Legendary Superfans in Sports

Anyone can be a sports fan. It just takes a rudimentary understanding of the sport's rules, an ability to clap and chant in rhythm, plus the expenditure of at least $30 or so on a team hat or T-shirt. However, regardless of fervency and dedication, most fans fall far short of attaining "superfan" status.

Splitting a half-season ticket plan with your buddy does not a superfan make. Waking up early to prepare tailgating food might confer upon you superchef status, but not superfan.

Instead, something elevates a superfan above all others, an element of exceptionalism that sets an impossible standard, whether it be playing a stringed instrument at every game for 30 years or merely wearing a barrel to every game regardless of hypothermia-inducing temperatures.

This list considers one type of superfan specifically: the individual. Individuals best embody the transformative and magnetic power of a superfan, as a mere zeal for sports can make a single person into a touchstone for all fans of that team, even lasting over the course of decades, and the territory does not come without its share of strife.

Celebrities get a major downgrade as sports fans, because this merely serves as grandstanding and publicity-hogging most of the time. Only three celebs cracked this list, and each brings an obsessive intensity with them to games. For our purposes here, intense cheering sections and fan groups will not be considered.

You could make an entire list solely of college superfans, so I won't go down that road. To achieve legendary status, we're talking strictly professionals here, meaning NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL fans. With only 10 spots on the list, this is the cream of the crop among the superfans of North American sports. 

James Goldstein, NBA

USA TODAY Sports

You can't miss James Goldstein, the international jet-setter, fashion icon and basketball fan extraordinaire. 

He's the skinny guy wearing a wide-brimmed hat with gray hair like straw sticking out from underneath. He's also the guy who is always seen pictured with one of two types of people: NBA stars or fashion models (and often both). He routinely will attend a fashion show, then fly across the globe to sit courtside, transitioning effortlessly from Lacoste to LeBron James.

Check his social media accounts: nothing but models and ballers! Don't act like you're not impressed.

Two-Year-Old, Pittsburgh Penguins

What this two-year-old Pittsburgh Penguins fan lacks in knowledge of NHL history and the finer points of a penalty kill, he more than makes up for in youthful enthusiasm. 

While an older hockey fan might bring longstanding dedication and overall perceptiveness, this kid has an unbridled passion for the Pens. Sure, he can't remember Mario Lemieux or even Jordan Staal, but good luck convincing anyone that you love the Penguins more than him. 

Clipper Darrell, L.A. Clippers

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Between the 1993 and 2012 seasons, the Los Angeles Clippers recorded a grand total of one winning season, going 47-35 in 2005-06 en route to a second-round loss against the Phoenix Suns. During that time, virtually nothing distinguished the Clippers other than futility.

But at least they had Darrell Bailey, a man better known simply as "Clipper Darrell." However, in 2012, the new-look Clippers asked Clipper Darrell to go back to being simply Darrell once again. 

According to Marcus Vanderberg of FishbowlLA.com:

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After Bleacher Report was denied media credentials while doing a profile on the man who has stood by the Clippers through thick and a whole lot of thin, Bailey called team president Andy Roeser to get an explanation. Carl Lahr, senior vice president of marketing and sales, eventually returned Bailey’s call last week and informed him that the organization didn’t need him doing stories or speaking to the media on behalf of the team.

"

Understandably, Clipper Darrell was taken aback, and the incident all but squeezed out the visible superfan:

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“They said I was trying to make money off sponsorships,” Bailey added. “If people are going to pay me to do some things, why not do it? I don’t see any harm in it as long as I’m not hurting the brand itself. I’m going to high schools, charity events, I do it all. … Am I going to go back as Clipper Darrell? I can’t. It’s kind of hard to get back into a groove again. Honestly, it tells me they really didn’t care about me from the jump. They just used me for their advertisement and that’s the hurtful situation.”

"

That's a real shame, but at least this sweet ride came out of it.

