The NFL Thread

[Quijote Light]

Bears fan. All other teams are irrelavent unless they happen to be the team we are playing. In which case I loathe them with the heat of a thousand suns until the game is over.

[dornish prince]

Irrelevant was probably a bad way of putting it. What I meant was, due to the fact that the falcons haven't beat the eagles in a playoff game, they would be the last team in the NFC South that I would consider a rival. Does that make more sense? I actually like Matt Ryan due to the fact that he's from Philly and probably was an Eagles fan before becoming a Falcon.

it makes perfect sense. i didn't get the whole my favorite team's rival from each division thing.

no worries.

you are kinda pooping on my guys though :cheers:

[Jaime L]

I thought it would be interesting to find out who everyone's favorite teams are, and if you had to pick a rival team in every division of the NFL who would you pick? Which teams do you consider to be the most irrelevant/least threatening to your team in every division?

For Example:

Favorite Team: Philadelphia Eagles

NFC

EAST

Rival: Cowboys - Did you really think I would pick anyone else?

Irrelevant: Redskins - I guess you could say they're the team I hate the least in the division.

It's interesting. At one point, the NFC East had three sets of rivalries: The Redskins and Cowboys always hated each other, the Eagles used to hate the Giants (and vice-versa) and the Cardinals absolutely loathed Morehead State. I mean every team hated all the others but there was a special extra level of hate for that one true rival. Then after the 90s Cowboys Dynasty, felt like everyone agreed to hate the Cowboys the most. And this has just been spurred by the triplets showing up all across our football airwaves and Jerry Jones showing up with different faces depending on the year.

As a Skins fan, I hate the Cowboys the most naturally. But in recent years it has really been the Giants who've absolutely raped us at key times in recent seasons, including the opener last year (and I was cursing profusely when I saw we got assigned another opener in the Meadowlands this year.) Texas Stadium used to be the house of horrors for us, now it's the Meadowlands.

Beyond the NFC East, I have a strong dislike for the Tampa Bay Bucs, partly because I hate all things Tampa, and partly due to controversial games in the past. Also dislike the Ravens with their Maryland arm patches, as though they are somehow Maryland's team. I'm from MD, and they ain't my team. Think I feel about them how the British must feel about America...uncouth, brutish colonial upstarts. The rest of the teams I only dislike when we play 'em. Except the Lions. I love when we play 'em...not sure we've ever lost to 'em.

But still my hatred for the three other NFC East teams far exceeds any feeling I have about anyone else in the league. It's not even close.

i'm also a quasi redskins fan. i'm beginning to believe that we may not get along in this thread.

Didn't know that DP. Good man.

Pour yourself a drink.

[dornish prince]

It's interesting. At one point, the NFC East had three sets of rivalries: The Redskins and Cowboys always hated each other, the Eagles used to hate the Giants (and vice-versa) and the Cardinals absolutely loathed Morehead State. I mean every team hated all the others but there was a special extra level of hate for that one true rival. Then after the 90s Cowboys Dynasty, felt like everyone agreed to hate the Cowboys the most. And this has just been spurred by the triplets showing up all across our football airwaves and Jerry Jones showing up with different faces depending on the year.

As a Skins fan, I hate the Cowboys the most naturally. But in recent years it has really been the Giants who've absolutely raped us at key times in recent seasons, including the opener last year (and I was cursing profusely when I saw we got assigned another opener in the Meadowlands this year.) Texas Stadium used to be the house of horrors for us, now it's the Meadowlands.

Beyond the NFC East, I have a strong dislike for the Tampa Bay Bucs, partly because I hate all things Tampa, and partly due to controversial games in the past. Also dislike the Ravens with their Maryland arm patches, as though they are somehow Maryland's team. I'm from MD, and they ain't my team. Think I feel about them how the British must feel about America...uncouth, brutish colonial upstarts. :P The rest of the teams I only dislike when we play 'em. Except the Lions. I love when we play 'em...not sure we've ever lost to 'em.

But still my hatred for the three other NFC East teams far exceeds any feeling I have about anyone else in the league. It's not even close.

Didn't know that DP. Good man.

Pour yourself a drink.

i'm an auburn fan. its jason and carlos; not to mention washington, who i don't think is there anymore. shirley we've talked about this before. a toast to you, sir :cheers: that isn't the only reason but its the one that put me over the top.

i'm stealing "uncouth, brutish colonial upstart" from you, btw.

[Mack Kilimaro]

Think I feel about them how the British must feel about America...uncouth, brutish colonial upstarts.

Funny, because that's how people in the rest of Maryland look upon Redskins territory. ;)

[Mexal]

I'm a Bengals fan. I hate the Steelers the most followed by the Ravens. I don't really dislike the Browns with the same level of passion as the Steelers and Ravens but I still don't like them.

As for teams not in my division, I absolutely despise the Cowboys and the Patriots. I'm also pretty anti-Washington given that I'm also a Giants fan and I lived in DC for 9 years. Every other team is kind of in my meh category.

