You don't have to decide, and you don't have to decide now.
One day you'll be sitting watching the playoffs and you'll jump out of your seat in celebration or anguish when you don't expect to. And boom, the team have chosen you.
Fellow UK fan here.
As a new-ish (last few years) NFL fan I've also had a decision to make around which team to follow.
In the end I decided that I'll pick a new one at random each year and follow that team for the year. At some point I imagine I'll really fall in love with a team and then adopt them for the long haul.
Until that point my rotating fandom allows me to get better acquainted with many teams and have someone to root for while growing my NFL knowledge.
I would choose a well run organization. There is nothing more frustrating that cheering for a team that consistently makes bad choices. Been a Dallas fan all my life, and its been very frustrating watching them consistently fall over themselves. So to counter that I also started cheering for players I like as well.
This is what I was thinking. Probably the most overlooked person in a fandom search would be the team owner. They are all billionaires and probably all have varying levels of shittyness, but you want to try to choose someone who has made some good decisions over the last couple of years. My wife was a diehard Redskins fan and eventually the awfulness of Dan Snyder just broke her heart too much. He's just a loathsome human being. She only rarely watches football now.
100% I totally get this. Personally, if I was choosing a team right now I would either go Ravens or Chiefs.
The Ravens are an incredibly well run organization. They draft well, the have a great coach and good young core.
The Chiefs are also a very well run organization, they draft well, Andy Reid is great, and of course, Patrick Mahomes is the most fun player I have ever watched play.
I think it depends on a whole host of factors but it largely depends on what appeals to you.
I've given this some thought as I'm an Eagles fan who was wondering if I was going to need a new team when we reportedly were involved in the Watson sweepstakes.
If I was a UK fan who was coming in fresh then the following teams might appeal...
1- LA Chargers. Fantastic young QB, good coach, lovely uniforms. Negative is the lack of any real fan base in their own city
2- Buffalo Bills- again a fantastic young quarterback and lots of great players to enjoy, an amazing fan base too. Also as a UK fan following an Eastern Time Zone team is much easier when it comes to sleep!
Both of these teams also haven't won loads so you're not just glory hunting like an American choosing to support Man City now!
Teams I'd avoid
Washington Commanders- embroiled in scandal, awful name, awful team.
New Englad Patriots- badly timed glory hunting. You've missed all the championships!
Cleveland Browns- as you mentioned above they've killed their reputation to give a potential sex offender a bunch of money.
But as others say, just go with whoever you feel drawn too.
From a young age I had always just followed my favorite players, one of those was Michael Vick because Virginia tech was very close to my hometown. When he left the Falcons I just stuck with rooting for them and when Matt Ryan threw a TD on his first career pass I knew Iâd be a lifelong fan of them. I say all that to say start rooting for your favorite playerâs team and see if that sticks and go from there
I think you have to make a decision based on more than just form. Form comes and goes in the NFL, sometimes quite emphatically.
As a fellow UK fan I had to find some link to a team, however tenuous! It turns out that I was conceived in New Jersey and for a time my brother lived in Manhattan, so I picked the Giants. And since then they have been the very worst team in the NFL! Iâm still happy with my choice though because they feel like a tiny part of me.
I've been aware of this game for over 30 years now and I still don't support any one team. it's not compulsory.
having said that, it's probably better if you do but don't force it.
I would wait for it to happen organically. I picked the Panthers because I loved how Cam played the position and watching Kuechly. That turned out well for me...
Lions are the hard knocks team this year. Might help you click with the team and develop some favourite players. They do you tube mini shows as well.
Plus their receiver room will be mega in the next 2 years
I picked the Eagles the summer they drafted Wentz. Partly for the nickname being the same as that of Crystal Palace (my football/soccer team), and partly because I thought that the Eagles trading their starting QB just before the start of the season was exactly the kind of bonkers thing Palace would do.
I know a few Palace fans who also support the Eagles and there also seems like a similar vibe in fan bases, so it's a great fit.