Paul Rudd, Kansas City Royals

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Paul Rudd attends Kansas City Royals games in the middle of the season. Now he's reaping the benefits. Far from a bandwagon fan, Rudd has orbited around the Royals since childhood.

Born in New Jersey, his family moved to Kansas when he was still an impressionable kid, which put him near KC during the George Brett era. It's no surprise he became a lifelong Royals fan. 

Fast forward to 2014, and Rudd got to give members of his favorite team on-field fist bumps after they prevailed in the ALCS. He even invited everyone in the Kansas City metro area to a kegger at his mom's house.

Woo Woo Wickers, Chicago Cubs

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Also known as "Leather Lungs," Chicago Cubs superfan Ronnie Wickers is more commonly referred to as "Woo Woo" for his proclivity to yelp a prolonged "woo woo" in reaction to just about every occurrence at the friendly confines of Wrigley Field. 

As ESPN's Wayne Drehs noted:

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Wickers is anything but just a Cubs fan. He is the Cubs fan, begging and borrowing his way into nearly every home game since the 1960s, including an eight-year span in the 1980s when he was homeless. He owns some 40 authentic jerseys with "WOO WOO" on the back and wears them every minute of every day—even when sleeping. He has taken a life that started with a mom who beat him and an education that ended in the fifth grade at age 17, and turned it into a baseball fantasy. "The Cubs saved my life," Wickers says. "Without the Cubs, I don't think I'd be here."

"

However, decades of losing engenders bitterness in a fanbase, and Wickers has found himself the target of both derision and envy.

But as Wickers told Drehs, he just takes it in stride:

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There are scores of fans who despise Wickers. Some of it is jealousy, some of it is the way he mooches freebies and some of it is his in-game shtick. ... "You learn to take it when people make fun of you your entire life," Wicker says. "I just smile, nod my head and say, 'Thank you for thinking of me.'"

"

Fireman Ed, New York Jets

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Perhaps no particular plodding, rudimentary chant has attached itself to a team quite so firmly as "J-E-T-S, JETS! JETS! JETS!" has to the New York Jets. 

And you can give the lion's share of the credit to former firefighter and former Jets superfan Ed Anzalone, known to many as "Fireman Ed." Complete with a Jets-branded firefighter helmet, Anzalone routinely led the crowd in the team's iconic chant from his seat in the lower bowl. 

However, Anzalone found himself the target of some disgruntled fans' ire, and he decided to step out of the limelight of superfandom, announcing his retirement in a 2012 guest column for the free commuter paper Metro: 

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This is an indication of how society has lost and is continuing to lose respect for one another. The stadium has become divided because of the quarterback controversy as well. The fact that I chose to wear a Mark Sanchez jersey this year and that fans think I am on the payroll—which is an outright lie—have made these confrontations more frequent. Whether it’s in the stands, the bathroom or the parking lot, these confrontations are happening on a consistent basis.

Although I can “hold my own,” I do not want to lose my temper and make a stupid mistake. I have a responsibility to the families and kids that enjoy the game and Fireman Ed.

"

Odder still, the Jets have been completely unable to find another superfan to fill the void left by Fireman's Ed's retirement from wearing a hat and bellowing four letters at games.

As Anzalone told Yahoo! Sports' Kristian Dyer, the team begged like a spurned lover to come back in 2014, but he remained firm: "They took me out to lunch to see if I had any interest in coming back. I said no because it was the same problem, I couldn't take my kids to the game. I told them I wouldn't come back. I told them they should do something and try to get a young guy. I don't want to see it go away."

Following a 43-23 loss to the Buffalo Bills in Week 8 of 2014, the Jets plunged to 1-7 on the season with glaring disarray under center, on the sidelines and at the superfan position. 

Spike Lee, New York Knicks

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There may be more famous celebrity basketball fans than Spike Lee. For example, Jack Nicholson sits courtside at L.A. Lakers games and glares at the action through dark sunglasses. But good luck finding a celebrity who becomes wrapped into the game itself with such single-minded passion more so than Spike watching his New York Knicks. 

