Smuts' NFL Thread

[Manley Farrington-Brown]

27 minutes ago, Scotch said:

Yeah, being a casual fan is fine. I'd just make sure not to like both teams of a rivalry so stay clear of supporting the Bengals AND the Brown's or the Ravens AND the Steelers for example. 

Crap! I can't like both the Ravens and the Steelers? Bit like some soccer newbie from the US saying they like Man U and Liverpool?

[Scotch]

5 minutes ago, Manley Farrington-Brown said:

Crap! I can't like both the Ravens and the Steelers? Bit like some soccer newbie from the US saying they like Man U and Liverpool?

Not to say you can't like both but yeah... it's pretty much exactly like that. 

[Manley Farrington-Brown]

13 minutes ago, Scotch said:

Not to say you can't like both but yeah... it's pretty much exactly like that. 

Okay, I guess I'll find out in week 14, when one of them beats the other, how I feel about it and which of them I like most.

(And if I still have a soft spot for the other one, I'll keep a bit quiet about it!

[Scotch]

6 minutes ago, Manley Farrington-Brown said:

Okay, I guess I'll find out in week 14, when one of them beats the other, how I feel about it and which of them I like most.

(And if I still have a soft spot for the other one, I'll keep a bit quiet about it!

The one thing I'd suggest when picking a team is don't just focus on the team. Check out their fanbase. 

 

I picked the cowboys when I got into the game quite some time ago, before forums and such and I've supported them since but it turns out I've aligned myself with the most obnoxious fans in the league but I can't bring myself to jump ship. 

[Silebyfox_89]

You can do a online quiz to work out which franchise is for you.

 

I simply chose the team with the same colour as the city and went up following the colts.

[Manley Farrington-Brown]

32 minutes ago, Silebyfox_89 said:

I simply chose the team with the same colour as the city and went up following the colts.

Yeah, that's what's attracted me to the Bills. And then when I heard about the four superbowl defeats it made them seem even more like the City.

[Golden Fox]

2 hours ago, Manley Farrington-Brown said:

Yeah, that's what's attracted me to the Bills. And then when I heard about the four superbowl defeats it made them seem even more like the City.

I started following in 1990 - the Bills were phenomenal at the time: No huddle offence: Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Bruce Smith. Christ, they won the AFC championship game 51-3!!! They really should have won the Superbowl that year, and remained an elite team for the next 3 years, but just came up against better teams at the end. As a result, at the time, they really didn't feel like Leicester, who had 4 FA Cup finals spread over 100 years and could never really claim to have been phenomenal!

 

But do you really need a team to support? I think that's more of a question of individuality than the sport. Whatever sport I watch, I need to pick a side to win, and in general I'll follow my team first and the sport as a whole second. This season, I've watched pretty much every minute of every 49ers game, but haven't actually watched any other games live! (Thats why I love Gamepass - I can watch everything going on but not being tied to a game). But people are different, you'll know if you are the sort of person who can float and keep interest in the sport.

 

The best advice I'd give for choosing a team is not to force it. If you have a handful of teams - Bills, Ravens, Steelers, Jags, (49ers?) that you think will be a good fit, then just carry on taking in the sport and watching them and then after a bit of time you'll realize that one of those teams is the one you'll be looking for who they are playing next and who you want to watch and that will be your answer. I got back into the NFL in 2007 after a few years away & it was very difficult to root for anyone after my first love - the Houston Oilers had disappeared. But after just a couple of weeks I was hooked on the 49ers (they had been my 2nd team after seeing them at Wembley in 1991, and then my "local team" after spending a couple of summers in California at a summer camp) - but it wasn't something I'd consciously decided: it just happened. So just don't think about it - give it to the end of the season: it might be that one of those teams will be in the playoffs (it won't be the Jags!) and you'll find when next season rolls round there will be one team you look to first in the pre-season preview...

[Footballwipe]

I love being a floating fan in college and NFL.

 

When I first started watching I tied myself to the Colts as they won the first game I ever watched in full. When I stopped following for a few years my love quickly waned so by the time I returned it really is just floating. That being said, there's always a preference, whether it be a certain team I enjoy watching, to help a great story or narrative arc.

 

Must admit this season I've felt far more of a pull of college than NFL, and this season is coming to a fantastic climax on Thanksgiving weekend. Michigan v Ohio State and Notre Dame v USC are ballin matchups that will shape the playoff

[Guest Lako42]

I've liked the 49erssince i was a kid, uncle got me a jersey from over there and mini helmet and that was that. 

 

I do like the Steelers though and look out for their games / previews etc. 

[SouthStandUpperTier]

FFS just pick a team and stick with them. Floating fan my arse.

[StanSP]

1 hour ago, Footballwipe said:

When I stopped following for a few years my love quickly waned so by the time I returned it really is just floating. That being said, there's always a preference, whether it be a certain team I enjoy watching, to help a great story or narrative arc.

