NFL Debate #84 - Your Team is Gone!

[T-Bonizzle]

Here's the scenario kids. Your favorite team leaves town and gives the city and the entire fan base the middle finger on the way out to hook up with a hotter city...so now you probably need to become a fan of a new team. (not unlike the situation many Rams fans find themselves in) Do you find a new team? Why? Who is your new team and why? What criteria will you pick to decide who that new team is?

GOGOGOGOGO

[Cory]

Not being from Philadelphia the abandonment of the city wouldn't hit as hard as many of the other fans. I've come to like quite a few players on the team enough so that I'd probably just cheer for the newest installation of the franchise.

I think if you're looking for a new team there's a few golden rules (I'll exclude the Eagles)

1. Dont pick a bandwagon team. Be it a team that has just got good or the most popular team in your city if you don't have a franchise. Patriots, Steelers, Broncos, Cowboys, Panthers, Packers, Bears and Seahawks would fall into bandwagon teams in terms of success and/or popularity historically.....i'd consider Cardinals a fringe team and don't be that guy who starts to likes the Giants and tries to rub their 2 recent super bowls in your face, Ravens too.

2. Dont pick a team that's shit. This is another foul....the hipster way of choosing a team. Picking a team that was good 50+ years ago or a team that's never been good. Not only is it obvious that you picked them because they suck, but it's going to be more pain in the ass than its worth. Gear is going to be hard to find and you're going to get 1-2 nationally televised games a year....so get ready to pay for Sunday ticket or streaming every week. Jets, Bills, Dolphins, Browns, Chargers, Colts, Titans, Lions, 49ers, Bucs (even tho I think the Bucs/Jets/Titans are on the rise)

3. Find the middle ground. I think if you're picking a new team you can either go with a team that's on the rise like Jaguars, Texans, Raiders, Redskins, Vikings, Rams or a team that's solid enough that you can almost expect playoff ball like Bengals, Chiefs, Saints, Falcons.

Conclusion:

Personally I'd have it narrowed down to: Jags, Texans, Raiders and Vikings. The Vikings are maybe the most win now of the group with AP assumed to be slowing down, and the Texans have JJ Watt so if you say you're a new Texans fan someone will just say "oh just cause they have JJ Watt". Jaguars and Raiders are left. I think both these teams are exciting and have lots of upside but to where the Jaguars are younger....they have a god awful market.....games are tough to catch legally and their jerseys are awful.

Raiders have as classic a jersey as you want and west coast so their games are more likely to be on TV since half of their games will be the mid-day ones. Their fan gear is iconic from the 80s-90s and they're a team with great history but long enough away that they're certainly not a bandwagon team. They have a lot of talented players with age on the right side of 30 and recently signed a few key veterans than can help them get over the hump.  Derek Carr and Amari Cooper are the next Dalton/Green combo and Khalil Mack is one more season away from being a superstar. Reggie McKenzie drafts very well (thank god Al Davis era is over) and they have a 265lb kicker named Seabass who once legitimately believed he could make a 80 yard field goal.

So to pick my team after the Philadelphia Eagles moved, my choice is the [spoiler]______ Eagles. Fletcher Cox FTW![/spoiler]


Great question Boner.

[Mike Powers]

I'd stick with my team.

[¿PapaPancho?]

Pick whoever the fuck you want

[Gravedigger]

Considering I live about 3000 miles from my favorite squad, and they've moved already, I don't care. They're my squad....

And it's Oakland, and I'd LOVE to see the Las Vegas Raiders happen...

[¿PapaPancho?]

Not being from Philadelphia the abandonment of the city wouldn't hit as hard as many of the other fans. I've come to like quite a few players on the team enough so that I'd probably just cheer for the newest installation of the franchise.

I think if you're looking for a new team there's a few golden rules (I'll exclude the Eagles)

1. Dont pick a bandwagon team. Be it a team that has just got good or the most popular team in your city if you don't have a franchise. Patriots, Steelers, Broncos, Cowboys, Panthers, Packers, Bears and Seahawks would fall into bandwagon teams in terms of success and/or popularity historically.....i'd consider Cardinals a fringe team and don't be that guy who starts to likes the Giants and tries to rub their 2 recent super bowls in your face, Ravens too.

2. Dont pick a team that's shit. This is another foul....the hipster way of choosing a team. Picking a team that was good 50+ years ago or a team that's never been good. Not only is it obvious that you picked them because they suck, but it's going to be more pain in the ass than its worth. Gear is going to be hard to find and you're going to get 1-2 nationally televised games a year....so get ready to pay for Sunday ticket or streaming every week. Jets, Bills, Dolphins, Browns, Chargers, Colts, Titans, Lions, 49ers, Bucs (even tho I think the Bucs/Jets/Titans are on the rise)

3. Find the middle ground. I think if you're picking a new team you can either go with a team that's on the rise like Jaguars, Texans, Raiders, Redskins, Vikings, Rams or a team that's solid enough that you can almost expect playoff ball like Bengals, Chiefs, Saints, Falcons.

Conclusion:

Personally I'd have it narrowed down to: Jags, Texans, Raiders and Vikings. The Vikings are maybe the most win now of the group with AP assumed to be slowing down, and the Texans have JJ Watt so if you say you're a new Texans fan someone will just say "oh just cause they have JJ Watt". Jaguars and Raiders are left. I think both these teams are exciting and have lots of upside but to where the Jaguars are younger....they have a god awful market.....games are tough to catch legally and their jerseys are awful.

Raiders have as classic a jersey as you want and west coast so their games are more likely to be on TV since half of their games will be the mid-day ones. Their fan gear is iconic from the 80s-90s and they're a team with great history but long enough away that they're certainly not a bandwagon team. They have a lot of talented players with age on the right side of 30 and recently signed a few key veterans than can help them get over the hump.  Derek Carr and Amari Cooper are the next Dalton/Green combo and Khalil Mack is one more season away from being a superstar. Reggie McKenzie drafts very well (thank god Al Davis era is over) and they have a 265lb kicker named Seabass who once legitimately believed he could make a 80 yard field goal.

So to pick my team after the Philadelphia Eagles moved, my choice is the [spoiler]______ Eagles. Fletcher Cox FTW![/spoiler]


Great question Boner.

This is such a ridiculous answer it boggles my mind.

[Gates]

The closest team that I consider to be "my team" to cheer for is the Bills. If they moved, I probably wouldn't bat an eye. It would suck not being able to go to games easily, but I wouldn't be upset or distraught over it. I would likely just find another team that interests me and cheer for them. Whether that's because I've got fantasy players on that team I want to cheer for, because they've been good for the last little while, or because they're so terrible I figure they could use a 5th fan, I'd move on from the Bills, wherever they went.

Now, if you asked me this 5-10 years ago when there was a minor chance the Bills would consider moving to Toronto, I'd probably have said I would still cheer for them, especially since they moved closer. But since that ain't happening, it would be time for me to find a new team.

[Cory]

This is such a ridiculous answer it boggles my mind.

lol

[Captain Metro]

I've always seen Cory as someone who's a fan of the Bedlam Bedpans given he can identify with their players ...

[T-Bonizzle]

The premise also includes the organization flipping off the fanbase on their way out.

[Mike Powers]

I'd stick with my team.

[Doug E Fresh]

For someone who has been through this already (Cleveland), I spent 3 years as a Bills fan. They actually offered fans with valid Ohio IDs discounts on tickets for driving to their stadium between 96-98. And the Canadians who go to their games are really nice!

[Cory]

I've always seen Cory as someone who's a fan of the Bedlam Bedpans given he can identify with their players ...

lmao dudes a clown.