nfl Archives - Page 11 of 35

What do I need to know about the 2015 Atlanta Falcons?

National Football League (NFL) previews abound at this time of year. We’re close to the start of the 2015 NFL season and basically everyone in the sports world is in a tizzy, anticipating another great season of the country’s favorite sport. Whether you’re a beginning NFL fan, the family member, friend or partner of an NFL fan, or simply someone who doesn’t follow the league during the offseason, our team previews should get you ready for the season to begin.

If you’re curious about the history and culture surrounding the team, and not just the plot and characters of this edition of the team, read What’s special about the Atlanta Falcons?

How are Atlanta Falcons fans feeling heading into the 2015 NFL season?

Confident but trying not to jinx anything

When are the Atlanta Falcons on national television?

Use this to know when you should host a party with locally (or favorite team-ily) themed food!

Week 1 – vs. the Philadelphia Eagles on Mon, Sep 14 at 07:10 PM.
Week 6 – vs. the New Orleans Saints on Thu, Oct 15 at 08:25 PM.

When is the Atlanta Falcons bye week?

Use this to know when to plan that camping trip you’ve been wanting to go on.

Week 10

What was the Atlanta Falcons record last season, in 2014?

Expressed as: wins – losses – ties (if any).

6 – 10

Who are the Atlanta Falcons most important departed characters?

Head coach of the Falcons since 2008, Mike Smith was fired after last year’s disappointing 6-10 record. The Falcons under Smith went to the playoffs four times in his first five years — a very impressive feat. Since the NFL playoffs, with their single elimination games, are basically a crap-shoot, it’s not hard to feel sympathy for Smith. How differently would he be regarded if the Falcons had lucked into even a single Super Bowl appearance? As it is, he’s remembered (for now) as a relatively bland manager.

Who are the Atlanta Falcons most important new characters?

Smith is replaced by a man who no one would call bland. Dan Quinn, the new head coach of the Falcons, was defensive coordinator for the brash and dominating defense of the Seattle Seahawks for the past two years. In both of those years, the Seahawks advanced to the Super Bowl, thanks in large part to the strength of their defense. A former defensive end and record-setting hammer thrower, Quinn is a dominating presence. Quinn gets a new toy to play with in linebacker Vic Beasley, who the team selected eighth overall in this year’s draft.

Who are the Atlanta Falcons most important characters?

When a team hires a defensive coach as their head coach, they’re making a statement about which side of the ball they feel needs more work. Quarterback Matt Ryan is a big reason why the powers that be in Atlanta felt they could let the offense fend for itself for a little while. Ryan’s public persona is bland but his play is anything but that. For the Falcons to succeed this year, Ryan will have to continue to improve. At age 30, he’s closing in on his peak years as a quarterback.

What is the most pivotal pivot point for the 2015 Atlanta Falcons?

Last year’s defense was one of the very worst in the league. If the new characters on defense can drag the rest of their defensive teammates from terrible to even just bad, the team has a good chance at success.

How will the 2015 Atlanta Falcons fare?

The defense will improve from terrible to bad, the offense will be even better than it has been and the Falcons will win their division.

What do I need to know about the 2015 Arizona Cardinals?

If you’re curious about the history and culture surrounding the team, and not just the plot and characters of this edition of the team, read What’s special about the Arizona Cardinals?

How are Arizona Cardinals fans feeling heading into the 2015 NFL season?

Trepidatious

When are the Arizona Cardinals on national television?

Use this to know when you should host a party with locally (or favorite team-ily) themed food!

Week 7 – vs. the Baltimore Ravens on Mon, Oct 26 at 08:30 PM.
Week 10 – vs. the Seattle Seahawks on Sun, Nov 15 at 08:30 PM.
Week 14 – vs. the Minnesota Vikings on Thu, Dec 10 at 08:25 PM.

When is the Arizona Cardinals bye week?

Use this to know when to plan that camping trip you’ve been wanting to go on.

Week 9

What was the Arizona Cardinals record last season, in 2014?

Expressed as wins – losses – ties (if any).

11 – 5

Who are the Arizona Cardinals most important departed characters?

Todd Bowles: defensive coordinator for the Cardinals in each of the last two years, Bowles left this Spring for a head coaching position in Atlanta. Bowles was a bit of a magician during his time with the Cardinals, keeping his defense aggressive and effective despite changing personel and large numbers of injuries. Cardinals fans are a little scared about how much his loss will hurt the team.