Similarly how I got into NFL at the start. 

First ever Superbowl I watched was Patriots against Giants, with Patriots winning. 

 

At the time I didn't really know about the history of them or much of the NFL. Then didn't watch it regularly, for some years. Got back into it when I started going to the London games and getting more into it again with my Seahawks-supporting best mate. 

[Scotch]

When I got into American football, picking a team was easy... Claymores. 

[Lcfc098]

I reckon Ravens are a decent WR from a solid superbowl run. They are well covered in nearly all other positions and i still think Lamar is massively underrated. If he had the weapons that josh allen did, they would have won the super bowl already imo

[Guest Lako42]

The early thanksgiving game has been excellent 

[SouthStandUpperTier]

Cowboys look dapper in their 1960's throwback uniforms.

[Manley Farrington-Brown]

Surely the Jags should kick for the one point??

[Manley Farrington-Brown]

Okay, they were right, I was wrong!

How bout them Jags?

[SouthStandUpperTier]

I'd back Tucker to make that 67-yarder in a dome, but it's that little bit harder outdoors.

[Manley Farrington-Brown]

12 hours ago, SouthStandUpperTier said:

I'd back Tucker to make that 67-yarder in a dome, but it's that little bit harder outdoors.

He really is quite the kicker.

When you think how far 67 yards is, it's a hell of a distance to kick it, even without about two tons of high speed opponent charging at you.

[Lcfc098]

12 hours ago, SouthStandUpperTier said:

I'd back Tucker to make that 67-yarder in a dome, but it's that little bit harder outdoors.

Yeah thought he would have got a bit closer considering he made the 66 yarder last season in Detroit

[KingsX]

 

On 22/11/2022 at 05:07, The Bear said:

Just look at how almost really good the Browns had a chance of being recently despite being horrible for years.

 

  It's a brutal challenge, trying to say something positive, yet true about the Browns.  Nice try!

 

As with European football, so much depends on the ownership.  Crap owners = crap organization = crap results on the field.

Although in the modern-day NFL designed to guarantee parity, it takes an unbelievable level of crapness to stay horrible for years.

 

On 22/11/2022 at 09:07, Manley Farrington-Brown said:

Crap! I can't like both the Ravens and the Steelers? Bit like some soccer newbie from the US saying they like Man U and Liverpool?

 

You can't like the Ravens, period.

 

Unless you adore MK Dons.

 

End of.

[Manley Farrington-Brown]

30 minutes ago, KingsX said:

 

You can't like the Ravens, period.

 

Unless you adore MK Dons.

 

End of.

I loathe MK Dons, end of.

But wouldn't the same apply to half the teams in the NFL? They call them franchises for a reason.

 

Or is this some Browns/Ravens, or Cleveland/Baltimore thing?

[KingsX]

2 minutes ago, Manley Farrington-Brown said:

I loathe MK Dons, end of.

But wouldn't the same apply to half the teams in the NFL? They call them franchises for a reason.

 

Or is this some Browns/Ravens, or Cleveland/Baltimore thing?

 

This is an Owner Moves Entire Contents of Team HQ in the Middle of the Night, Leaving the Most Passionate Fanbase in the Sport Without a Team thing.

 

Fans who continued to fill the biggest, most decrepit stadium in the league whether the team was great or lousy.

 

There is no rationalizing it.  No accepting it.  None.

[Manley Farrington-Brown]

7 hours ago, KingsX said:

 

This is an Owner Moves Entire Contents of Team HQ in the Middle of the Night, Leaving the Most Passionate Fanbase in the Sport Without a Team thing.

 

Fans who continued to fill the biggest, most decrepit stadium in the league whether the team was great or lousy.

 

There is no rationalizing it.  No accepting it.  None.

Ah - just looked up the history. I can certainly see why Browns fans wouldn't love the Ravens. Is it less than friendly when they play each other then?

[KingsX]

16 minutes ago, Manley Farrington-Brown said:

Ah - just looked up the history. I can certainly see why Browns fans wouldn't love the Ravens. Is it less than friendly when they play each other then?

 

The Browns' traditional rival is the Steelers; intrastate rival the Bengals.  There is still some hate for the Ravens, as you can tell   But TBQH, I don't follow the Browns or the NFL closely. 

 

I was strongly against our dead-broke county funding a stadium for the "new Browns" and the years, I think, have proved me out ... they've done nothing but besmirch the legacy of a great franchise, and put money into the pockets of a couple of billionaires who couldn't spell "NFL" if you spotted them the N and the F.

 

And now, ladies and gentlemen, they present to you a world-class sexual deviant, for whom said billionaire spent the several years' worth of payroll and draft picks, to play quarterback.  I don't think I'll be able to watch that.  But I do have fond, vivid memories of many seasons in the original Dawg Pound, including several playoff gsmes, back in the 1980s.