It’s early in the 2015 NFL season. On Sunday mornings fans watch football in front of their big screen tv’s with friends and family, congregate in local sports bars or if you’re like me, check the scores via my phone while in church for the early games. 😉 The one thing we can’t do in Portland is tailgate and attend an actual NFL game because we don’t have an NFL team. There have been many articles about why the city of Portland doesn’t have a team. Various reasons are location (close proximity to Seattle which will take away from Seahawks fan base), population (Oregon is 30th in population and most of the residents live within the I-5 corridor), lack of corporate sponsors located in the city etc etc. But that doesn’t keep locals from getting their hopes up in landing an NFL franchise here in the City.
Despite those barriers, Portland does have hard core fans of teams like the 49ers, Raiders, Cowboys. I actually have family members who are Rams fans. That stems from my uncle taking them to games in LA when they were younger. Personally I didn’t know any Seahawks fans growing up. In the 80’s and 90’s, they were horrible. The laughing stock of the AFC West. Now you see 12 flags showing up in Portland. I suspect these are recent bandwagon fans. I sure didn’t see these flags 20 years ago.
How does a Portland native become a fan of the Kansas City Chiefs??? Yes, there are actual fans of the Chiefs in the City of Roses. How Sway?? Kansas City is almost 1800 miles away?
Jamaal with the old school Kansas City Chiefs starter jacket
Meet Jamaal Lane, co owner of Champions Barbershop. I met Jamaal a few years ago when I was writing a story for sports blog. And from there I’ve developed a friendship with him and the other barbers in the shop. While shooting videos for the blog, I found out that Jamaal was a fan of the Chiefs. I always thought it was odd. How does a brotha who grew up in NE Portland become a Chiefs fan?? I know he receives a lot of flak from the rest of the barbers because of it. But as a fan, you have to be ride or die through the good and bad seasons.
Recently I stopped by the shop to interview Jamaal to find out his story of becoming a Chiefs fan. If there are other Kansas City Chiefs fans in the Portland area, stop by Champions Barbershop and let Jamaal know he’s not alone with his allegience to the Chiefs.
Check back each week as I profile Portland natives and their stories about their favorite team. If you want to be featured, please feel free to contact me.
