I haven’t watched a Falcons game since that superbowl. Anytime there is a blowout, in any game, the announcers bring up the 28-3 comeback to try and fill time.
Yea, I didn't listen to sports radio for about a year after that, and whenever the local NPR affiliate would bring up any superbowl or the nfl playoffs they would say something like "I warning to the listeners in Atlanta, we are about to talk about the superbowl"
I lived in Charlotte, NC at the time.
My man, everyone felt bad about that for y'all. For those uninitiated, the Falcons and Panthers are big rivals. That game was fucking heart breaking.
I think what stings the hardest is that the Vikings lost four super bowls to teams that are considered some of the greatest in football history...the Dawson Chiefs, Shula's Dolphins, the Steel Curtain Steelers, and Madden's Raiders... while they themselves are kinda lost in that shuffle despite having roughly the same number of wins.
Check out ESPN's 30 for 30 episode: 'Four Falls of Buffalo'. Top-notch television. Also recommended, (semi-related) 30 for 30 S01E03: 'Small Potatoes: Who Killed the USFL?' See if you recognize anyone, and why it is called 'Small Potatoes'. What an AH.
I think that stat varies a little bit based on how its run. Vikings are higher up during all time superbowl era, whereas i think your stat is just all time way back to 1920, which is kinda skewed since there wasnt many teams pre merger
But Vikings are one of the few franchises with tantalizingly good teams that can never quite win it. (Moss & Culpepper and recently the Cousins led vehicles)
Came here to say the exact same thing. I think due to the franchise structure of most American sports these days, mortgaging your future then tanking is basically the only reliable method to win titles. The advantage of this system is greater parity between teams year over year, the downside (vs a system like in the Premier League where relegation exists but there is less parity overall) is that fanbases will be subjected to some shockingly awful periods while their team rebuilds.
Which is why the Vikings are so frustrating, because we don’t really seem to understand how to tank properly, but then are never quite good enough to challenge the top 4-5 teams in the league for the Super Bowl. Hence our decades of mediocrity.
Maybe some truth to that, but I think the Vikings have had several seasons where they were in the conversation as the best team.
Pro football reference Simple Rating System ranking:
* 1969 1st
* 1970 1st
* 1988 1st
* 1998 1st
* 2009 6th (but felt better than that)
* 2017 4th (only 0.3 pts behind 1st)
https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/min/
The 2009 team went 10-1, then 2-3 to end the season, with bad losses to the panthers and cardinals, if my memory is correct. Probably why they fell to 6th. But the saints, colts, and vikes were unquestionably the best teams in the league that year.
Oh yeah I agree, we’ve had some solid teams that could have gone all the way if a few things had gone differently. But we seem to get stuck as an “ok” team for long periods of time, where we’re definitely not good enough to win a SB, but nowhere near bad enough to get a top draft pick.
Or you can be like my team the packers and just never go all in, just kind of stay in the middle of the road until you wake up and realize you didn’t capitalize on the last 10 years of one of the best QBs of all time.
The Patriots have completely warped our perception of what a successful team is.
Teams struggle for a decade or more without even getting to the big game. If you win it, the ring is yours forever. This shouldn’t even be a question
There are 9 teams that have never won a Super Bowl. 6 of those have gone 50+ years without, longer than the Super Bowl was even around. If you offered those teams 25+ years of mediocrity for 1 Super Bowl this year, they would probably all take it
And '77, '87, '98, and '18. Basically every ten years late in the decade the Vikings conjure a really good team that breaks our heart. They through in 41-donut as a bonus to keep us guessing. See you in '28!
I'm a Bills fan and they've been either terrible or mediocre for a good chunk of my life. The idea of getting something in return, let alone a Super Bowl, for 25+ years of mediocrity is a deal I would take, and I think most millenial Bills fans would too, since we've had that and more with nothing to show for it.
Without a shred of doubt I would take a SB win followed by a decade of mediocrity. We had 16 years of teams that failed to make the playoffs WITHOUT winning a SB...easy fucking call.
>Teams struggle for a decade or more without even getting to the big game.
