Same-City Athletes Supporting Each Other

Athletes are on the move more than ever in the modern sports world of free agency and salary caps, which limits the number of them who play their entire careers in one city. Some say it reflects a lack of loyalty, while others think it’s a simple matter of dollars and cents, but the hometown discount is dead.

Even though players in every sport are coming and going across the country each year, there are still a few men and women on every team who stick around long enough to ingratiate themselves to fans. Winning is definitely the quickest way to win favor with fans, but since that’s not always an option, athletes who embrace the city as their home are often embraced right back.

That means eating local food, drinking at local bars, shilling for local businesses, partying at local clubs and rooting for the other local teams. What better way to endear yourself to local fans than by becoming a local fan? Let’s take a look at some athletes who have done exactly that.

Eli Manning, New York Giants

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Though he was born in New Orleans and played his college ball at Ole Miss, in June 2012 Giants quarterback Eli Manning showed some New York solidarity when he threw out the first pitch at a Mets game. Because it was Father’s Day, his adorable daughter Ava tagged along with dad to Citi Field for the occasion.

When he was asked the inevitable question “Mets or Yankees,” Manning was smart enough not to cross any battle lines. “I’m both,” the ever-diplomatic Manning said to Justin Tasch of the New York Daily News. “I’m a New York fan. That’s the thing about being in New York—two home baseball teams. Usually one of them is always playing well, and now both of them are.”

For her part, Ava was a little less diplomatic. She definitely looks like a Yanks fan, based on her response to Mets star David Wright.

Bryce Harper and Gio Gonzalez, Washington Nationals

Not even the Nationals were immune when Washington came down with a serious case of hockey fever during the recent playoffs. Although the Capitals would go on to lose the series to the Rangers in impressive fashion, they were up 3-1 after Game 4 in May. They would win that game, before dropping the next three and losing the series in seven.

After hitting three home runs in a single game against the Marlins earlier in the day, Natties slugger Bryce Harper joined Gio Gonzalez at the Verizon Center for Game 4. Several other teammates were also in attendance to cheer on the Caps, including Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, Doug Fister, Danny Espinosa, Tanner Roark and Jose Lobaton.

Antonio Brown, Pittsburgh Steelers

Even though Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown has been publicly pouting about his contract, which has three years remaining, the Pro Bowler has ingratiated himself enough with fans in Pittsburgh over the years that a little money squabbling isn’t going to cost him much of the goodwill he’s earned.

Born and raised in Miami, Brown is basically an honorary ‘Burgher at this point, having even embraced the Pirates and Penguins, both as friend and fan. In June, Brown tweeted this photo with him and superstar Sidney Crosby training together on the West Coast, and he has been known to attend the occasional Pens game.

In August 2014, Brown stopped by PNC Park prior to a game against the Braves to take batting practice with the team. Decked out in full Pirates gear and nothing but smiles, apparently Brown had a lot of fun but left no worry for the Steelers that their superstar wideout would ever try pulling a Deion Sanders and playing baseball in the offseason.

Robert Griffin III, Washington Redskins

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The honeymoon has definitely ended for Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III in Washington, D.C, but he hasn’t let struggles on the field impact his relationship with the city off the field.

RG3 took in a Nationals game in June 2014, when he bragged to reporters that he could throw a baseball 90 mph with a “few weeks of work, in preparation for that.” Now if only he could throw a football without getting injured! 

This past May he was back at Nationals Park, this time rocking a customized Natties jersey and shaking hands with many of the veterans on hand for the team’s Military Salute. Griffin also took the time to take pictures with other fans in attendance.

Matt Kemp, San Diego Padres

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Matt Kemp (left) & Trevor Ariza (right)

Oklahoma native Matt Kemp is now playing two hours south of Los Angeles with the Padres in San Diego, but from 2006 to 2014 (his entire MLB career to that point) he was with the Dodgers. Over that period of time he was regularly seen sitting courtside at Lakers games.

In 2013, Kemp told GQ that he has actually been a fan of the team since childhood, long before the Thunder relocated to Oklahoma City. In addition to the Lakers, Kemp has also been spotted cheering on the Sparks (WNBA) and even taking in the occasional Clippers game. However, he was booed the last time he was at a Clips game, back in December 2014.