Who are the Arizona Cardinals most important new characters?

The Achilles Heel for last year’s Cardinals was that they were unable to keep a quarterback upright and healthy because their offensive line was so poor. They’ve tried to address that problem by signing veteran guard Mike Iupati from the San Francisco 49ers and drafted Tackle D.J. Humphries from Florida in the 24th pick of the first round. Neither of these moves will launch the offensive line to stardom, but the hope is that they shift it from terrible to mediocre.

Who are the Arizona Cardinals most important characters?

Head Coach Bruce Arians is almost always the biggest character in the room. He’s an iconoclast who wears his weirdness literally on his head. He’s famous for wearing kangol hats. When it comes to football, he’s ready to try just about anything that might work but he has some clear preferences. On offense, he wants to throw the ball farther down the field more often than any other coach in the league. This high-risk, high-reward strategy asks a lot of the team’s quarterbacks and offensive linemen, which has been a problem in the last two years.

What is the most pivotal pivot point for the 2015 Arizona Cardinals?

Will the offensive line improve enough to keep the Cardinals quarterback of choice, 35-year old Carson Palmer, survivor of two torn ACLs and a damaged nerve in his shoulder already, healthy enough to play out the season?

How will the 2015 Arizona Cardinals fare?

Nah… the line will be better but Palmer will probably get injured anyway. That’s football, I guess, but it does feel a little tragic. Arizona won’t have as good of a record as last year.

Deflategate: How Brady and the NFL have already won

Today or tomorrow, U.S. District Court Judge Richard M. Berman will rule in the legal case between quarterback Tom Brady of the New England Patriots and the National Football League which wants to suspend him for four games for participating in or having knowledge of the illicit deflation of some of the footballs the Patriots played offense with during the AFC Championship game last spring or at least of not having cooperated fully in the NFL’s investigation of the incident. When Judge Berman rules, he will effectively write the ending of a saga that has lasted throughout the NFL’s offseason. There may be appeals after this, but because the new season starts in a week, they probably won’t last long or be hotly followed. Judge Berman can rule in any of three ways. He could uphold the NFL’s suspension of Brady, he could eliminate the suspension, or he could reduce the penalty to a shorter suspension or even just a fine.

In days past, this second paragraph would have been a bulleted list of the outcomes with a short explanation of what to say about each possible outcome. This is still a practical way to think about preparing for the Deflategate ruling, but not the most meaningful one. That’s because, with the ruling (finally) approaching, it seems clear that regardless of the legal outcome, the outcome in popular opinion has already settled inextricably into a simple mold: both sides have won.

Tom Brady and the Patriots have won the battle of public opinion. When the Deflategate controversy first broke, most people believed that Brady or the Patriots had doctored the footballs. This was partially because the NFL and some media outlets were telling the public that this was true but also just because it seemed like something the Patriots and Brady would do. Everyone knows the Patriots are shady! Believing that they would be shady in this particular way was a small leap for most non-Patriot fan football fans. Throughout the spring and summer, the Patriots waged a fairly impressive war for public opinion, starting with Bellichick’s mildly bizarre foray into the science of gasses and continuing as Brady appealed the NFL’s decision and then took the league to court. In court, Judge Berman has been publicly quite critical of the NFL’s handling of the situation. By now, most people either believe that the balls were never deflated, or that if they were, Brady had nothing to do with it, or at least that the NFL’s investigation and ruling on the matter has been so out of proportion to the crime as to render the crime itself insignificant. People on the other side of the issue are either biased fans of rival teams or moralizing, holier-than-thou teetotalers.

