Fans of the National Football League can be quite passionate about their teams.

On any given Sunday, you can walk into any place in town with a television come this time of year and chances are it’s tuned into football.

Some places go the extra yard, catering to fans of non-local teams.

Such is the case of Fats Grill in Stockton. Legions of Pittsburgh fans have made this watering hole / restaurant their unofficial headquarters for years, bringing their family into the fold. It’s not unusual to see a 4 year old wearing a “Big Ben” Roethlisberger Steelers’ No. 7 jersey.

The Stockton Steelers – that’s the name of the group – have been around for nearly three decades. I’m told they helped in purchasing the large TV set in this establishment, thus, giving them special rights to switch over to Pittsburgh come kickoff time.

That’s what happened during the exciting finish of San Francisco 49ers game at Minnesota.

About a second or two after Vikings quarterback Bret Favre hit little-known receiver Greg Smith on a spectacular 32-yard go-ahead touchdown, a Steelers fan reached over to change channels to catch the start of the Pittsburgh-Cincinnati game.

No biggie. I knew that was part of the deal going into this place. Sly Garcia, a long-time friend, gave me the scoop. A Washington fan, he took great pleasure in my misery along with that of the other Niners fans in the house.

Of course, Sly was still smarting after his Redskins were beaten by Detroit, in turn, snapping the Lions’ 19-game losing streak.

Outmatched here by Steelers Nation, we were able to turn our attention to one of the smaller TVs overlooking the bar to catch the conclusion of the Niners-Vikings game. However, I was surprised to see several of the other sets tuned to the Raiders-Broncos game.

After all, this game was blacked out as part of the NFL policy that states a home game can’t be televised locally if not sold out within 72 hours prior to its start time. In this case, locally, as defined by the NFL, includes a 75-mile radius of the Oakland Coliseum.

We just happen to live within this television market.

I’m guessing the same rules may not necessarily apply to subscribers of the NFL Sunday Ticket as offered exclusively to those with DirecTV.

Raider fans had the tough task of watching their young quarterback JaMarcus Russell make several ill-advised throws including a pair of costly interceptions. Denver jumped out to a comfortable lead while essentially taking the rabid fans support in Oakland out of the equation, and cruised to an important AFC West victory.

Meanwhile, the Steelers fans continued to bask in the glory of their team’s performance early on. But much to my delight, their mood soured late in the fourth quarter as the Bengals rallied back.

On this particular Sunday, not too many NFL fans at Fats went home happy. The upset win by Cincinnati completed that circle, thus, sending those sporting the black and gold home in disappointment.

Misery loves company.

Baseball may be America’s pastime but football remains its passion.

To reach reporter Vince Rembulat, e-mail vrembulat@mantecabulletin.com