Dustin Colquitt, Kansas City Chiefs

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For the first half of the Chiefs' season last year, fans in Kansas City were way too caught up with Royals fever to give football their full attention. Even when they beat down the Patriots in a history Monday night drubbing in late September, the crowd at Arrowhead couldn’t focus—“Let’s go Royals” was the chant of choice that night, right ahead of their first World Series appearance since 1985.

Those chants didn’t bother Chiefs punter Dustin Colquitt one bit—although he told Sean Keeler of Fox Sports Kansas City it might have been different if they were losing. He’s actually a huge Royals fan, so Colquitt probably had to hold himself back from joining the crowd. Born and raised in Tennessee, in 2013 he told Reid Ferrin of KCChiefs.com his family now considers KC their home.

Rocking his George Brett jersey, which he wore for weeks on end during the playoffs, Colquitt was on hand to cheer on the Royals personally at least twice during the World Series. In June he and a number of other Kansas City celebrities participated in the “Big Slick Celebrity Classic,” a softball game played for charity at Kauffman Stadium before a Royals game against the Red Sox.

Nick Swisher, Cleveland Indians

Born in Columbus and having played college baseball at Ohio State, the Indians’ Nick Swisher obviously has ties to Ohio that date back well beyond the three seasons he’s been in Cleveland. With LeBron James back home and the Cavaliers back in the Finals, Swisher was among the countless people to repopulate that bandwagon over the last year or so. He was one of the first to welcome the King back to Cleveland via Twitter in July 2014.

In May, Swisher and his Indians teammates, Corey Kluber and Lonnie Chisenhall, were all at The Q for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Hawks. Between the first and second quarters, Swisher even took the mic to fire up the crowd. A few weeks later he was still hyped up about the Cavs run—Swisher gushed about their performance to Fox Sports (h/t Michael Bohlin of 247Sports) and called LeBron and Co. an inspiration to the Indians.

Geno Smith, New York Jets

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It’s probably fair to say that Jets quarterback Geno Smith’s first two years in New York have been rocky. Although he seems to think his abysmal performance to date has been Pro Bowl-worthy (at least in "flashes"!), as he told Mark Herrmann of Newsday (h/t Brian Costello of the New York Post), he has routinely been on the receiving end of jeers from Jets fans since being drafted in 2013.

Smith actually had to issue an apology after cursing out some boo-birds during an ugly home loss in September 2014. Three months later it was reported that, just to avoid boos, the Jets didn’t introduce him with the offensive starters. Recently, Smith decided to mix it up, this time by getting heckled at a Yankees game.

In June the New York Daily News reported that a harsh chorus of boos greeted Smith when he was shown on the Jumbotron during a 6-2 win over the Angels. He’s had better luck at Mets games, probably because, after so many years of abject futility, the poor fans at Citi Field are all booed out.

San Francisco 49ers

A few months ago 49ers nose tackle Ian Williams posted this photo of him and his teammates Glenn Dorsey, Tank Carradine and Tony Jerod-Eddie at Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals series between the Warriors and Rockets. But these four guys were just a few of the Niners who were vocal supports of Golden State during their epic run en route to their first NBA championship since 1975.

Throughout the playoffs, literally dozens of 49ers players seemed to be watching and reacting in real time to every game, mostly via Twitter. Literally hanging on every basket, no less than 10 of them tweeted about Steph Curry’s game-tying three against the Pelicans in Game 3 of the first-round series. The Niners' enthusiasm for the Warriors only built from there. 

John Wall, Washington Wizards

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Even though the single most embarrassing moment of his athletic career took place on the pitching mound at Nationals Park in 2011, Wizards superstar point guard John Wall didn’t let that deter him from supporting both the Natties and the Capitals in Washington.

The aforementioned embarrassing moment was obviously the horrendous first pitch he threw out in June of that year—definitely one of the worst first pitches ever. He was finally able to redeem himself in April 2013, when he returned to the scene of the crime and didn’t fall flat on his face.

This past April, Wall, joined by Paul Pierce and a few other Wizards teammates, attended Game 7 of the Caps' playoff series against the Islanders.

Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks

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A two-sport standout in college, Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson was drafted by the Rangers in MLB’s Rule 5 draft in December 2013. Although he has no plans to move to Texas, he has made a few appearances to the team’s training facilities during spring training. That being said, it doesn’t seem the Super Bowl winner has ruled out playing baseball entirely.

During a recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Wilson said he would “definitely consider” playing baseball if he were traded to the Mariners. It’s possible he was just messing with the Seahawks, who have been dragging their feet in renegotiating his contract, but Wilson has been seen regularly enough at Mariners games in recent years that it seems plausible enough.