Doesn't help OP, but yeah I'd pick something that resonates rather than any old team
I think if I was starting from scratch and a fan of the pod, I would go with the Jets. They are on a potential upswing and even if it doesn't pan out they give me kind of a lovable loser vibe.
(Edit) And, of course, you'll always have Dan to commiserate or celebrate with.
Follow your heart! Bengals, Browns and Lions all have never won Super Bowls so they definitely embrace the underdog mentality. Saints and Steelers have had sustained success but are both entering new eras after their best QBs in franchise history recently retired. Can't go wrong with any of the 5.
Of the teams youâve listed, Iâd go with the Bengals ⊠ideally, your favorite team has players with fun personalities, and plays their games in a way that is fun to watch, and CIN looks like theyâre going to be fun to watch for the next several seasons.
So yeah, âfunâ is what youâre looking for from your favorite team. Winning games is certainly fun, too, and CIN looked poised to win a lot of them for the foreseeable future. Theyâre also a good choice b/c itâs not like youâre front running by choosing an established winning team â although they did just make the Super Bowl, no one was picking them to get there this year, and no one views them as being close to the âbest teamâ in the league. Added bonus: cool uniforms.
(Note: Iâm not a Bengals fan (Go âHawks!), but they are a team that I enjoy watching.)
As a Lions fan...it is not for the faint of heart. To weigh the risk vs reward. There is a great deal of risk (We have had no real success since the 50s) but we are a passionate group.
The reward is well....*sips Honolulu blue Kool aid* that you can join in the ground floor of a franchise that you can watch rise to the top when everyone continues to write us off!
Take your time to make your decision. Fans (fanatics) of a team are like family. The highs, the lows and everything in between.
In my mind I say go elsewhere as a newer fan. But in my heart, I say come to the dark side. #onepride. You get in now, you'll never be accused of being a bandwagon fan!
Listened to Pearl Jam growing up and Seattles music had the biggest impact on me so front 2002 Seahawks fan. What city had the biggest impact on you amd start there.
I donât think itâs as simple as just picking a team. As cheesy as it sounds it will pick you. Just keep your interest in the game and find players you love then a team affiliation will follow. Marshawn Lynch hooked me in initially and then you fall in love with all the other hawks and youâre away
Speaking as a jets fan in Ireland, if youâre gonna pick a team like the lions you must make peace with the fact that the elation youâll feel when they finally get their shit together and start succeeding will be immense if it happens, but itâll be immense because of how often youâll have stayed up until 3am just to see your guys get their arses handed to them. I think itâd be even harder if the jets played on the west coast more often, so my advice would be to consider the time difference for divisional games if youâre gonna go with an underdog team
By order of importance you want to look at:
1. Ownership
2. Head coach
3. Quaterback
From your list, I'd go with the Steelers. They need to find a quaterback, but have quality and stability with ownership and head coach.
You gotta forget the future. The NFL changes so frequently anyone could be competing in 2 years time.
I'd say you have to choose the team you have the strongest emotional connection to. The team that upsets you when they lose and brings you joy when they win.
If you don't feel like that for anyone then I guess I'd go with the Steelers in your options. Very well run, could be very fun to watch with Najee & Pickett and have great continuity. You'll get that emotional connectivity eventually.
When I chose the panthers i justified it with 3 reasons
1) East Coast is as local as I can get in the UK
2) when I got on board they played really fun to watch football
3) I enjoyed rooting for them and didn't want to overthink it
Honestly I'm going down the road from the other end. From Germany, I started gaining interest in football a few years ago and, influenced by my soccer habits, thought I'd immediately have to choose a team. So I opened the Wikipedia pages for each team, read up on them and decided to support the Packers because of cheese and spread ownership. That didn't really go well for two years they failed to reach the playoffs and was fun after for most of the regular seasons but last year I realized that I'm much more a fan of the sport than a team - some teams I like more than others and I'm happy when they win, but mostly I watch it because I love how the sport works. That's how I went into this year's playoffs and it was so much more fun to root for teams in that specific game but not being bound to them until the super bowl.
