have created and everything that florida state had given me….one thing for sure is im now a NOLE for life!!!

1986 during the miami game…..I was 13

but not really caring or watching, just claiming to be a fan when someone asked.

Oddly enough, I really started following in 2008 after the WF interception-fest and after beating Miami.

and both my parents went to FSU. My Dad was a career Army officer, and when he was sent to Korea in 1962, we moved back to Tally. My parents took me to my first ever sporting event…FSU game…that year before he shipped out.

I was 10 years old, growing up in Palm Beach Co I had been to multiple Dolphins games, but had never been to a college game. Dad went on a business trip to DC and came home with tickets to the national championship game in Miami from one of his politico buddies.
Went to the game, been a fan ever since. Freshman year was 2001 (yes with Rix) and my whole college experience was laden with Rix, Sexton, McPherson, and Fabian Walker… I was there at the beginning of the lost decade, when it was a bit tougher to lose, we never expected it. We werent supposed to lose to Louisville.
Favorite player while in Tallhassee – Greg Jones.
I also was at the FSU – uf game when zook was carried off the field. gross…
Love FSU football and would love to see a game like the first FSU game I ever went to again…

I was raised in a home where my dad was an Auburn fan and my mom was a Bama fan. Wanting to be like my dad, I chose Auburn. Well, the family was riding in the car one day and my dad tuned in to check on his Aubs. I didn’t know the score but I heard the war chant. Loud. In Auburn. I also remember hearing the announcers talk about what a great style FSU played with all of it’s trick plays and incredible speed. I was amazed. I started cutting out every newspaper article (which was incredibly difficult in the middle of Tide/Tiger Country) and SI cover/article about FSU. From then on I was a Nole.

But how do you guys think I learned to spell? F-L-O-R-I-D-A S-T-A-T-E

I’m pretty sure I did that a week after my first word, and I am in no way joking. My father is an FSU fan, and we got season tickets starting in the early 90’s.

First game: 1990. FSU 48 Georgia Southern: 6. I was 9. That’s all it took.

i have been a nole fan for literally my entire life. my grandfather was an alumnus from the first co-ed class after ww2 and my dad, my aunt and two of my uncles went to fsu as well. my folks used to take me to games back when I was three and four years old. I obviously don’t remember too many details from those days but i do remember the spirit spear. we had season tickets all through the nineties. i was there for the choke at doak, i got to see charlie ward, warrick dunn, derrick brooks, marvin jones etc etc etc.. when i graduated high school i didn’t even bother applying to any other colleges. unfortunately my years there were at the height of the jeffy nepotism era.. but whatever.

and like randall spetman, i think i knew how to spell F-L-O-R-I-D-A S-T-A-T-E before i knew how to spell my own name.

I was being dressed in G&G since before I could walk. Being raised as die hard a Seminole fan as you could be, it was interesting growing up in Gville :)

For me: I was born in Tallahassee, my Mom went to FSU when Biletnikoff was there, she had me in FSU clothes as a baby, but when I actually started following our Seminoles and crying when they would lose was 1985 at 8 years old.

Hassan Jones had been set-up by those scoundrel Gayturd Boosters with the scalping ticket scandal and was kicked off the team. I remember watching us pounce on South Carolina and all the Noles players talking to Hassan through the gate because he obviously was not allowed to dress or get on the sidelines anymore. We then got crushed by the Gayturds – which made me cry my eyes out – If I only knew what UM was going to do to me over the next several years.

The next year is when Prime Time first started to make a name for himself, which was a huge deal for me because though born in Tally, I grew up in Cape Coral/Ft. Myers so it was awesome to have a hometown guy to cheer for as a little kid.

This was a good thing to talk about. I would love to have that TYPE of team back. Even if we go 8-4 or 9-3 this year as many are predicting – I just want to see that riverboat gambling, high-flying, trick-playing, more athletic than the other team by miles, unbelievably exciting team to watch again!

for the USAF at FSU/FAMU. I was 9 … in 1987.

I enlisted at 18 and was stationed in South Carolina where I attended USC. I attended USC for my undergrad but have always been a Nole to the soul. I’ve earned my Commission in the USAF and this fall I FINALLY get to attend via distance learning for my Masters. There are no Air Force bases in Tally!

Year born? 1976 – Bowden’s inaug. season

Starting QB that year? – James Jordan (a name we share-coincidence?)

Birthstone? Garnet.

My blood is garnet, my heart is gold … I was BORN to be a Seminole!!!

Honestly, I was on the playground in elementary school and my best friend asked me if I was a FSU, Miami, or UF fan. I said I have no idea, went home talked to my dad only to discover he roots for the team in florida with the best chance. I am way to competitive for that nonsense even at that age. I found out my next door neighbor, best friend, and my whole dad’s side of the family were gator fans. That sealed it, my competitiveness rushed me into takin the gates on solo. I’ve always been the kind of fan and athlete to go face first with reckless abandon into any challenge. Haven’t blinked about being anything but a Nole since then.

early 90’s, maybe 91 or 92. We went to florida to visit my aunt she lived in west palm beach, and i saw a bunch of gators and seminoles stuff, at the time didnt really know who the were, i was all about nfl and didnt follow college football, i knew the cavs and hokies and notre dame and that was about it. anyway i caught a game on abc one day and it was fsu so i watched it, and they beat the crap out of the other team. back then we didnt have cable so watching and keeping up with college football was a task, but the older i got and got out on my own i started to get more involved with college football and followed it more closely. from about 96 or 97 i have really been on top of the seminoles and was proud to watch fsu beat the hokies for the national tiltle, you would have thought the pope died the day after that game, boy va was in morning. anyway my wife and i have been to games at wake in 2004, uva in 05, maryland in 06 and 08, and at unc in 09, the older i get the more i love the noles.

