Inked for life: How sports fans are turning passion into permanent art | Canada Voices

When the Winnipeg Blue Bombers won the Grey Cup in 2019, their first championship since 1990, it was a lifelong dream come true for fan Derek Morley. “I’ve been watching Bombers’ games for as long as I can remember,” says Morley, now 30.

His love for the team runs in the family. “That deep passion certainly rubbed off on me, and I wanted to commemorate it on my body.”

Across Canada, fans like Morley are choosing tattoos to celebrate their teams. Whether it’s the Bombers, Oilers or Raptors, these indelible marks show the deep emotional connection between sports and identity. For Morley, that connection took the form of a tattoo on his left shoulder.

But he didn’t settle for a simple Bombers logo or the Grey Cup itself. Morley’s ink tells a bigger story, capturing the spirit of that unforgettable season. The tattoo recreates an iconic image from the victory parade: Chris Streveler, the bare-chested quarterback, draped in a fur coat and cowboy hat, chomping on a cigar while hoisting the Grey Cup triumphantly.

“Streveler was a representation of the joyous explosion of emotion,” Morley says about the tattoo, which was done by artist Shawn Beatty at Soul Survivors Body Art in Winnipeg.

Morley is a veritable illustrated man when it comes to his love of local sports teams and the city itself. The Bomber-themed ink tops a sleeve of tattoos featuring a Winnipeg Jets logo, a Canadian Forces jet fighter (the basis for the NHL team’s logo), and notable landmarks including the Golden Boy atop the Manitoba Legislature. He was all set to add a 2024 banner, but alas his beloved Bombers lost this year’s Grey Cup.

Expressing team fealty through body art may not be for everyone, but for fans like Morley it reveals the lengths they’ll go to wear their affiliation and affection on their sleeve.

Such tattoos are about more than showing commitment to the team, says Christian End, an associate professor at Xavier University in Cincinnati, who studies the social psychology of fan behaviour. Devout team followers belong to a community, but many also want to stand out from it – and from bandwagon fans, he says.

“As human beings, we’re all drawn to be part of a group, but at the same time, especially in individualistic cultures, there is a desire to maintain your uniqueness and to be yourself,” says End.

“It’s certainly a very permanent form of expression,” adds Kerry Adam, owner of Odin’s Eye Tattoo in Winnipeg. “These are people who will generally take it [the tattoo] with them right until the end.”

Customer demand for sports-related tattoos is sporadic but common enough that two shop artists are renowned for them, especially for patchwork-style logos. “It looks like someone sewed a Jets patch on your skin,” Mr. Adam says.

Though tattoos can be painful, the discomfort rarely deters passionate fans. That was certainly so for hundreds of Edmonton Oilers fans during the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs, who sought free orange and blue oil drop or derrick tattoos offered at Rogers Place in Edmonton.

“As soon as the doors opened, we had a lineup,” says Lexci Krahn, owner of Red Loon Tattoo and Piercing in Edmonton. “Oilers fans are crazy. They will do anything to show their support and love for the team.”

So will Morley. His Streveler-inspired skin art sets him apart but has also sparked many friendly conversations with strangers. “It does stand out, but it’s also a way to connect with people.”

Some might be curious about the large adjacent blank patch of skin on his otherwise tattooed arm. “That,” says Morley, “is saved for when the Jets win the Stanley Cup.”