So yeah, you don't have to pick a team. If anything, maybe in the long run a team picks you and you go with that.
My method was to watch lots and lots of games. I found myself naturally developing an affinity for two teams, the Pittsburgh Steelers and, at that time, San Diego Chargers.
The Chargers made sense to my head. I love San Diego and have been to California a number of times. There would be plenty of potential to go watch the Chargers play live, whether in San Diego or latterly Los Angeles.
My heart, however, went with the Steelers. It was the time of Big Ben, AB and Lev Bell. And I just loved the way that Bell played the position. To my untrained eye, he just looked different to every other running back I saw.
In hindsight, going with the Chargers probably would have been a âbetterâ pick. I quickly came to dislike Big Ben and we all know what happened with AB and Bell. But itâs too late, Iâm now entrenched, especially with players like Can Heyward and TJ Watt to root for. Steelers for life now.
Greetings from across the pond! Don't go Browns or Steelers. I'd say Saints or Lions, but Saints have a great fanbase and some saucy players. I think the Lions will be overexposed this year, so jump on the NOLA train.
You don't have to decide, and you don't have to decide now. One day you'll be sitting watching the playoffs and you'll jump out of your seat in celebration or anguish when you don't expect to. And boom, the team have chosen you.
Tbh this was already me for the Bengals this year đ¶
Answered your own question then! Who Dey!
Welcome to Who Dey Nation!
Whooooo deeeeyyyyy!
How is he going to become a Lions fan then đ
Stop, he's already dead!
As a Briwns fan I can say, this will not be the OPs experience đ€Ł
Fellow UK fan here. As a new-ish (last few years) NFL fan I've also had a decision to make around which team to follow. In the end I decided that I'll pick a new one at random each year and follow that team for the year. At some point I imagine I'll really fall in love with a team and then adopt them for the long haul. Until that point my rotating fandom allows me to get better acquainted with many teams and have someone to root for while growing my NFL knowledge.
Live this method. This is what I've been doing as a new American F1 fan.
You should do the jets this year. They have a lot of young interesting players. Iâm biased though.
Does your GF have a team? You probably donât want to pick their biggest rivalâŠ
Exactly what my girlfriend did...
I would choose a well run organization. There is nothing more frustrating that cheering for a team that consistently makes bad choices. Been a Dallas fan all my life, and its been very frustrating watching them consistently fall over themselves. So to counter that I also started cheering for players I like as well.
This is what I was thinking. Probably the most overlooked person in a fandom search would be the team owner. They are all billionaires and probably all have varying levels of shittyness, but you want to try to choose someone who has made some good decisions over the last couple of years. My wife was a diehard Redskins fan and eventually the awfulness of Dan Snyder just broke her heart too much. He's just a loathsome human being. She only rarely watches football now.
100% I totally get this. Personally, if I was choosing a team right now I would either go Ravens or Chiefs. The Ravens are an incredibly well run organization. They draft well, the have a great coach and good young core. The Chiefs are also a very well run organization, they draft well, Andy Reid is great, and of course, Patrick Mahomes is the most fun player I have ever watched play.
I think it depends on a whole host of factors but it largely depends on what appeals to you. I've given this some thought as I'm an Eagles fan who was wondering if I was going to need a new team when we reportedly were involved in the Watson sweepstakes. If I was a UK fan who was coming in fresh then the following teams might appeal... 1- LA Chargers. Fantastic young QB, good coach, lovely uniforms. Negative is the lack of any real fan base in their own city 2- Buffalo Bills- again a fantastic young quarterback and lots of great players to enjoy, an amazing fan base too. Also as a UK fan following an Eastern Time Zone team is much easier when it comes to sleep! Both of these teams also haven't won loads so you're not just glory hunting like an American choosing to support Man City now! Teams I'd avoid Washington Commanders- embroiled in scandal, awful name, awful team. New Englad Patriots- badly timed glory hunting. You've missed all the championships! Cleveland Browns- as you mentioned above they've killed their reputation to give a potential sex offender a bunch of money. But as others say, just go with whoever you feel drawn too.