David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox

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It’s easy to forget that Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz played his first six seasons for the Twins, mostly because he’s been so ridiculously beloved by Boston fans since being signed as a free agent in 2003. And if Beantown has embraced Big Papi, well then Big Papi has embraced it right back.

Over the past decade, particularly since 2008, Ortiz has frequently been spotted sitting courtside at Celtics games. Usually he keeps it low key, but he has been known to join the on-court action on occasion. Ortiz even cared enough to help the team by trying to recruit Kevin Love via Twitter in June 2014. Obviously no stranger to TD Garden, Ortiz is also a regular guest of the Bruins.

The NFL schedule only heats up as MLB winds down, so he isn’t known to attend Patriots games, but he’s still a vocal supporter of the team. He won a Twitter bet with the Orioles’ Adam Jones in January when the Pats bested the Ravens in the playoffs. Ortiz was one of the first to congratulate the team after their Super Bowl win weeks later, and in May he called Tom Brady’s four-game suspension “f--ked up.”

Connor Barwin, Jason Kelce and Riley Cooper, Philadelphia Eagles

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Eagles teammates Connor Barwin, Jason Kelce and Riley Cooper have all been known to support Philadelphia’s other sports franchises, the Flyers and the Phillies, often together.

Barwin and Kelce have personalized bro’d out (sleeveless) Phillies jerseys that they may or may not coordinate before attending house parties as a duo. Cooper, who was actually drafted by the Phillies as a high school outfielder in 2006, participated in batting practice with the team at Bright House Field in March 2013.

Although they don’t tend to travel in threes, probably because it's a crowd, Kelce has been spotted at Flyers games a number of times in recent years with Barwin or Cooper by his side. Apparently, their Flyers fandom has been rubbing off on some of their other Eagles teammates as well.

Chicago Bears and Chicago Blackhawks

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Narrowing this one down was impossible because over the last few years various Bears and Blackhawks players have made it a habit to support one another, particularly over the last few years. Perhaps it has something to do with a rare joint ad campaign the two teams embarked upon in the fall of 2009. Even though the evil NFL overlords put the kibosh on it two months later, there’s been an increasing amount of crossover appearances in Chicago.

Quarterback Jay Cutler dropped the puck at Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final in May 2009. Linebacker Lance Briggs participated in an intermission shootout in May 2010. The Stanley Cup champion ‘Hawks were on hand for the Bears' season-opener in September 2013. Coach John Fox, running back Matt Forte and wide receiver Alshon Jeffery were among the many Bears on hand for Game 4 of the Finals in June.

According to a recent report in the Chicago Sun-Time, Bears players are “enamored with, [and] motivated by [the] Blackhawks’ success.” We’ll have to wait and see if some of that goodwill starts to erode as the ‘Hawks keep showing up at Soldier Field with the Stanley Cup and reminding the Bears of their many shortcomings.

Rob Gronkowski, New England Patriots

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Much like David Ortiz, Patriots superstar tight end Rob Gronkowski has been embraced by Bostonians as one of their own—they both actually tried to help recruit Kevin Love to the Celtics last year! It doesn’t matter that he seems to spend every offseason coming up with increasingly more amazing ways to irritate the powers that be in Foxborough—like hosting a Bahamian cruise called Gronk’s Party Ship, which is happening in February 2016—he’ll still be beloved in Boston as long as he’s donning a Pats jersey.

Gronkowski’s party-boy antics take him all over the country during the offseason—like Fort Myers, Florida, to break in the city’s various establishments ahead of Red Sox training camp—but whenever he’s back in Beantown, taking in sporting events with the locals is a regular activity. Gronk has become such a friend to the Bruins that the team invited him to spike a pregame puck in February, days after the Patriots Super Bowl win.

Gronkowski has been attending Celtics games on the regular for years now. Not only does he delight the crowd with his mere existence at TD Garden, but Gronk tends to attract attention from the guys on the court as well. 

After a game against the Lakers in February 2012, Kobe Bryant posed for a photo with the Pro Bowler, whom he later referred to as a “freak athlete.” In November 2014, Gronkowski sat courtside against the Cavaliers, and after the game LeBron James called him a “big motherf--ker,” according to Ben Rohrbach of WEEI (h/t Zack Cox of NESN.com).