The NFL has lost in the court of public opinion, so how can they also have won? Back in February, I asked whether the entire Deflategate controversy was a clever piece of misdirection on the NFL’s part to keep the football world talking about balls instead of brain injuries. Perhaps Deflategate was something the NFL was using to keep football fans and media from writing about the far more disturbing and threatening twin issues of brain injury and domestic violence that should have dominated the football conversation in the fallow period leading up to the Super Bowl. I was wrong — we were going to keep talking about Deflategate all through the offseason, but maybe I was also right. The NFL is in a tight spot when it comes to brain injuries. After years (maybe decades) of denying their impact on players, the league now needs to find a way to address the causes and consequences of brain injury and concussion before it robs them of their workforce and consumer base in any meaningful way. The NFL has not yet come up with any realistic solutions to address the problem (maybe they should read my proposed solution!) The football world would have been focused completely on brain injuries, especially when as amazing a focal point as the retirement of 24 year-old linebacker Chris Borland appeared, but instead it talked about deflated balls and morality all summer. Regardless of how bad the NFL looks on those topics, they are not a threat to football in the way that brain injuries are. By keeping the Deflategate “scandal” going all summer, the NFL has won another season to solve the concussion crisis. That’s a victory for them too.

Judge Berman’s ruling will be announced soon and what it is will seem like a referendum on who “won” the Deflategate scandal. If the suspension is upheld, it will seem like the NFL won. If it is eliminated, it will seem like Brady and the Patriots won. If Brady’s penalty is reduced but not eliminated, it may seem like the two sides fought to a draw. This will be an illusion. Regardless of the Judge’s ruling, both sides have already won.

Dear Sports Fan's Football Fan and Friend Fantasy Football League

Joining a fantasy football league can be an intimidating prospect. It’s a big commitment – usually 16 weeks. Fantasy football seems to require a great deal of knowledge about and passion for football. Then, you add a level of game-play on top of that. Fantasy football is also challenging from a social perspective. Leagues are closed societies with their own culture and expected behavior. The people in them look like they are having a ton of fun but it’s almost impossible to share their enjoyment if you’re not on the inside. All of this adds up to making fantasy football a difficult thing for beginners to break into. This fall, we’re going to try to find a soluton!

Dear Sports Fan’s Football Fan and Friend Fantasy Football League (the DSFFFFFFL for short) is a brand new kind of fantasy football league. Teams will be owned and operated by pairs of people: one a football and fantasy football veteran; the other, someone who is brand new to fantasy football. Throughout the process, we’ll be open and attentive to explaining anything that needs explaining. Both sides will learn a lot and have fun too! I’ll write about the league in Dear Sports Fan and will likely ask for each pair of owners to do a podcast with me about the experience sometime during the year.

If you’ve ever wanted to play fantasy football but were afraid to try, find an experienced friend of yours and get her to join with you.
If you’re an experienced fantasy owner who has always wanted to share the experience with a friend of yours, invite him to join the DSFFFFFFL.

Send an email to dearsportsfan@gmail.com with a little bit of information about who each of you is and how you know each other. We will be taking applicants until Saturday, August 29.

Two fans: Kansas City Chiefs and Seattle Seahawks

I recently wrote posts for all 32 NFL teams, detailing what is special about each team. When I posted the articles on the Kansas City Chiefs and Seattle Seahawks, two fans began to squabble on Twitter. They were Brian Reich, a fan of the Seattle Seahawks, and Doug Weinbrenner, a Kansas City Chiefs fan. I took the opportunity of asking them to be on a podcast to tell me more about themselves and their favorite teams. Here is what they said.

What do people assume about you because you’re a ____ fan?

That I wear bad Zubaz pants and that my team will always lose in the playoffs
That I’m a fair weather fan who started rooting for the Seahawks during the past five years

What do you assume about other fans of your team?

That they are a life-long Seattle resident, and therefore nicer and more well balanced than other fans.
That they are year-round, die-hard fans.

What are some thing you do to rile the other person up about football?

Brian kills with kindness. Sends celebratory notes when something goes well for the Chiefs. Of course, this bugs Doug more than if Brian had done the opposite.
Doug has thin skin as a Chiefs fan, so he tends to punch back even when no punches are thrown. Clings to small victories, like the Chiefs win over the Seahawks in the regular season last year, and the current stadium noise World Record.

What’s one way that following your team has changed your attitude about the rest of life?

Doug uses tons of sports analogies in his professional life

Fill in the blank questions:

Winning is great, but when my team loses, _____.

I’m curled in a corner, unable to perform basic life functions.
My children hide.

____ is my favorite time of the week during football season.

Any day ending in “y”
Monday – because as much as enjoy watching the games, it can be very stressful. There’s something nice about stepping away from the emotion and processing what happened.

People should root for my team because ____.

The Seahawks are the most interesting franchise.
The Chiefs were one of the few teams that gave birth to football as we know it today.