[Jaime L]

Funny, because that's how people in the rest of Maryland look upon Redskins territory. ;)

Pssh, just the 410s.

This is why we need the 17th game of the year for local rivalries.

[grozeng]

Jets fan. Hate the Dolphins. Despite what some Pats fans think, the Dolphins are the biggest rival (traditionally) for the Jets. Irrelevant is probably the Pats. If it weren't for the people on this board I would not really care much about them. I went to Cornell where there were a lot of Bills fans and when I was in college it was before the Pats got good and the Bills were kind of good, so it was always about the Bills and Dolphins. I don't really interact with people that actually like the Pats in real life (away from the board) so we are always looking forward to beating the Dolphins. I guess recent history has the Pats as a big rival, but if I was not on this board I would not really care about them any more than any other team.

In the NFC I like the Giants. Don't really dislike anyone. My brother is a Cowboys fan, so I can tolerate them. I live in Philly, so I have started to root for them to do well (when not playing the Giants). So that leaves the Redskins, but they aren't really that good so how can you hate them. I did dislike them growing up though (with Riggins and the Hogs).

[BLU-RAY]

Bills fan, hate the Pats and 'Fins and am roughly ambivalent towards the Jets, as far as my division goes. The Pats because they're the team to beat right now and all, but it always used to be about Bills vs. Fins, and so that'll always stick with me. Kelly vs. Marino.

Beyond that... not a fan of the Oilers/Titans, or the Chiefs (we had a bunch of playoff games against them back in the day)... but yeah, really only dislike the Titans significantly out of the rest of the AFC. I don't love Jacksonville, but that's mostly 'cause they seem like an extraneous franchise, and I don't like San Diego, because... well, I'm not sure why, just get a bad vibe, I suppose.

However, my most hated NFL team? Cowboys, obviously. No team in the AFC can compare. It's also rough because I don't love the Skins or Giants (which has sort of made Philly my de facto NFC team over the years), and there's six games a year between those three where somebody's got to win.

[Jaime L]

Gruden's replacing Kornheiser on MNF

I'm psyched. Was just remarking how much I enjoyed Chucky during the NFL draft. We'll see if that carries over to the broadcast booth, but I think he's got real potential. And as we know, a brick hanging on a string would have provided better, more nuanced, football commentary than Kornheiser so this is an especially pleasant surprise.

[Starkess]

Pats fan. Loathe the Jets. Loathe the Colts. Loathe the Cowboys and the Giants and the Raiders. Loathe the Steelers.

I marginally like the Chargers, the Bills, the Packers.

Everyone else I only loathe come game day.

[ZANNI_1276]

Like adding Gruden, he seemed quite knowledgable and personable, more so than i thought he would be on the NFL network during the draft. I like Tony K but he was god awful in the booth.

Also found this little nugget...

www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-nfl-meetings18 -2009may18,0,205840.story

Looks like a rookie salary cap is the first shot off the bow or rather first item on the owners agenda. This will be perhaps the easiest obstacle for the owners and the NFLPA in the CBA negotiations but the rest of it is going to be pretty ugly. Because once and if the NFLPA agree to the rookie cap structure there is a TON of money left on the table that was allocated to rookie salaries, that will come into play with the veteran contract structure, combine that with the battle of the revenue split and guarantee(s) the the players are going to demand the gloves are going to come off. The owners may not be in that big of a hurry to actually get it ratifyed because the minute there is an agreement on the rookie cap look for many veterans or ehhmm I mean agents pulling the purse strings, to sit out OTA's and other mandatory camps to leverage for restructured contracts because of the available cash. More than likely not to go into effect until after the new CBA is hammered out but it is a step in the right direction of correcting this ridculous rookie contract structure/debacle.

Ahhh, being a browns fan is miserable, can't talk any smack, can't even say we are remotely a rival for ANYONE. If the organization was properly run it would be a different story. But the big rivals are the steelers (though not so much for them anymore) the cincinnati chain gang down south and Baltimore will always be a team that will be depsised and hated in my heart.

[Chuck Klingbeil]

Jets fan. Hate the Dolphins. Despite what some Pats fans think, the Dolphins are the biggest rival (traditionally) for the Jets. Irrelevant is probably the Pats. If it weren't for the people on this board I would not really care much about them. I went to Cornell where there were a lot of Bills fans and when I was in college it was before the Pats got good and the Bills were kind of good, so it was always about the Bills and Dolphins. I don't really interact with people that actually like the Pats in real life (away from the board) so we are always looking forward to beating the Dolphins. I guess recent history has the Pats as a big rival, but if I was not on this board I would not really care about them any more than any other team.

Almost word for word what I would say, obviously reversing Dolphins and Jets.

Damn Jets fans reading my mind. Get out of my brain!

