Father, son from California become massive Winnipeg Blue Bombers fans

The city may be more than 3,000 kilometres away from Winnipeg, but it’s not far enough for a father and son to pledge allegiance to the Blue Bombers.

Scott Mortland, 57, lives in Carlsbad, Cal., with his wife and four kids. Gregory, their youngest at 21, lives with an intellectual disability.

The family – especially Scott and Gregory – have been diehard fans of the San Diego Chargers for years. But on Jan. 4, the Chargers packed up and moved to Los Angeles. Scott said he was devastated.

Scott no longer wanted to cheer for the team, as “they abandoned their community,” he told 680 CJOB Wednesday morning.

But he still wanted to support a team as he loves going to sports games with Gregory, who is non-verbal.

“His body does not have the attention span to learn a sport, but he likes taking him to games,” Scott said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "His body does not have the attention span to learn a sport, but he likes taking him to games," Scott said.

Cheering for an NHL team was out of the question – as the league is all about “big business,” which did not appeal to Scott.

Loving the blue and gold

That’s when Scott and his son decided to look into CFL teams.

“This sounds really corny, but I came across the Blue Bombers… and there’s that logo with the bolt… and I was like ‘this has got to be it.'”

LISTEN: Scott Mortland talks with 680 CJOB about his new found football team

He researched more about the team and saw the Bombers were heavily involved in the community.

RELATED: Blue Bomber Glenn January loses his locks … for charity

Scott also noticed the diehard sports fans Winnipeg had, especially towards the beloved Winnipeg Jets who moved to Arizona in 1996 and became the Coyotes. But the team moved back to Winnipeg in 2011, and this story resonated with him.

“It’s heartbreaking the Jets left in the 90’s… so put all the pieces together and I thought ‘that’s it’.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It's heartbreaking the Jets left in the 90's… so put all the pieces together and I thought 'that's it'."

Changing allegiance

Scott and Gregory chucked all their Chargers gear and phoned Investors Group Field, ordering a Blue Bombers jersey and two hats.

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The father-son duo are also flying to Winnipeg in July to take in a game.

They’ve never been to the city, but said he cannot wait to experience a new brand of football and meet a lot of people.

“It’s grown into a great father and son thing … we cannot wait to go out there in July to experience this.”