just because of the fact that everything was still kinda what ever was in your area....It was hard to like a team across country, I would think it was basically what was nearest your area. Kinda like wrestling in the day, you had a whole bunch of "Champs" because the wrestling base was where you lived. Over time it became a staple across the country because of cable TV...TBS brought wrestling to the entire country to see a certain brand and went from there.
Was Farve the sole reason for their following or was it that you could follow them anywhere you lived? I would say it was a combo of both.....But still the grass roots of their huge following came from being where they started at when football was coming into national view.....everyone knows the Lombardi name.....