The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league with 32 teams in. How does one choose which team to support? Some people choose the team of their hometown, or where they now live, or the team that their parents or their friends follow.
A boy student from Oklahoma wrote a letter to each of the owners or presidents of the 32 NFL teams. He would see what answers he got, and then choose his team.
Bill was home from school sick. It was the week before Christmas. He was “kind of bored” and needed something to do. So he asked his parents if he could write to every professional football team. Bill wrote the 32 letters by hand.
“We weren't quite sure what we could get back. He didn't really have one team that he wanted to hear from,” his mother said: “He just wanted to see what kind of reply he' d get.”
A letter to the Carolina Panthers' owner Jerry Richardson was one of those posted. Bill wrote in his letter, “My family and I love football. They are fans of different teams. But I don't have a team to cheer for yet. I am ready to pick an NFL team to cheer on for lifetime!”
A few weeks later, Bill's mother was pulling into her driveway when a delivery man arrived with a box from the Panthers. When Bill came home, he excitedly opened the box. Inside he found a signed Carolina Panthers helmet(头盔）as well as a handwritten note from Jerry.
The team owner had written to Bill, “We should be honored(光荣的）if our Carolina Panthers became your team. We would make you proud of your joining us.”
Bill was overjoyed with what he got. He decided that from then on he would support the Panthers. He keeps the letter from Jerry in his bedroom. His mother says, “It's not the helmet they sent us. It's what they told us.” That is what mattered to Bill and why he chose to become a Panthers' fan.
