INDIANAPOLIS — A football fan who cheers for both the Indianapolis Colts and the Atlanta Falcons? That’s not something you hear every day — especially this week, when the two teams are set to face off in Berlin on Sunday morning.
For Tasha Phelps, there’s no need to pick a side.
“I am a season ticket holder for both teams,” Phelps said.
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That explains the split jersey and sneakers she wears — one side blue for the Colts, the other red for the Falcons.
Her divided loyalties started in Indianapolis.
“My first season tickets were in 2008 when the new stadium, Lucas Oil, opened,” she said.
But her love of football goes back further — to a certain star quarterback.
“I wanted season tickets in the early millennium when Michael Vick was playing,” Phelps said. “He’s the one that started this whole mess.”
Phelps and her brother didn’t get their Falcons season tickets until 2011, long after Vick’s time in Atlanta ended. Still, her loyalty to both teams stuck.
“I don’t know if people think I’m crazy or if people think I really must love football — which I do,” she said. “But I think people are enamored by the fact that I have loyalty to two teams — one AFC, one NFC. I split my time there, but yes, I am a very loyal fan to both teams.”
At home, she displays red and blue memorabilia side by side, with both teams’ schedules printed and posted together.
“I am very dutiful about printing both of the schedules,” she said. “Then I compare every week to see who’s at home, what games I can go to, what I can’t go to — and then I circle them and make sure I’ve got that locked in.”
Sometimes, that means two games in two days.
“Just this season, I’ve been to the Colts on Sunday and and turned around Monday morning to make the Monday night game in Atlanta,” Phelps said.
When she learned the Colts and Falcons would play each other in Germany, she knew she had to be there.
“When it was announced Atlanta’s playing, I was like, 'Oh my gosh, it’s a no-brainer,'” she said. “I have to go. I think I cried, to be quite honest. I cried when I saw Atlanta and Indy were playing because I knew I had to be there.”
As for who she’s rooting for in Berlin? She just hopes both teams have a good time.
“I want to make sure I show my super fandom and loyalty to both teams,” she said. “But no, I don’t have a preference over one team or the other.”