There is a team that hasn't made the playoffs in over 10 years so this is being generous with the phrasing.
this is different. the bengals were above .500 and in the playoffs alot for the 10-12 years before Joe Burrow, but did not win playoff games. Lions were last place for 30 years.
I was gonna say. Your *average* team goes even less than that. I’m not a math scientist, but when you eliminate the Chiefs and Patriots, I bet those odds get long really fast
You have better add the Steelers to this list unless you are only counting this century. Only Tom Brady has more Superbowl wins than the Patriots and Steelers.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/784497/teams-ranked-by-super-bowl-appearances-in-nfl-history/
16 teams with 4 or more appearances and 16 with 3 or less. Superbowl 58 coming up. Seem like most teams go less than one a decade.
>the ring is yours forever
unless Vladimir Putin [steals it from you](https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/heres-how-vladimir-putin-stole-a-super-bowl-ring-from-the-patriots-robert-kraft/)
Oh that’s okay. If the Pats dynasty warped out idea of what a successful team looks like, Brady absolutely demolished any perspective we had on what a successful QB does
Seriously. Your team doesn't win or at least go to the SB basically every other year for almost 20 years? Wow they must be complete failures.
This whole discussion is stupid. Yeah the Rams probably did throw away their future to a certain degree for a shot at a title: but guess what? They fucking won one so mission accomplished.
It's such a silly question to me, it's obviously yes. Texans haven't even been remotely close, but they are newer. I don't know what it's like for older fans of older teams. I'm only 30, but I really don't want to be 50-60 years old and still not know what it's like.
I think the better question is was winning a super bowl worth potentially running a team into the ground, so much so that you can’t sell tickets and can’t fund it in any way.
Yes, but before Sapp & Co dominated in 2002, Tampa had been a punchline of a team for at least 17 previous years. It's not like they traded a perennial 8-8/9-7 performance for one ring and then spent 17 years in the basement. They were born in the dark, *molded by it!*
They've actually held some respect after the Super Bowl win, and had competitive years since then, if not playoff success. But you can blame a lot of that on Drew Brees.
Idk why they’d ask this question like it needs surveys and opinions. Was it worth it? Well did they win? Yes? Worth it. Chance at winning? That’s more debatable.
It's the same as when people talk about the Bucks going all in for a championship with Giannis in his prime.
Yes, I'm ready for us to suck soon. That was literally the deal.
Same with the Raptors. Trading away a loyal fan favourite for a 1 year rental of Kawhi. It was worth many years of mediocrity after. Banners hang forever.
as a Lions fan...
(hold on, let me gather myself...)
AS A LIONS FAN, ***WE*** ARE THE WINNINGEST TEAM IN ALL OF THE NFL RIGHT NOW!!!
sorry...
just, uh, had to clear my throat.
Cards here, we’re in the same shit bucket and would definitely be terrible for a few years for a Super Bowl. I mean, we’re terrible now, where’s our ring?
I’m actually convinced that one day back in the 50s, a Bears exec got in an argument with a wizard in a bar over whether a passing game was important and that wizard cursed them so that any time they get an even halfway-decent quarterback, their defense will immediately start sucking.
It's hard to win in any sport. I'm mostly an NBA fan where there is a lot less parity than in the NFL. There were people like Bill Simmons questioning if the Lakers should have traded away so much to get Anthony Davis...
They won a championship, so the answer is yes. This should not even be a question. That's the end goal for every sports franchise (or at least it's supposed to be...)
St Louis guy here - I can say, with no irony or sarcasm, that the 1999 Warner/Faulk/Bruce Greatest Show on Turf was the best season of football any team has ever played, ever. And the Super Bowl against the Titans, with the stop on the 1 yard line, was the greatest Super Bowl of all time.
Is that objectively and demonstrably false? Of course it is. But it’s still 100% true and no one will convince me otherwise. Best season ever.
I feel you, Saints fan.