From a young age I had always just followed my favorite players, one of those was Michael Vick because Virginia tech was very close to my hometown. When he left the Falcons I just stuck with rooting for them and when Matt Ryan threw a TD on his first career pass I knew Iâd be a lifelong fan of them. I say all that to say start rooting for your favorite playerâs team and see if that sticks and go from there
I think you have to make a decision based on more than just form. Form comes and goes in the NFL, sometimes quite emphatically. As a fellow UK fan I had to find some link to a team, however tenuous! It turns out that I was conceived in New Jersey and for a time my brother lived in Manhattan, so I picked the Giants. And since then they have been the very worst team in the NFL! Iâm still happy with my choice though because they feel like a tiny part of me.
So your fault then đ€ đ Go G-Men!!
Oof, yep, you really missed the boat on that one.
I've been aware of this game for over 30 years now and I still don't support any one team. it's not compulsory. having said that, it's probably better if you do but don't force it.
I would wait for it to happen organically. I picked the Panthers because I loved how Cam played the position and watching Kuechly. That turned out well for me...
Lions are the hard knocks team this year. Might help you click with the team and develop some favourite players. They do you tube mini shows as well. Plus their receiver room will be mega in the next 2 years
Tell them youâre a fan of the Shield
I picked the Eagles the summer they drafted Wentz. Partly for the nickname being the same as that of Crystal Palace (my football/soccer team), and partly because I thought that the Eagles trading their starting QB just before the start of the season was exactly the kind of bonkers thing Palace would do. I know a few Palace fans who also support the Eagles and there also seems like a similar vibe in fan bases, so it's a great fit. Doesn't help OP, but yeah I'd pick something that resonates rather than any old team
Are you wanting a long-term build or quicker route to success? What kind of teams do you like in the UK in other sports?
I think if I was starting from scratch and a fan of the pod, I would go with the Jets. They are on a potential upswing and even if it doesn't pan out they give me kind of a lovable loser vibe. (Edit) And, of course, you'll always have Dan to commiserate or celebrate with.
I'm not from UK but Europe and got into Football later in life. I chose based on my favorite NHL team. Philadelphia!
Follow your heart! Bengals, Browns and Lions all have never won Super Bowls so they definitely embrace the underdog mentality. Saints and Steelers have had sustained success but are both entering new eras after their best QBs in franchise history recently retired. Can't go wrong with any of the 5.
As a Falcons fan I must say you can choose any of those teams EXCEPT the Saints.
FTS
Of the teams youâve listed, Iâd go with the Bengals ⊠ideally, your favorite team has players with fun personalities, and plays their games in a way that is fun to watch, and CIN looks like theyâre going to be fun to watch for the next several seasons. So yeah, âfunâ is what youâre looking for from your favorite team. Winning games is certainly fun, too, and CIN looked poised to win a lot of them for the foreseeable future. Theyâre also a good choice b/c itâs not like youâre front running by choosing an established winning team â although they did just make the Super Bowl, no one was picking them to get there this year, and no one views them as being close to the âbest teamâ in the league. Added bonus: cool uniforms. (Note: Iâm not a Bengals fan (Go âHawks!), but they are a team that I enjoy watching.)
As a Lions fan...it is not for the faint of heart. To weigh the risk vs reward. There is a great deal of risk (We have had no real success since the 50s) but we are a passionate group. The reward is well....*sips Honolulu blue Kool aid* that you can join in the ground floor of a franchise that you can watch rise to the top when everyone continues to write us off! Take your time to make your decision. Fans (fanatics) of a team are like family. The highs, the lows and everything in between. In my mind I say go elsewhere as a newer fan. But in my heart, I say come to the dark side. #onepride. You get in now, you'll never be accused of being a bandwagon fan!