I can’t remember ever not being a Nole fan. My parents could not have cared less at the time. It was my pre-school teacher that was a huge Nole fan. She had went there in the 70’s I believe. I found this out last October when her daughter recognized me from pre-school and I connected the dots as to why I liked the Noles.

Auburn. I believe it was 88’ or maybe 89’. It was very difficult because most everyone where I am from is a Bama or Tiger fan.

I was born in Pahokee, Florida where many a young men dream of playing in the NFL. To say football is big here in the Glades is an understatement. The region’s economy is in her soil and since UF has the Ag. school most of the people are Gayturds. So by God’s grace, in ‘78 I found my way to FSU and being there in the early Bowden years was awesome. The greatest experience of my life. The traditions, the atmosphere, EVERYTHING! Because of my college experience, FSU football is such a part of my life and who I am that it’s hard for others to understand my obsession. This is why I find solace in TN…it’s filled with people like me! Thanks miaminole, great post. GO ’NOLES!!!!

Grandmother went to FSU when it was a women’s college. My older cousin dated Weegie Thompson back in the day. Dad graduated FSU and has had season tickets for over 30 years. I graduated from Leon High School in the late 80’s and FSU early 90’s. Drank a lot of beer and shot pool at the Warehouse on Gaines.

My Dad’s time at FSU had cemented me as a Nole fan from birth, but the first game I can actually remember was against Miami in 1989. I can’t really recall the satisfaction of winning that one, but boy do I remember the pain of losing in 1991 and 1992. I truly believe the stress of those two games scarred me for life as a sports fan. Thank God for Devin Bush in 1993…a 10 year old can only take so much.

The first game I got to see live was at Duke’s dreadful Wallace Wade Stadium, in a rainstorm, during the first National Championship season. You would think being exposed to an atmosphere that terrible in your first game would have turned me off the sport, but Warrick Dunn and Derrick Brooks had touchdowns and I was hopelessly hooked.

I got stuck attending FSU during the lost decade, but we had a few highlights here and there. I consider myself lucky to have followed the team throughout the 90s, a lot of my classmates missed out on that and I know FSU football must be a very different experience for them.

I grew up in Gainesville! My parents had UF season tickets! I used to sell Cokes at the Gator games! I went to FSU for only one reason – I knew it would get me out of my parents house! Neither of my parents went to college, so they were just grateful that I was going. Once there of course, I fell in love with FSU, Bobby Bowden, and Seminole football. The girl/guy ratio was about 2 to 1 in those days. After college I moved out to California. That’s when I really began to appreciate the phenomenon that is college football in the south. It’s just not the same everywhere else. When I moved back to Florida in the early 1990s I became a season ticket holder. I am the biggest FSU fan you can imagine – I painted my house white with garnet and gold trim! As you can imagine the Florida game is especially significant to me. I’m hoping we can at least give them a game this year!

At the very start of the Dynasty Years. Man was I spoiled. Born and raised in Miami. Grew up a huge Dolphin fan. Was not much into college football until I went to FSU. All I knew at the time was that I hated the ‘Canes. I mean, I hardly watched any college football, but I knew I hated the ’Canes. I think it was because the few times I saw them play on TV (because of friends), I couldn’t get over how obnoxious the players were (fans too). Was a huge turn off for me. Then went to FSU, and well, the rest of history.

I arrived on a Friday afternoon and I was immediately taken to Fred’s Backdoor where I stayed until last call. That first night there I met Cindy, a baton twirler (majorette?) for the Marching Chiefs and she took me back to Cash Hall where we had sex in her dorm room while her roommate was in the same room sleeping.

The next night was the FSU/Auburn game which we won pretty easily. Back then there was no War Chant, but there was the rattling of the keys whenever Larry Key touched the ball. He had a great game as did Wally Woodham. The sound of the rattling keys, the whole stadium swaying back and forth and actually moving, the 3 to 1 female to male ratio, all the hot Coeds, the young ladies, the women, the girls, and the female population was all I needed to enroll immediately for the next January winter term. (Did I mention there were a lot of women?)

I never even made to Hogsville to check out the school until after I was enrolled in FSU, and then I only went down there to party with some friends and score some weed, and after only visiting UF for one weekend, and with a ratio one female to every 3 males, I knew I made the right choice. As a matter of fact, FSU is where I met my first wife.

Also, as one of the editors, there is absolutely nothing wrong with your fanpost. I personally would like to see more of these types, especially now in the dead period. You got good participation and you got people thinking back. That all we can ask for.

MiamiNole’s Awesome Show. Great Job.

I was born in Oklahoma among Sooners obviously. Became a nole fan then moved to San Diego while still in elementary school. I loved Deion Sanders, Sammie Smith, and Ronald Lewis,Leroy Butler, Dedrick Dodge, and Dexter Carter. I loved the combination of Bowden’s charm and the players swagger. Pretty much grew up being the only nole fan I knew.All of my friends were either USC,UCLA, or even Notre Dame fans. It was cool though. Being the only West Coast dude I knew who was a nole diehard.

