Curated category
NFL teams
- New York JetsThe New York Jets have won exactly one Super Bowl in their entire history, and they won it the hard way. In January 1969, facing an NFL team widely expected…
- Tennessee TitansThe Tennessee Titans trace their roots to a single phone call that never came. In 1959, Houston oil tycoon Bud Adams had tried and failed to land an NFL…
- Dallas CowboysThe Dallas Cowboys have never been modest about what they are. In 2015, they became the first sports franchise anywhere in the world to be valued at $4…
- New England PatriotsThe New England Patriots were born on the 16th of November, 1959, when Boston business executive Billy Sullivan was handed the eighth and final franchise of…
- Buffalo BillsThe Buffalo Bills have appeared in four consecutive Super Bowls and lost every single one. No other franchise in NFL history has reached that peak that many…
- Houston TexansThe Houston Texans entered the NFL on the 8th of September 2002, and did something no expansion team had managed since 1961: they won their opening game.
- Indianapolis ColtsThe Indianapolis Colts have been playing professional football since 1953, first in Baltimore and then, after a midnight move in 1984, in Indiana.
- Jacksonville JaguarsThe Jacksonville Jaguars arrived in the NFL not with a whimper but with a logo dispute. The day after the league awarded Jacksonville its expansion…
- Miami DolphinsThe Miami Dolphins have played exactly one perfect season in NFL history, finishing 17-0 in 1972 and winning the Super Bowl.
- Baltimore RavensThe Baltimore Ravens were born from a betrayal. In November 1995, Art Modell announced he was taking the Cleveland Browns, one of the most storied franchises…
- Pittsburgh SteelersThe Pittsburgh Steelers kicked off their first NFL game on the 20th of September 1933, and lost 23-2 to the New York Giants. That result felt like a prophecy.
- Las Vegas RaidersThe Las Vegas Raiders were nearly called the Oakland Señors. On the 4th of April 1960, that was the name announced as the winner of a naming contest run by…
- New Orleans SaintsThe New Orleans Saints took the field for the first time on the 17th of September, 1967, at Tulane Stadium, and on the opening kickoff, receiver John Gilliam…
- Minnesota VikingsThe Minnesota Vikings have played in more Super Bowls than all but a handful of franchises in NFL history, yet they have never won one.
- Green Bay PackersThe Green Bay Packers hold more victories than any other team in NFL history, and they do it from a city of just over 107,000 people.
- Atlanta FalconsAtlanta Falcons football exists because a rival league blinked first. When NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle heard that the upstart American Football League was…
- Carolina PanthersOn the 15th of December 1987, entrepreneur Jerry Richardson announced his bid for an NFL expansion franchise in the Carolinas.
- Chicago BearsThe Decatur Staleys began play on the 20th of September 1919, as a company team for the A. E. Staley food starch factory in Illinois.
- Cincinnati BengalsPaul Brown began planning for the creation of the Bengals franchise in 1965. Cincinnati's city council approved the construction of Riverfront Stadium in…
- Los Angeles ChargersThe Los Angeles Chargers have spent their entire existence chasing a city that never quite claimed them. Founded in 1959 and born into the American Football…
- Los Angeles RamsThe Los Angeles Rams are the only franchise in NFL history to win championships representing three different cities: Cleveland in 1945, St.
- San Francisco 49ersThe San Francisco 49ers take their name from the prospectors who flooded California in search of gold, and for much of the franchise's history, the team…
- Seattle SeahawksThe Seattle Seahawks were born from a public naming contest that drew more than 20,000 entries. Thousands of suggestions poured in: Skippers, Pioneers…
- Tampa Bay BuccaneersThe Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost their first 26 games in franchise history. Not just the first season, but the entire first season plus the first twelve games…
- Washington CommandersThe Washington Commanders have been playing professional football since 1932, making them one of the oldest franchises in American professional sports.
- Cleveland BrownsThe Cleveland Browns began play in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference. Taxicab magnate Arthur B.
- Philadelphia EaglesThe Philadelphia Eagles took the field for the first time on the 15th of October 1933, at the Polo Grounds in New York City, and lost to the Giants 56-0.
- Arizona CardinalsThe Arizona Cardinals are the oldest continuously run professional football franchise in the United States, a distinction they carry alongside a championship…
- Denver BroncosOn the 14th of August 1959, minor league baseball owner Bob Howsam received an American Football League charter franchise for Denver.
- Detroit LionsThe franchise began its life in Portsmouth, Ohio, as the Portsmouth Spartans in 1928. It joined the National Football League on the 12th of July 1930.
- Kansas City ChiefsThe Kansas City Chiefs were not born in Kansas City. They started life in Dallas in 1960, dreamed up by a man named Lamar Hunt after the NFL refused to let…
- New York GiantsThe New York Giants were born on the 1st of August 1925, when Timothy Mara and Will Gibson paid $2,500 for a franchise in a professional football league most…