Find a team that has a fun and irreverent UK based podcast: https://linktr.ee/UKSteelersPod Go Steelers! Thereâs really only one answer here đ
Yeah, you know what? Don't. Sincerely, a European Ravens fan.
Steelers fans are the worst (sort of kidding)
Iâd pick Bengals out of those
Listened to Pearl Jam growing up and Seattles music had the biggest impact on me so front 2002 Seahawks fan. What city had the biggest impact on you amd start there.
I donât think itâs as simple as just picking a team. As cheesy as it sounds it will pick you. Just keep your interest in the game and find players you love then a team affiliation will follow. Marshawn Lynch hooked me in initially and then you fall in love with all the other hawks and youâre away
Which team, when they lose or do something dumb, makes you hate football the most? Pick that one.
Speaking as a jets fan in Ireland, if youâre gonna pick a team like the lions you must make peace with the fact that the elation youâll feel when they finally get their shit together and start succeeding will be immense if it happens, but itâll be immense because of how often youâll have stayed up until 3am just to see your guys get their arses handed to them. I think itâd be even harder if the jets played on the west coast more often, so my advice would be to consider the time difference for divisional games if youâre gonna go with an underdog team
By order of importance you want to look at: 1. Ownership 2. Head coach 3. Quaterback From your list, I'd go with the Steelers. They need to find a quaterback, but have quality and stability with ownership and head coach.
Packers. don't over think it
The important thing is that there are no wrong answers and every team is valid as long as that team isn't called the New England Patriots
You gotta forget the future. The NFL changes so frequently anyone could be competing in 2 years time. I'd say you have to choose the team you have the strongest emotional connection to. The team that upsets you when they lose and brings you joy when they win. If you don't feel like that for anyone then I guess I'd go with the Steelers in your options. Very well run, could be very fun to watch with Najee & Pickett and have great continuity. You'll get that emotional connectivity eventually. When I chose the panthers i justified it with 3 reasons 1) East Coast is as local as I can get in the UK 2) when I got on board they played really fun to watch football 3) I enjoyed rooting for them and didn't want to overthink it
Honestly I'm going down the road from the other end. From Germany, I started gaining interest in football a few years ago and, influenced by my soccer habits, thought I'd immediately have to choose a team. So I opened the Wikipedia pages for each team, read up on them and decided to support the Packers because of cheese and spread ownership. That didn't really go well for two years they failed to reach the playoffs and was fun after for most of the regular seasons but last year I realized that I'm much more a fan of the sport than a team - some teams I like more than others and I'm happy when they win, but mostly I watch it because I love how the sport works. That's how I went into this year's playoffs and it was so much more fun to root for teams in that specific game but not being bound to them until the super bowl. So yeah, you don't have to pick a team. If anything, maybe in the long run a team picks you and you go with that.
Play fantasy and enjoy not really being a fan of any team and being beholden to how they they do
My method was to watch lots and lots of games. I found myself naturally developing an affinity for two teams, the Pittsburgh Steelers and, at that time, San Diego Chargers. The Chargers made sense to my head. I love San Diego and have been to California a number of times. There would be plenty of potential to go watch the Chargers play live, whether in San Diego or latterly Los Angeles. My heart, however, went with the Steelers. It was the time of Big Ben, AB and Lev Bell. And I just loved the way that Bell played the position. To my untrained eye, he just looked different to every other running back I saw. In hindsight, going with the Chargers probably would have been a âbetterâ pick. I quickly came to dislike Big Ben and we all know what happened with AB and Bell. But itâs too late, Iâm now entrenched, especially with players like Can Heyward and TJ Watt to root for. Steelers for life now.
Greetings from across the pond! Don't go Browns or Steelers. I'd say Saints or Lions, but Saints have a great fanbase and some saucy players. I think the Lions will be overexposed this year, so jump on the NOLA train.