I endured the wide rights (And Vanover getting smashed), opening night in the Orange Bowl in 88’, and we all know what Bowden said should be inscribed on his tombstone. Loved being able to go to Michigan and punk the Wolverines, going toe to toe with Auburn, and Clemson as well. Best night as a nole fan was obviously the 1994 Orange Bowl. Finally breaking through and winning a NC a one of the hardest hitting bowl games you could ever see.Best moment was Warrick Dunn taking a short screen pass and taking it 70 plus on a 3rd and long in the swamp silencing the raucous crowd.

I don’t dwell on the past however and look forward to the future. New coach, new regime, and a new generation of players. I’m very excited for the future and seeing what it will bring.

I went to high school in Huntsville, AL and could not wait to get out of that god-forsaken state. I applied to UF and FSU. I got into both. During spring break of my senior year of high school, we went to the Panhandle for a family vacation. We went over to the FSU campus one day and I fell in love with it. My mom asked me, “When do you want to go see Gainesville?” I told her that I don’t need to see Gainesville because nothing can be better than this. 4 months later I was on campus and the rest was glorious history.

I was there for Charlie Ward’s Heisman presentation on Doak, the Choke in Doak and when we crushed Miami in 1993, 28-10. I also traveled up to South Bend in ‘93 to see us get beat by Notre Dame. Still one of the best games I’ve ever been to.

As an 18-year fan, I have seen our highs and our lows, so maybe I have that perspective that some younger fans do not. My suggestion to them is to be positive, but real. I think our program is a sleeping giant and we are a lot closer to being at or near the top again.

I was born in 1985. I would hang out with the kids of other bankers in the break room some days when my mom or dad weren’t home and I didn’t go to daycare.

They would try to teach me the Gator chop, which my parents quickly dismissed (both are FSU alumni, c/o 1981/2. But my neighbors in Fort Myers were Cane fans. Which meant their kids were Cane fans as well. I became a Cane fan.

But Fort Myers is hot in August and September. And (I believe it was 1990), my dad told me I couldn’t come inside on Saturdays if I was a Miami fan. And that was it.

Then we threw batteries at Miami fans during the 2003 loss in the rain.

When I came to FSU for law school.

Ended up staying in Tally for 14 years, started my career and family, and FSU was interwoven all through that.

Remember it vividly even though I was 6. My entire family was void of large school affiliations except for an uncle who had experienced an adventurous college career/tour of the south. He turned on the regular season beatdown of the Gators (before the mulligan), ironically while we had a family of Gator friends at my house. Watched the game, did the chop, and it was all over.

I grew up in the Panhandle. It always amazed me to see how seemingly equal the fan base was there for the Big 3…well at least it was at the time. I’m sure by now the Gates have added quite a few band wagoneers ;). I had a limited knowledge of college ball and was a lot more interested in the NFL. My brother would spend time trying to convince me to watch the college game and how good FSU was. I started to come around and watch some games on Saturdays. I knew immediately I couldn’t pull for the Canes after watching their arrogance. UF…well I met some of their fans and that was also somewhat of a turn off. After going to a couple of games in Tally that year (my brother convinced me to go) something changed. I forgot about the NFL and became a huge college fan. I guess the passion involved, the chop, the arse whoopins handed out by the Noles all factored in to my decision. Since those first few games I’ve been a fan ever since. I live in TN now and am amazed at how many FSU plates I see around the state. Its nice to know I’m not the only one here :D

I grew up Cane fan as I worked at Publix across the street from the U. Graduated from Killian High and took my tour of Tally on a Friday. Like most of you, the ladies sunbathing after lunch time on campus was all I neede to tell my folks," I’m a Nole". I remember standing in the student section for the entire 87 Cane game like it was yesterday.

I grew up in South Jersey (still there after a 4 year stint in Tallahassee). I was a Notre Dame fan at the time (my dad grew up in Chicago) when I first saw the uniform. I was about 10 years old and it was at that moment I became a Nole for life. Of course, it made the job interview process in NJ interesting when I was asked why I chose to go to FSU. I didn’t think the football team unis would be an appropriate response. I have been following a while but this is my first post. I have learned more about FSU in the six months I have followed TNation than I did in the last 21 years as a fan and student. I appreciate the knowledge, keep up the good work.

I graduated high school in 2004. When my friends didn’t get into UF, I had to make a choice. I decided to just stay in Orlando and go to a community college. My aunt and uncle were FSU fans and talked me into visiting FSU. So, I went to Tally to visit some of my friends that were freshmen. After a weekend I can barely remember (although I do remember meeting some of the FSU cheerleaders… Wow) I applied to FSU and moved to Tally the next year. I graduated in 09, and after going to FSU through the “lost decade” I think I have a unique perspective on one of the greatest universities in the nation. Thanks TN for all of the great information. Nole fan till I die.

Dad is alumni and I was watching games with him as a young kid. Friends growing up were FSU fans too. It was less of a choice and more a way of life for me.