What's special about the Pittsburgh Steelers?

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.

Pittsburgh Steelers – the basics

Sport – Football
League – National Football League (NFL)
Conference – American Football Conference (AFC)
Division – AFC North
History – That the Pittsburgh Steelers would go on to win more championships in the modern era than any other team would have come as a giant surprise to fans of the team during its first few decades. Founded in 1933 as the Pittsburgh Pirates (there was already a baseball team by that name), the football team didn’t have a winning season throughout the 1930s. In 1940, they renamed themselves the Steelers but things didn’t get any better in that decade. During World War II, the team merged briefly and temporarily with the Philadelphia Eagles (the Steagles) for one season and the Chicago Cardinals (derisively, the Carpets) for another. It wasn’t until 1970 that things got going for the Steelers, but then they started making up for lost time and have been a model winning franchise ever since. The team has been owned by a single family, the Rooneys, for its entire history.
Championships – The Steelers have won six Super Bowls, more than any other franchise. Their victories came in 1974, 1975, 1978, 1979, 2005, and 2008.
Rivals – The Steelers rivals are the three other teams that play in the AFC North, the Cleveland Browns, Cincinnati Bengals, and Baltimore Ravens. Unlike other divisions though, these rivalries run very, very deep.

The Steelers logo projects strength, intimidation, winning, and a very old but modern tradition. The Steelers don’t have a crusty traditional feel like some of the teams that won a lot earlier in their histories. Instead, their tradition is firmly planted in today’s NFL. Tough but not unintellectual. Aggressive but not crazy. The Steelers of the past 45 years have been built around supremely stifling defenses but not to the complete detriment of their offense.

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

Who are some notable players or figures from the Pittsburgh Steelers?

Art Rooney and Dan Rooney, the grandfather and father of current Steelers owner, Art Rooney II were the first two owners of the Steelers. Art was an athlete himself, once winner of an amateur boxing belt in 1918! In 1933, he paid $2,500 to the NFL for the right to create an NFL franchise in Pittsburgh. He also loved baseball and reportedly helped support a Negro League team in Pittsburgh. Called “the Chief” and renwoned as the first citizen of Pittsburgh, Art died in 1988. Art’s son, Dan, took over as owner and team president of the Steelers in 1975 and was instrumental in many of the Steelers greatest victories. As an owner, he was an active part of league politics and policy and helped design the salary cap as well as settle the 1982 player’s strike. Art and Dan both were on the front edge of racial equality in football and Dan led the effort to implement a policy that requires teams to interview at least one minority head coaching candidate whenever they have an opening. That rule is called the Rooney rule. Dan currently serves as United States ambassador to Ireland.

Dick LeBeau was one of the best cornerbacks in football during his time in the NFL with the Detroit Lions from 1959 to 1972. After his retirement, he went straight into coaching, and made his name as a fine coach of special teams and defensive positional groups. He landed in Pittsburgh in 1992 and coached as an assistant coach there until 1996. He returned from 2004 to 2014. All together, LeBeau has been an active player or coach in the NFL for the last 57 consecutive seasons. And at the age of 77, he’s still going strong as an assistant head coach of the Tennessee Titans. LeBeau is credited with inventing the zone blitz, an extremely effective and now common maneuver in which a little dude who the offense thinks is going to cover a wide receiver, instead tries to sack the quarterback while a big dude who the offense thinks is going to try to sack the quarterback drops back to cover a wide receiver. The result is often a quick throw from the quarterback intended for the receiver, who he believes will be uncovered, but which instead is an easy interception for the big dude. Surprise!

Where do the Pittsburgh Steelers 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 Pittsburgh Steelers 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 will expect to win at every game you play.

What will make a Pittsburgh Steelers fan squirm?

Pose the hypothetical question of what would have happened had quarterback Ben Roethlisberger been accused of sexual assault in 2015 instead of 2008.

Buy Pittsburgh Steelers Swag!

What do the Pittsburgh Steelers look like?

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

Current and recent teams

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

What's special about the Cleveland Browns?

