Baltimore Ravens’ fan Dan Granofsky, who is popularly known as Real Fan Dan, went shirtless during the Baltimore Ravens vs Atlanta Falcons Christmas eve game on Saturday.
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According to National Weather Service, it was the coldest Christmas Eve in Baltimore since 1982, with chilly winds of two degrees. But it did not bother the iconic superfan. Granofsky has been leading the R-A-V-E-N-S chant at M&T Bank Stadium since 1998. He is 55 years old and lives in Pasadena, Maryland.
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Granofsky was born and raised in Baltimore. He served in the Maryland National Guard for 26 years, including 15 years of active duty. As a teenager and in his 20s, he attended Colts games. He always admired The Big Wheel, Len Burrier, who used to lead the C-O-L-T-S chants at Memorial Stadium.
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In 1997, Real Fan Dan became a Ravens season ticket holder. At a Ravens game in 1998, he was sitting with the Raven Roost’s president when he lamented that Big Wheel wasn’t coming to the games anymore. “Get up there and do it, you dumb @&$@#!” he was told.
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Dan stood up and began to do the cheer, bending his body to spell each letter. A guy in his section made signs, so he helped hold up big letters and trained the other fans. Eventually, Real Fan Dan started spreading cheer along the upper concourse.
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However, he realized he needed something more so he got mad at them and started yelling at them. He put his hands up to his ears as if he couldn’t hear them. He gave them a thumbs down. Finally, he took off his shirt.
“For whatever reason, with* *my big gut hanging out, the decibels go up 100%,” he said. “I get it.”
However, Real Fan Dan doesn’t want to make it all about him. He says he’s simply continuing Big Wheel’s Baltimore football tradition.