My wife’s entire family has been FSU fans since day 1. Her grandfather was part of the first coed class at FSU. They’ve had season tickets for the last 30 yrs or so (maybe more)

I grew up not really following college football that closely, but being a Miami fan when asked, since they were good when I was a kid. I always liked FSU though, since I got to see Bobby at FCA events, and Thad Busby came from my high-school. I went to a small school in Arkansas, and Samford for pharmacy school, which ties in Bobby and Jimbo for me. Always disliked the gates, especially with Spurrier whining all the time.

Over the last several years, her family has “converted” me to be an FSU fan.

and no, not in the Boats ’n Hoes kinda way. But had a stepbrother growing up who rooted for UF because his dad was a big gaytes fan. It seemed odd to me at the age of 8, that they rooted for UF when not a single person in their family went to school in Gainesville. That fact, paired with my hatred for my stepmother/brother, pushed me onto the Noles early… had all the gear by age 9. at age 12, they won NC #1. in 2004, when I had to decide on a university, I applied to one school, FSU. I got in and got stuck going to the best University in America and had the time of my life. still in Tallahassee, still love the noles- professional consultant now, but going on year 6 taking full advantage of the “social” benefits of living near the epicenter of the hot college girl universe. So, 20 years… boooya.

I moved to Tallahassee when I was 5 years old and ever since then I have been wearing the greatest colors in all of college sports, Garnet and Gold. My first game was in 1989, and I have only missed TWO home football games since then. Both were because I was competing in Ironman triathlons(Bobby’s 300th win against Maryland, and NCST in 05). We’ve had season tickets since the start of the Dynasty and that was all I ever knew as a college football fan. Thinking back it is amazing that we went 54 straight games at home without a loss. That was quite an accomplishment. My sister and her husband both graduated FSU and both were a part of National Championships. The only college I applied to was FSU and I thought for sure I would see a NC while I was in school too. That was 2001, and the begining of the “lost decade”. Oh well. I feel bad for people that I graduated with from FSU. They never knew what it was like during the dynasty, and to see DOAK in all its glory…the spirit spear, the ballons, the plastic footballs the cheerleader used to throw into the stands in the 4th quarter, the constant ass whoopings we used to put on people. I love when the big screens at the games show those Garnet and Gold Rewind segments during the games because those images are burned into my memory. Matt Frier streaking down the sidelines, Roscoe Parrish getting destroyed by Stanford Samuels, Leon Washington running into the endzone in overtime after Thorpe broke his leg, Marvin Jones, Warrick Dunn, Peter Warrick…the list goes on and on. GO NOLES!

during my first year as a grad student. Obviously arriving in 1999 was very good timing… just before the lost decade! Watched the 1999 Nat Championship in New Orleans!

Born & raised in SoCal, dad is a USCw alum and did my undergrad work at SDSU during Marshall Faulk and Dan McGwyer—went games with 600+ yards of offense! So I’m a fan of both of these teams. Die hard ’Nole fan.

Brother started at FSU in 99, then I followed in 2004.

First time I truly rooted for FSU was Rix to Sam, right after I had chosen to go to FSU over UF.

I’m Native American…and live in North Carolina….huge Native population here….so I just related to the ‘Seminole’ thing….plus they were the bomb back then….and I’ve always rooted for them every since…

My story is real similar to the original post. I grew up in South FL a Cane fan but wanted the college experience. I thought that would continue through college,. Once I got on campus I got swept up into it. I’ll be a diehard Nole fan forever. It’s beautiful watching the turnaround.

My dad’s whole family was originally from Tallahassee, but my mom had no real allegiance when they married. She was converted to a Nole right away, so they’re both die-hards. So from the second I was born, I was a Seminole. I didn’t really have a choice in the matter. lol
But I’m not complaining! GO NOLES!

I wanna say Peter Tom willis was struggling (but it coulda been someone else) and they subed in Casey Weldon… as I recall we lost but he darn near brought us back. In all the excitment I was ruined for life. (in a good way)

Nole 4 Life (carved in my chest like Marky Mark in Fear)

From a large family whose eldest played for Peterson and Jones. Went to the OB to see the Noles led by Jimmy Black get shellacked by the Canes. My first ever college or pro football game and I was hooked. We spent the next 4 years listening to static filled AM broadcasts of great road victories by Bobby B and the boys! Listening to a transistor radio with my brothers and dad during that 1st win over Nebraska at Lincoln will stay with me forever!

Grew up in the DC area (high school), My bro was in Tally and I came to visit, applied and got accpeted to FSU. Being a rabid Redskins (and pro ball in general) fan, I mainly came to FSU for the warm weather. Of course, 1979 was the beginning of a long succesful period of time for the Noles. Got hooked immediately. I’ve been to almost every home game since then and too many to count away. 2 Fiesta Bowls, 2 or 3 Sugar bowls, Orange Bowls, Pigskin Classic in CA (vs BYU) three Nat’l Champoinship games, and countless away games (fav ’s were ’93 (I think) at Florida when Warrick Dunn took it down the sidelines for the winning TD) and at Georgia Tech for one hell of a comeback by Charlie Ward.

I go kinda nuts this time of year waitng for the next year to start.

I grew up close to Gainesville so most of all of my class mates when I was in Elementary school were Gator fans. Being a rebel, I routed against them and thus became a Florida State fan. I attended Florida State in 2002 and graduated in 2006. Loved my entire time there and have so many great memories. I cannot say that I loved Tallahassee, but the University was amazing.