Cleveland Browns – the basics

Sport – Football
League – National Football League (NFL)
Conference – American Football Conference (AFC)
Division – AFC North
History – The Cleveland Browns have one of the more bizarre histories in sports history. They were founded in 1944 and named after their first head coach, Paul Brown, who later spread rumors of alternative sources for the name. The team began play in 1946 in the AAFC or All American Football Conference, a rival league to the NFL. In 1950 the team switched to the NFL. The team operated in Cleveland until 1996 when their then owner, Art Modell, moved the team to Baltimore. As opposed to every other team in NFL history that has moved, the city of Cleveland managed to hold on to its team’s name and history in a legal settlement and also got a guarantee from the NFL that a new team would be installed within four years and would take on the mantle of the old Browns. This came to pass in 1999 when the city was awarded an expansion team. So, the history of the Browns is bifurcated by a period of four years without football from 1996 to 1999.
Championships – The Browns won AAFC Championships in each of its four years in the league and then won an NFL championship in 1950, the first year in that league, as well. The Browns won three more NFL championships in 1954, 1955, and 1964 but haven’t won any in the Super Bowl era.
Rivals – The Browns have great rivalries with each of the teams in its division, and for good reason. The Cincinnati Bengals were started partially out of spite for the Browns by then ex-Browns coach, Paul Brown. The Baltimore Ravens are the team that once was the Browns before the Browns were born again. And the Pittsburgh Steelers are the big brother that won’t stop beating them.

It’s a real shame that many NFL football fans only associate the Browns name with the newer edition of the team. The new Browns have faced similar issues to many expansion teams. It’s hard to build a winning roster and culture from scratch. The shame is that in all the commotion with moving the team to Baltimore and then recreating it in Cleveland, a proud, albeit not entirely successful franchise has been reduced to a laughingstock.

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

Who are some notable players or figures from the Cleveland Browns?

Otto Graham is the answer to the question, “Wait, the Browns went to the championship game every year between 1946 and 1955 and won seven of them… who the heck was their quarterback?” Graham was one of the pioneers of the position. At the end of his career, in 1955, he left the Browns with a 114–20–4 record. He still holds the record for longest average pass completion. Graham was a renaissance man who was proficient as an instrumentalist on piano, violin, french horn, and cornet. He was also a great basketball player.

Jim Brown was the game’s greatest running back during his short career with the Cleveland Browns. Drafted by the Browns with the sixth overall pick in the 1957 NFL draft, Brown played his entire nine year career in Cleveland, where he set many, many records, even career records for running backs despite his abbreviated career. Brown retired abruptly before the 1966 season due to a disagreement with then owner, Art Modell. Modell was annoyed that Brown had missed part of training camp because of his role as an actor in the the movie The Dirty Dozen. Brown got annoyed (or more) at Modell and simply retired from football at the age of 29. Since his retirement, Brown has remained a cultural figure, particularly as a strong voice for racial justice.

Where do the Cleveland Browns 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 Cleveland Browns 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.

The experience of having had their team taken away, only to have it come back reinforced the lesson that good things come to those who wait. Of course, if they think the new edition of their team is a good thing, you’re in luck — you’ve got an optimist on your hands!

What will make a Cleveland Browns fan squirm?

Mention Orlando Brown (yes, another Brown), nicknamed Zeus, who had his career with the Browns shortened in a terrible accident when an official’s penalty flag hit him in the eye and nearly blinded him. Tragic.

Buy Cleveland Browns Swag!

What do the Cleveland Browns look like?

Team colors are orange, brown, and white. Their current uniforms look like this.

Current and recent teams

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

What's special about the Cincinnati Bengals?

Cincinnati Bengals – the basics

Sport – Football
League – National Football League (NFL)
Conference – American Football Conference (AFC)
Division – AFC North
History – The Cincinnati Bengals were started in 1966 by an unhappy ex-head coach of the nearby Cleveland Browns. He pursued his revenge by starting a team in the same state as Cleveland and wearing the same exact shade of orange. From those inauspicious roots, the Bengals, one of the least successful and most dysfunctional teams in all of football, was born.
Championships – The Bengals have never won a championship.
Rivals – Born out of a rivalry with the Cleveland Browns, the Bengals continue to carry that grudge now that the teams play twice a year within the AFC North division. The Pittsburgh Steelers are the team’s other primary rival, even though they’ve had the losing end of the matchup 56 out of the 90 times the teams have played.

