I would argue you are not an NFL fan.... you are a "players fan". IE, you were not an Atlanta Fan, you were a Julio fan. Your NFL fandom is still rooted in your college fandom.
The NFL fans I know, don't see players that way. They look at the team as a whole. They do like/love/hate/loath certain players, but they also get into the trades to make their team better. Die Hard NFL fans are different than Die Hard NCAA football fans. I wouldn't classify you as a Die Hard NFL fan.
Now, having said that. I get what you're saying. I'm not a fan of the pay to play model coming to the NCAA; however, I don't think there is a way to stop if from becoming the NFL minor leagues... be that for the good or bad.
Well, you would be correct and incorrect. I'm from Atlanta, and have ALWAYS rooted for the home teams. I always wanted the Falcons, Braves, and Hawks to win. As a kid, I grew up in arguably the best era for Braves baseball and loved those teams. So in this case, I am definitely a home team fan. I have raised my kids on the same teams. Sad thing is, my childhood consisted of a Braves team that had a lot of the same players on it year after year. My son, he's seen nothing but turnover. How could I buy him anything other than a Freeman or Acuna jersey (as of recently), and then I still have concerns with them staying a while.
As I grew up, and as the rest of us has realized, the difference from the 70, 80's, and 90's is that it started becoming more about the money than the fan base/city/team. Guys will leave and spit on a city they played with in two seconds. How can you be a hometown fan when your organization continues to ship people away and you're sitting there rooting for a new guy/s every year? Deep in my heart I still want Atlanta to do well, but when player demands are so high and teams only care about salary caps, it's hard to pull for anyone. I think Matt Ryan is a great citizen and great guy, especially after the Vick issues, but there was zero reason to keep him and trade Julio. Both were drafted by Atlanta, spent their whole careers in Atlanta. The only difference is that Julio still has gas left in the tank, continues to pull Top 3 stats, and is a difference maker for the offense. Ryan is a turnover machine, zero mobility, costs us a lot of games, and can't even get the ball deep to Julio or Ridley. Yet the Falcons keep him and trade Julio. In cases like that how can I even remotely agree with the hometown team and root for them when they want to remain below average. We could have traded Ryan, saved millions, let McCarron throw to our guys and bring in some defensive talent with the money we save. NOPE, keep sucking ass on defense, and get rid of our best offensive player which now makes us not as good on both sides of the ball. So yes, in this case I'm rooting for a guy I have come to respect, a guy that shuts his mouth and plays, and a guy that backs up his worth on the field. He just so happens to have gone to Alabama and to a team with another high profile Alabama player I follow, so I will now root for my interest there.
All that being said, I went to Alabama for academics. My allegiance is to the school, not just the football program or players. I love the heck out of the sports, but even with losing seasons I'm not running off to pull for Clemson. That's my school, I have skin in the game, and I'm there because of those ties. I cannot understand the NFL allegiance where a guy is "loving" a new guy each year instead of building that relationship through experience with that team. Fans of teams like the Jets and Browns are really something for as much turnover as they have had and what the brass has put them through.