To this day, when I get to visit Tallahassee all sorts of memories return and I almost wish I could back and revisit with those people and times.

I became a bandwagon fan I guess you could say due to their successful season, I was only 8 so picking a winning team meant a lot. Being raised in Panama City Beach, FSU was a close enough drive to check out a game and become a fan so everything just fell into place.

Two games burn in my memory the most, the loss to UF in the national championship ( nuf said) and the loss to ND before our 1993 championship. The ND game especially in that I was in Germany at the time and we had to watch games late at night to catch most games. I had just had some ND hack in my room harassing me about how they were going to win and blah blah blah, I was pretty drunk and ready for the game of the century that would finally give us a National Championship. So just as the game starts on time delay on the armed forces network, the banner rolls by with the score of the game…..FSU had lost. I don’t remember much of the next 5 mins except that I destroyed everything in sight and threw my TV out of my 4 story window. I was shocked back to consciousness by the sound of the explosion as it hit. Fast forward a few hours later, while the post is on full alert from what is perceived to have been a bomb going off, me explaining the situation to my battalion commander about what happened ( I was moving the TV by the window when it fell) all the while knowing that come hell or high water I would still watch the game because I had to know how we lost. I buffed hallways at my base every night for 3 hours for 3 months for that little stunt although the national championship made up for it.

2005 was my freshman year at FSU. I grew up a casual UF fan all through school down in Pasco County simply because that’s who all my friends seemed to follow. I was always a huge football fan but I never really got into college football. The first team I ever followed was the Tennessee Titans since all my family came from Tennessee/Kentucky and we would be up there every December. It wasn’t until I got to FSU that I even started taking an interest in college ball. Everything about FSU sucked me in: gamedays, tailgating, the Garnet and Gold (I don’t know how I used to think blue and orange went well together), the friendly town of Tallahassee, THE WOMEN, Bulls, Poor Pauls, I fell in love with literally everything about Tallahassee and FSU. I joined the Chiefs, played in Flush, was honored by leading them my last year there. Traveled to most of the away games, realized Gainesville is truly an awful place (got cursed out by an 80 year old man for walking by with my sousaphone on and being the “dirty asshole” that dared block his view for less than a second. I then decided that particular spot on the sideline was a real nice vantage point, so I just chilled and watched the next ten minutes right in front of him.). Also recalling the memories of the Miami “gangstas” that picked a fight with the whole tuba section outside before gametime and very quickly retreated when they realized they were outnumbered and outmuscled. Ahhhhhhh, memories :)

Neither one of my folks went to school in Florida. My dad graduated from UNC, my mom from WKU. My older brother had gone to USF.

Since I first left for Tallahassee, I’ve converted both my parents, who were NEVER any sort of sports fans. I couldn’t believe the first game I watched with my mother, I never knew she could get so intense! I did my internship in music education in Brandon and drove up to Tally for every home game. I’ve never missed a home game since I became a fan, sadly this season will be the first. It’s hard for me to imagine ever not being a ’Nole now.

Not really an exciting story but like many others it was instilled at birth by my Dad. Whose first year and only year at FSU was 1976, which coincidently was also Bobby’s first year and our last losing season. My first real memory was the infamous Wide Right in 1991. I was 8 and can distinctly remember sitting on the floor in front of the tv with my little brother. Probably rocking our $2 Florida State button up jackets that my mom had gotten us from Ocean State Job Lot.

I have to credit my intense passion,adoration, infatuation, and at times wicked temper towards FSU to him fortunately or unfortunately ( especially for my college apartment landlord who had to fix the giant 6 ft hole in the wall that i donkey kicked after Miami came back to beat us in 2004- the year the game was rescheduled due to the hurricane).

Living in the northeast most of our lives, my brother and i had never been to a Florida State football game, let alone Tallahassee until two years ago. My dad hadn’t been back to FSU since he left in 1976 and we had always wanted to surprise him once we could afford tickets ourselves. Finally after a couple years int he real world we were able to and bought us all tickets to the awful monsoon Florida game in 2008. What an awful game but it has to be the best day of my life to date…..i will never forget that day for the rest of my life.

I was 13 at the time and I didn’t really care one way or another about college football. I always liked FSU up to that point because of their uniforms. But, I wasn’t really anything close to what you could call a fan. I watched the game at a local sports bar and grille with my dad and, after listening to the obnoxious scUM fans there afterwards, I decided that I loved FSU.

The deal sealer for me was going to the UF game at Doak in 1996 when I was a senior in HS. I had already been a fan up to that point. But, that game made me a fanatic.

Freshman year at Boone High School. I met a girl who loved FSU (I was a Notre Dame fan). We started dating and I admired her dad’s intensity for his team. He wouldn’t sit down while watching games on tv. They’d invite everybody they knew over for the games.
My first game was the 1992 game vs UNC at night. It was awesome. I experienced Sweet Shop, Bill’s Bookstore and Doak as a high school Junior.
I moved to Tally in 1997 for school and the rest is history.

Nole from birth. Born in Tally and most of my family went to FSU.

have the fsu helmet on them(Still have them too!). My grandfather, father, mother, and sister have all graduated from FSU. I am currently a senior. My father has held season tickets and has been a booster long before I was born. I have attended nearly all of FSU’s home games since the age of 5. I still remember my first game. Growing up my friends called me obsessed, and looking back on it, maybe I was. Maybe I still am. This team has brought the best and unfortunately, the worst out of me, but I wouldn’t have it any other way!

