What's special about the Jacksonville Jaguars?

One of the most disconcerting aspects of traveling to a country whose language you don’t know is how the most commonplace things become indecipherable. Ask a stranger for directions and she may think to explain tricky vocabulary but she’ll almost never think to describe whether the place she just referred to is a city, train station, library, cafe, or all of the above. The same is true for sports natives. A thoughtful sports fan should be willing and able to explain a rule, but he’ll almost never think of explaining who a particular team is, what sport they play, or the team’s history and characteristics. In this series, we’ll do just that — describe what is unique about each sports team.

Jacksonville Jaguars – the basics

  • Sport – Football
  • League – National Football League (NFL)
  • Conference – American Football Conference (AFC)
  • Division – AFC South
  • History – The Jacksonville Jaguars were a surprise choice to join the Carolina Panthers as expansion teams for the 1995 season. The first set of expansion teams in 20 years, Jacksonville was thought to be the least likely of the four or five cities vying for a team. The team’s miraculous nature continued early on with trips to the playoffs in four consecutive years starting with their second season in 1996. Since 2000, the miracles went dry and the team has been among the worst in the league.
  • Championships – The Jaguars have never won a championship.
  • Rivals – The Jaguars fiercest on-field rivalry is with the Tennessee Titans, fellow members of the AFC South. Their fiercest off-field rivalry is with the Carolina Panthers, who came into the league at the same time the Jaguars did. The drawing of a jaguar in the team’s logo has a teal tongue (the color of the Panthers) to show how the Jaguars will kill and eat the Panthers franchise.

The Jaguars came out of the gate fast and were almost instantly a more than respectable NFL franchise. That type of success was virtually unprecedented for an expansion team and it certainly seems like whatever deal with whatever entity or deity the Jaguars made to achieve it has backfired over the past fifteen years. Since 2000 the Jaguars have sunk into the deepest despair possible and their team frequently tops lists of teams rumored to be moving to Los Angeles or even London. The words most commonly used in association with the team these days are “futility” and “dismal.”

Here is the their winning percentage in each season since their inception:

Who are some notable players or figures from the Jacksonville Jaguars?

Shahid Khan purchased the Jacksonville Jaguars in January, 2012 for an estimated $760 million. That’s not peanuts, but it’s also not pie for the naturalized Pakistani-American Khan whose net worth is around $4.6 billion. He also owns the British Premier League soccer team, Fulham F.C. Khan is a rare example of the American Dream at work. Having started working at an automotive parts company while in college, he eventually rose to start his own similar company which eventually purchased and consolidated the original one. The resulting company, Flex-N-Gate manufactures bumpers for the vast majority of cars in the market. Khan is the first ethnic minority to own an NFL team.

Where do the Jacksonville Jaguars play?

The blind date test

Imagine you’re about to go on a blind date and all you know about the person is that he or she is a Jacksonville Jaguars fan. Here’s what you can guess about that person. Remember that all fans are unique. We bear no responsibility for any misunderstandings we engender. Trust but verify.

Your date has a well-practiced ability to roll with the punches. Once you’re in a relationship with them, they’ll be there for you no matter what happens in your life.

What will make a Jacksonville Jaguars fan squirm?

Even with a bunch of other teams rumored to be potentially moving to L.A. or elsewhere, Jags fans are more worried than most. Casually mention how interesting you think it would be for the Jaguars to move to London.

Buy Jacksonville Jaguars Swag!

What do the Jacksonville Jaguars look like?

Team colors are black, teal, gold, and white. Their current uniforms look like this.

Jacksonville Jaguars Uniforms

Current and recent teams

Coming soon — a post about the 2015 Jacksonville Jaguars including an overview of their most interesting characters as well as what fans expect from the team this year.

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