Lee has become a New York icon for his contributions on the silver screen, but also for his status as a mainstay at Madison Square Garden and even at the team's road games. 

ESPN even has an entire documentary on the Knicks rivalry with the Indiana Pacers and the memorable 1995 playoff series when Spike seemed to single-handedly inspire Reggie Miller to clutch prowess, and Miller accurately gestured back at Spike that his team had choked. 

There's now a new regime at MSG, and Lee has been tasked by the team's network to explain the new triangle offense using the medium of film, even if team president Phil Jackson quipped that the filmmaker "doesn't know anything about basketball," per ESPN New York's Ian Begley.

Barrel Man, Denver Broncos

David Zalubowski/Associated Press

You know the cartoon stereotypes of rabid football fans underdressed or shirtless in freezing winter temperatures as a demonstration of unerring love and zeal for the team? Well, "Barrel Man" started that. 

The Denver Broncos' lovable Barrel Man started the tradition as a result of a small bet made in 1977, and the fashion statement stuck with him. He became an iconic presence at Broncos games, and he even won induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Hall of Fans. You can see him honored there on the wall to the right of the catering table.  

Sadly, Barrel Man passed away in 2009 at age 69. 

John Adams the Drummer, Cleveland Indians

Amy Sancetta/Associated Press

When teams visit Progressive Field, home of the Cleveland Indians, the visiting announcers must sometimes relay a basic fact about the ballpark to fans listening or watching at home. That bellowing drone, that resounding bass boom, that incessant drumming—it's coming from one guy out in the bleachers. 

Blame John Adams. He's the drummer out in the bleachers—not the deceased president, although it almost seems like he's been drumming there for centuries. 

Actually, Adams has only been drumming in the bleachers at Indians games since the Nixon Administration, beginning back on Aug. 24, 1973. It all started because of the team's seat-banging tradition during tense moments, where the part of the seat that folds down would be rattled by fans to make extra noise when the crowd got loud. 

Sitting in the bleachers without a folding seat, Adams decided to haul his drum along with him, and he's been bashing the skins from his last-row seat ever since. 

Banjo Man, San Francisco 49ers, Oakland A's, Golden State Warriors

Eric Risberg/Associated Press

The Bay Area "Banjo Man" has picked, plucked and strummed his way into Northern California lore over the last few decades.

He's been to every San Francisco 49ers home game since the early '80s. He's played the banjo at 10 Super Bowls, and his sporting presence extends across the bay to Oakland A's and Golden State Warriors games as well. 

How does Banjo Man, a.k.a. Stacy Samuels, make his living? He manufactures and sells the interstellar propeller beanie cap, as he has done since the '70s. To date, he's sold more than 2 million of them.

The beauty of Banjo Man consists in his ability to at once embody the two unofficial mascots of the 49ers: a bedraggled 1800s gold prospector and a bearded Berkeley hippie.

His status as the preeminent superfan consists of his ability to bring joy to other fans in three different sports. Unfortunately, the Bay Area does not have a hockey team.

Honorable Mention: The Green Men, Vancouver Canucks

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While I had promised this list would consider only individual fans, the "Green Men" who haunt the penalty box at Vancouver Canucks games must receive an honorable mention. This is yet another fantastic thing to come out of the raucous and raunchy sitcom It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and the two fans succeeded in going viral (another subject on the comedy show discussed by Dr. Mantis Toboggan). 

Vancouver's Green Men do not rely on an entire cheering section of rabid fans, like the Cleveland Browns' "Dawg Pound" or the nefarious characters who inhabit the "Black Hole" at Oakland Raiders games. 

Rather, they come armed only with skintight green jumpsuits, a knack for irreverent merriment and a commitment to psyching out the opponent not seen on such a high level since the movie BASEketball.