Bill Peterson, Larry Jones, Darrel Mudra, Bobby Bowden, Jimbo:
Ron Sellers, Lane Fenner, TK Wetherall, Kim Hammond, Gary Pacjic. Rohn Stark, Ron Simmons. etc.
Favorite games that I have attended:
FSU 10, Georgia 3 (Tallahassee)
FSU 31, Alabama 31 (Birmingham)
FSU 16, UF 7 (Gainesville)
FSU over Ohio State (Columbus, featuring Kelly Lowry at QB)
FSU over Notre Dame (Southbend)

I was originally a UF fan in 1st grade because that was in 1996(the year they beat us in championship) and my teacher was a huge gator fan. However, in 5th grade my life became much better. My teacher (still my favorite to this day) was an FSU alumni and she forever made me a Nole. I started watching every single FSU game and I am currently a Junior at THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY. This is my favorite place ever and I am proud to say I bleed garnett and gold. I haven’t missed a single home game or bowl game since I became a student in 2008. Go Noles!

All started with Bobby Bowden. My family was FSU and we lived in WV and that was all you heard around there. My father admired BB and when he left for FSU it was a bonus for us… we had Seminole ties since 1950’s.
I was proud during the “glory years” and boasted to anyone who would listen. The last 5yrs I felt proved my loyalty to the program I loved so much. It is easy to be a bandwagon jumper, but sticking with a team through all streaks makes the climb back to the top more rewarding.
BTW; I have the garnet birthstone was well… was meant to be! FSU 4 Life!

From the time I was 4 yrs old I was running around in FSU clothing and doing to chop along with the war chant. No clue how it happened I was born and raised in Northeast Iowa which is Iowa Hawkeye territory but I have always loved the Noles

but my dad was a fsu fan and my mother worked at the admission office at FSU for about twenty years. I grew up running around doke on game day (the stadium use to be empty) I get to met and got autographs from a lot of the football players and the coaches through the years and don’t know how to root for another team not that i could anyway.my favorite game was the 1999 national championship Bourbon street was rocking after we won that game.

brings tears to my eyes. Go Noles!

I first became a nole fan when I moved from philly to jax fl back in 76 ,I started watching college football and noticed them playing so I loved the way they played then when my cousin (sam Platt) played and I had the oppourtunity to see ron simmons up close in my home I Was a fan every since just love this team over the rest ,nole for life

Was when I became a Nole fan. My mom went to FSU back in 74. She stayed in Kellum hall. So the only thing I knew was FSU. Even as a kid playing youth football with the St. Pete Green Devils, I would try to emulate Danny McManus. Their is nothing like going to Doak on a Sat. and seeing Chief Osceola and Renagade throw down the spear at the 50. I can go to the games 1 million times and I still get goose bumps

I was going to games and doing the tomahawk at 3 years old. I was just raised on FSU and will always be a diehard Nole.

Transitioning jobs, new baby, moving…figure those are legit excuses.

Believe it or not, TC did not attend FSU. My passion for FSU started when I started dating the woman who is now my wife who is an FSU grad (lucky me!). I went to a Div III school with a reasonable football team, but nothing compared to the Noles. Growing up in Chicago, it was Notre Dame all the time and which ever Big Ten/Eleven/Twelve/Sixteen school that happened to be good at the time. Since we started dating in 2001, it’s been all Noles all the time.

My first game was in 2003 when the Noles shut out Notre Dame in 2003 in South Bend. My first trip to Tally was November 2005, when we lost to NC State. We made the trip to Atlanta in 2008 to see Georgia Tech have their way with us. (Yes the final score was close, but it has been demonstrated here on numerous occasions that it was not a close game).

Our daughter wore her first FSU onesie this weekend is well on here way to having Garnet and Gold and Cubbie Blue be her favorite colors.

Cheers,
TC

i grew up in a gator family and was a gator fan. i just never bought into gville, bc it sucks i guess. i kind of went along and was a fair weather fan and was always jealous of FSU. i decided on FSU based more on the city than the school or football. after a few weeks in tally, i was sold for life! and yes, Kelly Huffman, it was the girls, too!

i always pity my friends who are uf fans and went to usf or ucf (or wherever) and remain gator fans. its obvious to me that their collegiate experience was nothing compared to what we were all privileged enough to experience for 4 (or 5,6…) years. can’t wait for football season and watching the Noles take back the country! welcome back, bandwagon fans.

But didn’t actively follow FSU football until my first game in Tally in 92. FSU romped the gates 45 to 24.Doak was awesome that day.