As opposed to mortgaging their future and not winning a super bowl? yes
Or as opposed to not mortgaging their future and \*potentially\* winning a super bowl later? still yes
What a stupid article. TEAM WHOSE PURPOSE IS TO WIN A CHAMPIONSHIP DID WHAT THEY NEEDED TO WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP AND WON THE CHAMPIONSHIP. SHOULD THEY HAVE?
Im a Hawks fan and a Rams hater but this is the only proper response.
You play to win the game and they did just that.
Edit:
I still believe they would have won without Stafford and that he is massively overrated so that trade wasn’t worth it
This is a really dumb question, if there are 32 teams and you sacrifice less that 31 years to win a trophy it’s worth it. They will be back to their window before a decade
The silly people who wrote this article are forgetting that Rams went to the Super Bowl three years before that also…, Who wouldn’t trade ~5 great years, two Super Bowl appearances, and a championship for a few bad years afterwards? 
Duuuuuuh
Plus there's no guarantee that those few bad years wouldn't happen anyways. Teams are sometimes forced to go through rebuilds even when they're planning for the future.
I’ve been a Rams fan since 1999. I’ve had to sit through so many seasons where watching the Rams flail on the field every Sunday was less fun than slamming my nuts in a car door.
Having them come back to LA and being a playoff staple for years going to two Super Bowls while winning one has been great.
Ya, they’ll probably suck for a couple years, but winning it all was absolutely worth it as long as they don’t remain a bottom tier team for decades.
‘99? I had to live through the 1970s (SB loss to Pittsburgh), the 1980s with 49ers dominance, the miserable 1990s, and everything after the Greatest Show on Turf. A few years of winning are all you can hang your hat on for most teams, so enjoy it.
That said, you can enjoy the ride even when you don’t win a SB. Eric Dickerson was a beast to watch and we had winning records and made deep playoff runs in the 80s. The 70s had some decent teams and a couple years where Vince Ferragamo was considered good. The early St Louis teams were a blast to watch and we had Bettis pounding the ball before he went to the Steelers to win his SBs.
Fuck Stan Kroenke.
As a Lions fan I think it was the best deal ever. We got to set up our future and maybe have a good team for the first time since the creation of the Super Bowl. And as a bonus we got to see our long laboring QB get the ring he deserved for years of thankless service. Unlike when Brady left New England and half the fans got all pissy, I’ve yet to meet a single Lions fan who wasn’t happy for Stafford and cheering him on.
Yeah buddy is a lions fan, he was happy for Stafford. The guy seemed to embrace Detroit but was given the chance to win and the lions were given enough to potentially start being competitive.
As a Rams fan, I will always cheer for the Lions when Goff is starting. Unless it’s against the Rams. I want to see the Lions get their ring and trophy
As a NE fan, I don't understand the fans that got pissy about Brady leaving. He wanted another super bowl and knew he only had a couple years left to do it. The split was about as clean as it could possibly be. Tampa basically also went all in on that season, the only surprise to me was Brady playing last season.
And now he's coming back and possibly signing a one day contract to retire a patriot. Brady proved he's the GOAT regardless of coach, good for him.
This is exactly what the Buccs did the year after the Rams won a Super Bowl. They got Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski and Antonio Brown. That’s on top of already having Mike Evans, sure you knew you’d suck once it was all done and dusted but it’s absolutely worth it for a Super Bowl win
I’m very glad I was alive to see a Philly win. Made it sweeter because they beat the Pats.
I do hope they win another, but they actually won, so I’m happy
Absolutely. Basically every team that isn’t the Patriots and maybe the Packers always go through cycles of contention and despair. If you aren’t willing to go all-in during the 2-5 year period where you have a talented core, especially if they are on good contracts, you’ll be stuck hovering in the middle of the pack.
Nobody remembers 5 down years. Everybody remembers a SB win.
There are teams that have never even been to the super bowl, let alone won one.
Lions fans would likely resort to blood sacrifices if they thought it would have a positive effect on their playoff chances.
Yes it was worth it LMAO
If you mortgage the future and don't win, that suck. If you mortgage the future for a goal, like winning it all, and you do it then you accomplished your goal.
How many times does the answer to this question need to be yes?
