Hall of Fame point guard Gary Payton still reps Oakland hard. As an Oakland native, he's loyal to The Town.
When it comes to his favorite NFL team, however, Payton always has rocked with the 49ers instead of the Raiders. Here's why.
"When I grew up, the Raiders were in LA," Payton said Sunday morning on "49ers Pregame Live." "So I didn't really, really grow up on them like that. When I was younger, they were here. I watched Kenny Stabler, I watched Cliff Branch, I watched Dave Casper, I watched all them guys. But then when they moved, I think that's a traitor situation to me.
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"So I took on the 49ers, who were in the Bay Area and stayed there. I was just like, 'I'm a 49er fan.' "
Payton, 52, chose to be a 49ers fan at the perfect time. As soon as he officially joined The Faithful instead of Raider Nation, the championships started coming to San Francisco.
"And then Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Roger Craig, Ronnie Lott and them started comin' and winnin' a lot of championships," Payton said. "Ever since then, I've been a big fan of theirs.
San Francisco 49ers
"That's just the way it goes. I like the loyalty of when you stay in our Bay Area."
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Payton has seen the 49ers win five Super Bowl titles, and lose two more.
"The Glove" stayed loyal to the 49ers even when he became an NBA star in Seattle with the Supersonics. He played his first 13 seasons in Seattle, and never once thought about converting to a Seahawks fan.
"Never," Payton said. "Everybody knows -- I just went last year and went to the game when they played Seattle in the last game and won on the last play, and I was in the owner's box in Seattle and they know I'm comin' in with all this, with all the 49ers gear on and they're just gonna have to accept it.
"Seahawks is my second team, but 49ers is my first team where I grew up."