Everyone in my family loved the noles and hated the gators.
Uncle went to FSU when I was little – everytime we went to visit he would drive us by the stadium blaring the warchant as we all saluted with the chop at the window. then we would hang out at docs sportsbar.
My uncle gave me a cassette tape with the marching chiefs and some other funny songs on it i used to listen to it nonstop for hours.
went and saw charlie ward play basketball against syracuse in orlando one year (he showed up late because of returning from a football game.)
My first noles football game was a heartbreaking loss to miami in the orange bowl in 2000.
I joined the army in 2002 and got stationed in Alaska. I still managed to make it home for about 4 games in as many years. including that miami loss in the rain when parrish was murdered.
Married a seminole graduate.
now i spend a ridiculous amount of hours on tomahawk nation every week, and it’s only may…

and everyone is giving a testimony! Well, here’s my conversion story . . .
Dad was a gator fan, so I wore the obligatory regalia in high school. But then decided to major in music, and there was simply no doubt that FSU was the best place for me. So, I “converted.” But this had NOTHING to do with sports. I didn’t give a rip about football at all, really. I have always been a soccer player. (Spare me the wise cracks.)
Arrived as a frosh in the fall of 1988. Being a band geek, I joined the Marching Chiefs. I was quickly swept up in the excitement — remember the Seminole Rap? The hype was unbelievable — Deion, Sammy, the Fab 4, #1 ranking. First game: at Miami, we lose 31-0. OUCH. But I was absolutely addicted.
Over the next four years, I attended the Sugar (Deion’s famous end-zone interception), Fiesta (annual waxing of Nebraska), Blockbuster (Penn St.), and the Cotton (miserable 10-2 win over A&M). I was there for puntrooskie. I was there when Brett Favre beat us in Jacksonville.
My dad was shocked to see me go from football ignorant to football obssessed. He even cheered for the Noles when they weren’t playing the lizards.

Best game memory: tough one. Maybe going into LSU 0-2 in 1989, where they were chanting “FS-WHO? oh and 2!” Then we spanked them. That and any victory over the Gators.

But that’s not all! I was in the basketball pep-band during the 1992 NCAA trip. I still have a post card from “The Pit” in Albequerque with the whole team’s autographs, including Sura, Ward, Edwards, Cassell and even Pat Kennedy. I got to see us whip Mourning & G’town during the 92’ tourney (also saw Shaq play). If you even went to home games in 1991 or 1992, I was the crazy guy with the 12-ft tomahawk waving behind the back board to disrupt opposing teams’ freethrows. My best hoops memory: making about 100 copies of an article in SI about the tactics used by the Cameron Crazies and passing them out to the student section behind the basket, then getting everyone to do the ‘eggbeater’, ‘shift-lean’, ‘pin wheel’ etc. to annoy Duke free throw shooters. It was a great time to be a Nole.

Grew up in South Florida, not so into college FB at the time. I watched Miami beat FSU on TV in a close game and then go on to win the NC in ’83. Attended FSU in ’84 and, truthfully, kind of mixed about which team was mine.

Then, BAAAMMMMM, FSU crushes Miami in ’84 (38-3), very well described on TN here.

I’ve been a crazy college football (Nole) fan since then. The football tradition is great but let’s get real: the ladies of FSU are the frosting on that cake.

I am the son of an alummi and i have been a NOLE fan my whole life buttttt i live in a Miami with a Family of UM fans and I mean these people are Cane FANATICS and I have 6 family members who work and/or go to school at UM my baby nephew is basically used as a UM dress up doll(i have pics to prove it!) I am currently a student at FSU and I being basiclly am the blacksheep for being the one FSU fan among my siblings and there is nothing better in this world than when FSU beats the scUM, and I have no problem rubbing in it their faces cause they do the same to me. I BLEED GARNET AND GOLD FEAR THE SPEAR GO NOLES

I became a Nole fan at the age of 4 in 1991 the first time I saw Charlie Ward doing his thing and ripping up defenses. I been a Nole fan ever since.

It was 1987. Just moved to T-town from Cairo. My dad went back to school in communications. He was on the film crew for Seminole Uprising. that meant every Saturday, I was with him and his school buddies packing hauling film gear to the stadium and setting it up on the field or above the section entrance, usually mid way up on the 50 yard line. Needless to say, we always had the best seat in the house. Gamedays were amazing! Watching the crowds fill the stadium, the balloon release, the spear planted by Osceola, the pivotal point in the game when the spirit spear would try to climbto the flame by the growing fan roar, picking up as many souvenier cups at the end of the game, throwing passes on the field with my buddies. These are just a few reasons I am die hard. To top those experiences, Sunday morinings were the whip cream on my Sundae. It was time to interview the Bowden, Sammi Smith, Deon, Pat Carter, Danny McManus, Bruce Lasane, Paul McGowan, and so on. I would sit next to my dad as he interviewd and filmed for the the highlight show. That was a great time in my life and it made me a Nole for life. I even went to UF for college and wore my garnett and gold every game day. I took a lot of abuse and vandalism to my belongings but I withstood going to the dark side because of my childhood. I have resisted to change teams even during these hard times and everybody and their momma is claiming to be a Gator. I got my stupid diploma and I laothe the Gators even more now that they are riding high. GO NOLES and bring back the Spirit Spear!!!!!

seriously. My mom and dad met at FSU In the mid 70’s. I think they left the year before Bowden got there unfortunately. If you think games were bad in the 2000’s the 70’s take the cake (My dad was there for the 0-11, 1-10, and 3-8 years). It was a hard time for FSU in those days. My dad told me what a struggle it was to get fans and students to go to the games.

The only person in my family not to go to FSU is my sister who opted to go to a very small (read expensive as hell) private school. My brother attended from 95 to 99 (lucky!) and I started in 2001. FSU was the only college I applied to. It was the perfect distance from home, in a cool town, and had the football team that I grew up watching.