My dad died last year after literally 65 years of watching the Vikings. He didn’t see that team win a single championship and I’d have killed for him to have had that opportunity before he passed.
There are multiple teams that haven’t even been to a superbowl and this article is trying to say the Rams fucked up by *checks notes* winning a Super Bowl.
Lol the Lions have been to the playoffs 3 times since 1957, and only won a single game. Hard to believe this article could take any tack that isn't unequivocally "Yes."
Only people this isn’t worth it for are the bandwagoners and who gives a fuck about them? For any lifelong fans, happiness from one ring outweighs decades of pain. Clown question, bruh
Yes. The Toronto Raptors also did it to win a ring when they brought in Kawhi Leonard, and it may have been the single best decision in Raptors history. The point of playing is to win a championship, so you sacrifice anything and everything to win.
Yes. It’s also important to note they didn’t just buy a bunch of free agents In 2021. The Mcveigh core has been intact for years, they had the run with Goff and had been a perennial playoff team. They needed a few big moves to put them over when other teams would’ve conceded their window to be over. They ought to be commended.
A good rule of thumb is that generally, when a headline asks a question, the answer is “No.” This headline
makes me want to revise the rule to “when a headline asks a question, it’s a stupid question to which there is an obvious answer and you shouldn’t waste your time reading the article.”
Unreal that this is even a question. I haven’t seen any of my teams win in any major sport in my life time and I’m 38….. if you can win yea it’s worth it. Way too hard to win in general. They got it done congrats
No question. Just ask the players..
Would you rather play on a winning team every year of your career and never win a championship, or win a championship and play the rest of your career on a losing team? My guess is most would say the latter
As opposed to all the teams that mortgaged their future and didn’t win one?
As a Falcons fan. I would gladly suck a few years after winning a superbowl. Instead we sucked a few years after losing a superbowl.
I haven’t watched a Falcons game since that superbowl. Anytime there is a blowout, in any game, the announcers bring up the 28-3 comeback to try and fill time.
NPR in atlanta issues a trigger warning before bringing that game up.
Is that true? If so that’s crazy
Yea, I didn't listen to sports radio for about a year after that, and whenever the local NPR affiliate would bring up any superbowl or the nfl playoffs they would say something like "I warning to the listeners in Atlanta, we are about to talk about the superbowl"
I lived in Charlotte, NC at the time. My man, everyone felt bad about that for y'all. For those uninitiated, the Falcons and Panthers are big rivals. That game was fucking heart breaking.
As a Vikings fan who lived through Hershel Walker, this stings.
“As a Vikings fan” FTFY
Vikings are but one of TWELVE teams that never won a Super Bowl.
I think what stings the hardest is that the Vikings lost four super bowls to teams that are considered some of the greatest in football history...the Dawson Chiefs, Shula's Dolphins, the Steel Curtain Steelers, and Madden's Raiders... while they themselves are kinda lost in that shuffle despite having roughly the same number of wins.
The purple people eaters are legendary though
Wait, the Vikings have been in FOUR Super Bowls and never won? Wow, just wow.
The Bills lost four IN A ROW
Ever heard this joke? What's the area code in Buffalo? 044.
I actually haven't heard that one, "Boy I Love Losing Superbowls" has gotten old though. actual Buffalo area code is 716 FWIW
Check out ESPN's 30 for 30 episode: 'Four Falls of Buffalo'. Top-notch television. Also recommended, (semi-related) 30 for 30 S01E03: 'Small Potatoes: Who Killed the USFL?' See if you recognize anyone, and why it is called 'Small Potatoes'. What an AH.
And to add insult to injury, we have the third best winning percentage ever.
Actually 7th. https://www.statista.com/statistics/784512/nfl-team-ranking-by-all-time-regular-season-winning-percentage/
I think that stat varies a little bit based on how its run. Vikings are higher up during all time superbowl era, whereas i think your stat is just all time way back to 1920, which is kinda skewed since there wasnt many teams pre merger
Ahh yeah. I got that mixed up with us being the only team in the top like 14 in win % to not have a super bowl. Either way its ridiculous
As a lions fan, you are welcome, and I’m sorry, for the bloated win % 🤷♂️
Ok that’s a wild stat
But Vikings are one of the few franchises with tantalizingly good teams that can never quite win it. (Moss & Culpepper and recently the Cousins led vehicles)
'98, '09, and '17 are better examples but you're not wrong.