The Bengals are often referred to as the “Bungles” and, although that’s a bad joke, it’s not a bad description. The Bengals have been consistently bad throughout most of their history. They’ve made the Super Bowl twice, in 1991 and 1998 but lost both times to the San Francisco 49ers. From 1991 through 2008, the team only recorded a single winning season. The Bengals have been known for their unwillingness to spend money on players or player “luxuries” like decent practice fields and equipment. They also have a reputation for employing players who get into legal trouble. Basically, they’re a pretty giant pile of mess most of the time.

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

Who are some notable players or figures from the Cincinnati Bengals?

Anthony Munoz was drafted with the third overall pick of the 1980 draft. He played on the Bengals offensive line for his entire 13 season career and was one of the most popular and successful Bengals of his era. He was selected to 11 Pro Bowls in that time and was also a three time offensive lineman of the year and won both the Walter Peyton Man of the Year award and the Bart Starr Man of the Year award. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1998.

Paul Brown is the founding father of the Cincinnati Bengals. The former coach of the Cleveland Browns (who were named after him!), Brown was fired in 1963. By 1968 he had cofounded the Bengals and was firmly installed as their first head coach. He was an innovator in many aspects of the game. According to Wikipedia, he “was the first coach to use game film to scout opponents, hire a full-time staff of assistants, and test players on their knowledge of a playbook. He invented the modern face mask, the taxi squad and the draw play. He also played a role in breaking professional football’s color barrier, bringing some of the first African-Americans to play pro football in the modern era onto his teams.” Brown retired in 1975 and was succeeded in his ownership capacity by his son, Mike Brown, the current owner of the team.

Where do the Cincinnati Bengals 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 Cincinnati Bengals 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 is either from Cincinnati or really, really has a thing for cat-print clothing. The first should be easy to check. The second… may require some undercover investigation…

What will make a Cincinnati Bengals fan squirm?

Claim that the Bengal’s chant, “Who Dey?” is derivative of the New Orleans Saints’ “Who Dat?” Shockingly it seems as though the two developed in a strange case of independent convergent linguistic evolution, but that doesn’t stop people from squabbling over who had it first.

Buy Cincinnati Bengals Swag!

What do the Cincinnati Bengals look like?

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

Current and recent teams

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

What's special about the Baltimore Ravens?

Baltimore Ravens – the basics

Sport – Football
League – National Football League (NFL)
Conference – American Football Conference (AFC)
Division – AFC North
History – The Baltimore Ravens have one of the most interesting creation stories in the NFL. After failing in several attempts to land an expansion franchise, the city convinced the owner of the Cleveland Browns to move his team to Baltimore for the 1996 season. Baltimore football fans felt understandably queasy about taking another city’s team, especially because so many of them were still angry that their original team had moved to Indianapolis in 1984. Cleveland residents were not so happy either. As part of a settlement with the NFL, the team moving to Baltimore promised to leave its name, colors, and its history in Cleveland and start anew in Baltimore. The NFL promised to replace the Browns in Cleveland within three years. So, the Ravens began in Baltimore with an already established set of players, but otherwise just like a new expansion team.
Championships – The Ravens have won two Super Bowls, one in 2000 and one in 2012.
Rivals – The Ravens rivalry with the Pittsburgh Steelers is the most physically intense rivalry of the 2000s. Games between the two teams feel viscerally different from the point of view of a spectator and I would imagine to the players as well.

The Ravens have a very distinct image. They’re loud, aggressive, and physical. Like the Chicago Bears, their teams lean towards great defenses that can carry mediocre offenses deep into the playoffs. Unlike the Bears though, the formula has worked for the Ravens, twice in their short history. The Ravens are known throughout the league as being very smart operators from a management and player development standpoint. When they reach a point at which other teams would have to go through several years of losing while they rebuild their rosters, the Ravens seem to be able to reload quickly and keep winning. After three losing seasons to start the team’s time in Baltimore, they only had another three in the next fifteen years.

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

Who are some notable players or figures from the Baltimore Ravens?

Ray Lewis was the face of the Ravens franchise and the heart of their defense for most of his 17-year career with the Baltimore Ravens. Lewis was a brilliant middle linebacker and a charismatic leader. During the prime of his career, from 1998 to 2001, the Ravens had a streak of 51 games in which they didn’t allow a single player from an opposing team to rush for 100 yards. Lewis’ career was marred by an indictment for murder in 2000. The charges against Lewis were eventually dropped to a lower offense after he agreed to testify against two other people accused of the crime. Lewis’ public image took a hit but bounced back a few years later. Lewis is once again a very popular figure and a big part of ESPN’s NFL coverage.