I really can’t pick an exact year or time I became a Nole fan. I was born a Nole fan I guess, bouncing on the knee of my dad watching games before I learned to talk. I do remember being about 6 or 7 years old and watching FSU lose a close game to Miami or Florida. I remember crying, lying on the floor, pounding my fists into the carpet. Sadly, very little has changed over the years.

It is an interesting time in history for long time Nole fans. As excited as my dad must have been to see Bowden to take over the football team and save the program, I am just as excited now to see Jimbo Fisher step in and rejuvenate a program in need.

Growing up in North Florida at the time you had a choice between Orange & Blue or Garnet & Gold. I went to Tallahassee to watch a playoff game between Leon & Columbia when I was like 12. QB’s for Leon were Wally Woodham & Jimmy Jordan. Those guys could throw the ball and at the time it was a different because most of what I had seen up to that point was grind it out football. Before long they were at FSU with Bobby & I was hooked. Kelly Lowry playing there didn’t hurt either, nor did the soon to be Columbia pipeline to Tally of Reinard Wilson, Jerome Carter, Kendell Pope, etc, etc.

and because CT was Big East country on ABC for regional games, I grew up a Miami Hurricanes fan. I never much liked the Big Ten games that polluted the airwaves up there (Penn State mostly) or ND. I enjoyed watching the ‘Canes win a lot of games through the 80’s and early 90’s.

But when it came time to visit schools, I absolutely hated Miami. I didn’t like the campus, advisors I was supposed to meet with on a tour never bothered to show up and it was horribly unfriendly. When I toured FSU, I liked the campus even though half of it seemed like it was under construction at the time and the hot Asian chick driving the tour bus didn’t hurt. Once FSU threw me some scholarship money and was by far the better value than Miami I was “All Nole”.

Maybe that’s why I’m still never surprised when the ’Canes win, nor do I get overly excited about that game. I grew up expecting the ’Canes to win, now I just hope the Noles do.

I was 9 years old and had just moved to Jacksonville from Green Bay by way of Joliet, Illinois. I went to school one day and was terrified by the mob of Orange/Blue and Red/Black on my first Florida/Georgia day. My first friend in Florida had parents who were FSU alumni. They loaned me a hat for the day…

I grew up in Hialeah (Cuban) and went to Hialeah-Miami Lakes (HML) HS. My family are all Cane fans…rabid Cane fans.
My family got tix to the Orange Bowl game where JC Watts and Oklahoma were paired against the Noles. I remember my family actually rooting for the Noles because Oklahoma and Nebraska were universally loathed—they were always playing and stomping someone in the Orange Bowl every year. I thought the uniforms were cool, and the helmet kick-ass compared to the red or white of the OU and NU helmets. So it all started innocently enough.
When I played in a LL baseball tournament in Jax years later and heard the Tallahassee team get booed by the fans (Gators naturally) even as a kid …I thought that was bush.
I do remember a lot of attractive big sisters in the crowd…so that stuck to me also.
What clinched it for me was a trip to Tallahassee as a HS JR. Being Cuban, in Miami, the overwhelming, intoxicating scene of summer-dressed BLONDE beauties walking the campus—and what a beautiful campus—I had to ask myself “Is this still Florida?” I was sold. So I will say 1985.
First FSU-UM home football game : 1987 game vs the Canes. Yes, the one where the 2 point conversion was batted down on the last play. I dont think I talked to family for 2 weeks after that, I was soooo pissed.
I love FSU sports…and I would venture to say I attended well over a hundred baseball and basketball games during my years there.
My career took me to Orlando—where I have stayed. I met my wife here and have a family now. Since GOD has a sense of humor, he blessed me with a Gator wife. An amazingly hot, wonderful mother with a medical career wife—but a Gator.
Funny story:
first (and last) FSU-UF game my wife (serious GF at time) went too: the 1996 beat down at Doak of Wuerffel and the #1 Gators. We had a fantastic time…went to Gordo’s to meet up with all the Miami Noles there.. roasted a pig, drank Cuba Libre’s all day leading up to kick off. She had her Gator shirt, but was not boastful about it, and took pics with all the FSU gals in their Nole duds—a rum-flowing good time.
At the 8min mark of the 4th quarter, with the flask now empty, she looked me and says “Look, I love you. This is the most fun I have ever had at a football game. But if that fn band doesnt shut up with the warchant, I am going to be sick. On you”
Yep…I married her.

Most of my immediate family was FSU fans. I was kind of a douchey kid, so I picked the Canes because it gave me something to argue about. In high school, my sister went to FSU, and I started dating one of her friends also at FSU. Naturally, I went to FSU to be with my girlfriend. I must admit, I missed out on a lot of cool stuff while I was there. I was a casual fan even when I went there. About 5 years later I met my wife who was in grad school @ FSU. I was living in Melbourne but I would go up about every weekend, I attended every game that season, and would pre and post party like I should have done the first time around. That’s when I fell in love with FSU…oh yeah, and my wife I guess. Guess I was a late bloomer! Since I have moved to Oregon I have literally become obsessed with FSU football. There is hardly a day that passes when I am not found wearing garnet and gold. I have a HUGE FSU flag flying in my classroom and the front of my house, and have gotten everyone I have met out here to follow FSU football.