[Chuck Klingbeil]

Pats fan. Loathe the Jets. Loathe the Colts. Loathe the Cowboys and the Giants and the Raiders. Loathe the Steelers.

I marginally like the Chargers, the Bills, the Packers.

Everyone else I only loathe come game day.

How can you be a fan of the Pats and the Bills (even marginally)?

Wait a minute, have I asked you this before? Seems familiar.

[Prince of the North]

Like adding Gruden, he seemed quite knowledgable and personable, more so than i thought he would be on the NFL network during the draft. I like Tony K but he was god awful in the booth.

Also found this little nugget...

www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-nfl-meetings18 -2009may18,0,205840.story

Looks like a rookie salary cap is the first shot off the bow or rather first item on the owners agenda. This will be perhaps the easiest obstacle for the owners and the NFLPA in the CBA negotiations but the rest of it is going to be pretty ugly. Because once and if the NFLPA agree to the rookie cap structure there is a TON of money left on the table that was allocated to rookie salaries, that will come into play with the veteran contract structure, combine that with the battle of the revenue split and guarantee(s) the the players are going to demand the gloves are going to come off. The owners may not be in that big of a hurry to actually get it ratifyed because the minute there is an agreement on the rookie cap look for many veterans or ehhmm I mean agents pulling the purse strings, to sit out OTA's and other mandatory camps to leverage for restructured contracts because of the available cash. More than likely not to go into effect until after the new CBA is hammered out but it is a step in the right direction of correcting this ridculous rookie contract structure/debacle.

Ahhh, being a browns fan is miserable, can't talk any smack, can't even say we are remotely a rival for ANYONE. If the organization was properly run it would be a different story. But the big rivals are the steelers (though not so much for them anymore) the cincinnati chain gang down south and Baltimore will always be a team that will be depsised and hated in my heart.

Well, it looks like the NFL and Comcast are nearing a deal. It may help in the upcoming negotiations but I think you're right - I think the gloves are gonna come off regardless. All this tv deal will mean is that there's even more money to fight over. I sincerely hope everything goes well but I'm not holding my breath :/

[Mexal]

Gruden's replacing Kornheiser on MNF

I'm psyched. Was just remarking how much I enjoyed Chucky during the NFL draft. We'll see if that carries over to the broadcast booth, but I think he's got real potential. And as we know, a brick hanging on a string would have provided better, more nuanced, football commentary than Kornheiser so this is an especially pleasant surprise.

This makes me extremely happy as well. I can't stand Kornheiser. I don't know much about Gruden in the booth but anything can be better than Kornheiser cracking really shitty jokes.

[Slyfinger]

I <3 the Stillers. My first favorite player for them was Louis Lipps.

TIER ONE:

I hate the Cowboys.

I hate the triplets, Jerry and Jimmy, Larry Brown and Neil O'Donnell. I hate the fans... oh how I hate their fans. I even hate the cheerleaders. I hate words that start with DAL. I hate westerns because they got cowboys in em. I almost punched an 85 year old lady because she had on a blue, white, and silver color schemed outfit.

That lady was my Memaw. She was (Memaw impression)'buying peanut brittle at the Wal-Mart'.

TIER TWO:

Cleveland- Hating them is in my genetics.

Bawlmer- Crybaby cheapshot artist? Check.

San Fran- Bandwagon effect.

Green Bay- See above.

New York Giants/Jets- I blame the Yankees for this particular disdain.

New England- NO ONE DENIES THIS!!!

Oakland- I believe I'm contractually obligated to show at least a little hate toward Al and the gang.

Cincy- It is sooooooooooooo hard to hate a team so comically self-destructive.

Tennessee- They'll always be the Oilers in my eyes.

TIER THREE: Everybody else, except...

TIER FOUR:

Detroit. I can't hate em. They went 0-16. They had Barry Sanders.

[grozeng]

Almost word for word what I would say, obviously reversing Dolphins and Jets.

Damn Jets fans reading my mind. Get out of my brain!

The funny thing is I grew up on Long Island and there are a ton of Dolphins fans on Long Island. Probably a mixture of the Jets sucking and Dan Marino. But I think that contributes to the Jets/Dolphins rivalry too.

And despite hating the Fins, I do wish good things for Pennington.

[Starkess]

How can you be a fan of the Pats and the Bills (even marginally)?

Wait a minute, have I asked you this before? Seems familiar.

This does seem a little familiar! I mean, I would never ever want the Bills to do better than the Pats, obviously. But in a game in which the Pats have no stake, sure, I'd like the Bills to win. They seem like the little team that could, almost, and I just want them to do better than the Jets and Phins.

[Chuck Klingbeil]

I'm happy about the move too but I love Kornheiser on PTI. He's way more at home there than on MNF. He would never shut up about Favre on MNF and he was not nearly as funny as I find him to be on PTI. Hopefully this move also means that we get less of Bob Ryan on PTI.

Less of Bob Ryan is always more of a good thing.