Jonathan Ogden was drafted as the fourth overall pick by the Ravens in their inaugural 1996 draft. It was a great pick for the team. One of the tallest players in NFL history, the 6’9″ and 345 pound Ogden manned the left side of Baltimore’s offensive line for the next twelve years. An almost impossibly good player, starting in 1997, Ogden was voted into the Pro Bowl every year until he retired in 2007. He was elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2013 and became the first honoree to have played his entire career with the Ravens.

Where do the Baltimore Ravens 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 Baltimore Ravens 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 will tell you exactly what he or she thinks of those new pants you’re wearing. Ravens fans don’t hold back easily or often.

What will make a Baltimore Ravens fan squirm?

Last year’s controversy over Ray Rice will make most Ravens fans squirm in their seats. Through no fault of their own, they rooted for him for years and years, and that doesn’t feel good retroactively.

Buy Baltimore Ravens Swag!

What do the Baltimore Ravens look like?

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

Current and recent teams

A post about the 2015 Baltimore Ravens including an overview of their most interesting characters as well as what fans expect from the team this year.

What's special about the Minnesota Vikings?

Minnesota Vikings – the basics

Sport – Football
League – National Football League (NFL)
Conference – National Football Conference (NFC)
Division – NFC North
History – The Minnesota Vikings were almost a founding member of the upstart American Football League before the NFL pounced on them and made them an offer they couldn’t refuse to become the league’s 14th franchise in 1961. Since then, they’ve managed to be very good (they have the third highest winning percentage in the NFL since 1961) without being very successful.
Championships – The won an NFL championship in 1969, the last year before the AFL merged with the NFL. Since then, they’ve been to the playoffs 25 times and the Super Bowl four times without ever winning another championship.
Rivals – The Vikings may be the new kid on the block in the NFC North with the Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions, and Chicago Bears, but that hasn’t stopped them from developing violent rivalries with all three.

The Vikings are the most successful failures in the NFL. Only the Buffalo Bills, with their four straight Super Bowl appearances (but no wins), rival the Vikings in pathos. They Vikings are almost always good, often very good, but always frustrating to their fans. They are a colorful team in terms of personality and uniform. Their name reflects the Scandinavian heritage of many people in the Minnesota area and their mascot is currently a dude named Joseph Juranitch who holds the World Record for fastest beard shaving with an ax.

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

Who are some notable players or figures from the Minnesota Vikings?

Fran Tarkenton is a rare character. His Wikipedia page lists him as a football quarterback, television personality, and computer software executive. Tarkenton’s first game was the Vikings first game in 1961. He threw for four touchdowns. Rare for his time (and his race, but that’s another story with a long and racially complicated history) Tarkenton would frequently run with the ball which got him some great nicknames: “The Mad Scrambler,” “Frantic Fran,” and “Scramblin’ Fran” and a lot of bruises. He played for the Vikings from 1961 to 1966 and then, after a one year stay with the New York Giants, from 1972 to 1978. When he retired, he held most major quarterback records. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1986.

Randy Moss was a phenomenal wide receiver who burst onto the NFL scene in 1998 after a productive and controversial college career at Marshall University. He was the subject of a compelling documentary called Rand University which I wrote about in 2014. Moss’ time with the Vikings, from 1998 to 2004 were the highlight of his career (plus one ridiculous season with the New England Patriots in 2007) and brought a lot of casual fans into football and made a lot of football fans root for the Vikings. For those of us where were teenagers at the peak of Moss’ talents, he will always be the greatest receiver ever in our minds.

Where do the Minnesota Vikings 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 Minnesota Vikings 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 is a football fan who wears purple proudly. You may associate purple with Prince but Prince associates purple with the Vikings. He’s a giant fan. Is your date a Prince fan in addition to being a Vikings fan? If so, he or she might be a keeper.

What will make a Minnesota Vikings fan squirm?

No Super Bowl wins? 25 playoff appearances since 1970? Four Super Bowl appearances? And no wins?

Buy Minnesota Vikings Swag!

What do the Minnesota Vikings look like?

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

Current and recent teams

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