I decided now would be a good time to get to the second part of this post. I only wrote the first part five years ago. You may remember the baseball posts I did like this: Part One and Part Two.
As a quick reminder, I am writing about the first thing that comes to my mind (or that I associate with that team). This will be the NFC part, just a little behind in my posting.
New York Giants
I think in years to come, I will probably think of Saquon Barkley, but for now it would definitely be Lawrence Taylor. He was an incredible linebacker, but what I think of most is how you could use him in Tecmo Super Bowl (or was it the first Tecmo Bowl?) and he was almost at Bo Jackson ridiculous levels of speed. I remember playing against my uncle and I was able to catch Art Monk with Taylor. Monk had like fifteen yards on the linebacker. It was pretty crazy.
Dallas Cowboys
The interception by Larry Brown in Super Bowl XXX. You know the one I mean. Neil O’Donnell throws the ball to a wide open Brown, who just happens to play for Dallas. The Cowboys were the team of the 90s and it was really annoying.
Washington Redskins
I know they are steeped in history, but unfortunately the only thing that ever comes to mind is Dan Snyder and some of his awful decisions. Albert Haynesworth? RG3? The name controversy does not help things either.
Philadelphia Eagles
This one is weird for me. I hate the Eagles. I can actually trace my hatred back to my second year at Penn State. My roommates had a friend who was a huge, obnoxious Eagles fan. He would chant all the time. You know, E-A-G-L-E-S…like out in public, on a Wednesday. He would call me at work to let me know that the Steelers lost. It did not matter if the Eagles also lost. He would get in my face about the Eagles being better than the Steelers, but then would get all pissed if I brought up the Super Bowls. That guy made me absolutely hate the Eagles.
Chicago Bears
The 1985 Bears! I was just a little kid, but I remember my Uncle Shawn watching the Bears (he tended to be a bit of a front-runner) and having the Super Bowl Shuffle recorded. The Fridge, Jim McMahon, and one of the greatest defenses of all time was enough to impress five year old me.
Green Bay Packers
Aaron Rodgers beating the Steelers in Super Bowl XLV. I know, that is probably another team that I am unfairly connecting to the Steelers, but come on, it was a tough pill to swallow. Also, any of the insane Hail Marys that Rodgers has thrown over the years that end up being a touchdown.
Detroit Lions
Barry Sanders! Every football fan has that running back that they remember being insanely good. I think most people my age think of Sanders (or Bo) in that way. Most of us probably thought “damn, if only they had any other good players, the Lions would be so good.” Megatron is a close second.
Minnesota Vikings
Here is a weird memory, but it always sticks out for me when I think of the Vikings. I stayed at a friend’s house in like third grade. His dad had a computer (whoa!) and he had some educational floppy disks (remember those?) for it. One of the disks was a geography quiz thing. It would flash the shape of a state and you had to guess it. My friend’s dad had us play against each other. Geography was always something I was really good at and really interested in, so this was easy for me. My friend, who was very smart, just was not as knowledgeable. It became apparent after awhile and when Minnesota popped up on the screen, I said “c’mon XXX, your favorite football team is from there!” His dad laughed and said something like “you have known all of these, huh?” Anyways, that kid was a Vikings fan. He later became a Chiefs fan, and then a Steelers fan. Cool story…
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The absolute destruction of the Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII. My roommate was a Bucs fan and we went up to Champs to watch the game. He was pretty excited. I remember the whole “what will happen when the top offense meets the top defense?” conversation happening for the two weeks leading up to the game. Yeah, we found out pretty quickly that the Bucs defense was insanely good.
Carolina Panthers
Cam Newton. I felt bad for him when he lost the Super Bowl to the Broncos. He was so good during the regular season, but had a rough game against that Broncos defense. And then he had that horrible press conference after the game. People were so critical of him (and honestly, I think so much of that was race related) and I just always felt bad for him.
New Orleans Saints
Drew Brees. Where does he rank on the all-time greatest QB list? Is he in the top five? I think so. The crazy thing is that I remember him playing against Penn State while at Purdue. I was not that impressed. He proved me wrong (I bet he was worried about that) and every year just continued to get better. He then went to New Orleans and won a Super Bowl, pretty much making America fall in love with the guy.
Atlanta Falcons
Deion Sanders played for a few teams, but I remember him being the flashy, showboat cornerback in Atlanta. I remember my dad not liking him, but then he saw a story about how Sanders was a huge fisherman and then he liked the guy. I think Primetime exemplified the meaning of a shutdown CB. If there were advanced stats, something like how a corner does not even get targeted, I would imagine he would have been a league leader. He usually caused the best wide receiver for the other team to become basically a non-issue.
San Francisco 49ers
This is a tough one. The 49ers were the team when I was a kid. Joe Montana and Jerry Rice. Or Steve Young and Jerry Rice. Okay, so maybe Jerry Rice is the thing I associate with the 49ers. Or maybe just winning.
Seattle Seahawks
Super Bowl XL. Yep, another team tied to the Steelers. I remember the game and just being excited about the Steelers winning. Then over the years, I kept hearing Seahawks fans grumble about the bad calls in that game. So a few years ago I was flipping channels and noticed that it was being replayed on NFL Network. I decided to watch it…and damn. Seahawks fans have a right to be pissed about it. I am not one to believe in conspiracy theories such as the league wanting a certain team to win…but I can totally see why some Seahawks (and other fans) think that way.
Arizona Cardinals
I watched this game and then saw this press conference live…I still use some of these lines. “We are who we thought they were” or “If you wanna crown them, crown their ass!” Love it!
Los Angeles Rams
Back when they were the St. Louis Rams, they were heavy favorites against this little underdog, the New England Patriots. My mom and stepdad were rooting for the Patriots, while Adam and I loved Marshall Faulk and the Rams. The Patriots won the game and the rise of the evil empire began. Maybe everyone should have been cheering for the Rams.
I would love to hear about your thoughts on each of the teams or my memories.