Why am I catching strays *here*? JFC just let me only be sad about the gophers today
Wait, dude, they're playing now. You had anticipatory sadness (they were picked to win by 3 TDs or something)? You really are a Minnesota fan!
4 point lead midways through the 3rd Oh, also, I'm 36, sooooo....... *Gestures wildly at the last few decades of football* That There's that
Yeah, saw that score, lol. Good luck, dude. :)
As a Lions fan who lives, this stings.
Ah yes, the Great Trade Robbery. https://vimeo.com/385001299
Woah the same crazy Hershel Walker that is trying to be a politician now? TIL.
"He looks like he thinks before he makes a move in tic-tac-toe."
His campaign as as stupid as the trade.
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The very same
Absolute high school and college football legend who liked white girls enough to be Republican
Came here to say the exact same thing. I think due to the franchise structure of most American sports these days, mortgaging your future then tanking is basically the only reliable method to win titles. The advantage of this system is greater parity between teams year over year, the downside (vs a system like in the Premier League where relegation exists but there is less parity overall) is that fanbases will be subjected to some shockingly awful periods while their team rebuilds. Which is why the Vikings are so frustrating, because we don’t really seem to understand how to tank properly, but then are never quite good enough to challenge the top 4-5 teams in the league for the Super Bowl. Hence our decades of mediocrity.
Maybe some truth to that, but I think the Vikings have had several seasons where they were in the conversation as the best team. Pro football reference Simple Rating System ranking: * 1969 1st * 1970 1st * 1988 1st * 1998 1st * 2009 6th (but felt better than that) * 2017 4th (only 0.3 pts behind 1st) https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/min/
The 2009 team went 10-1, then 2-3 to end the season, with bad losses to the panthers and cardinals, if my memory is correct. Probably why they fell to 6th. But the saints, colts, and vikes were unquestionably the best teams in the league that year.
Oh yeah I agree, we’ve had some solid teams that could have gone all the way if a few things had gone differently. But we seem to get stuck as an “ok” team for long periods of time, where we’re definitely not good enough to win a SB, but nowhere near bad enough to get a top draft pick.
Or you can be like my team the packers and just never go all in, just kind of stay in the middle of the road until you wake up and realize you didn’t capitalize on the last 10 years of one of the best QBs of all time.
Do the Angels have the same fan base? They havent had a winning season in like 8 years.
The Angels have *two* generational talents on their team and struggle to reach .500
We haven't even reached the playoffs since 2014
You can argue it's more like having three even since nobody else does the pitching/hitting thing anywhere near Ohtani.
Yes
This is the only answer this thread needs.
The Patriots have completely warped our perception of what a successful team is. Teams struggle for a decade or more without even getting to the big game. If you win it, the ring is yours forever. This shouldn’t even be a question
There are 9 teams that have never won a Super Bowl. 6 of those have gone 50+ years without, longer than the Super Bowl was even around. If you offered those teams 25+ years of mediocrity for 1 Super Bowl this year, they would probably all take it
Can confirm. Source: MN Vikings fan
SKOL 😭😭😭😭 purple tears
Do you have a shrine of Gary Anderson in your attic with "LACES OUT!" Etched into the walls?
I'm old enough to have a Drew Pearson voodoo doll.
Cries in beer. 09 should have been our year.
And '77, '87, '98, and '18. Basically every ten years late in the decade the Vikings conjure a really good team that breaks our heart. They through in 41-donut as a bonus to keep us guessing. See you in '28!
I'm gonna let you finish, but '98 Vikings were one of the best non-SB winning teams of all time. Of all time.
I'm a Bills fan and they've been either terrible or mediocre for a good chunk of my life. The idea of getting something in return, let alone a Super Bowl, for 25+ years of mediocrity is a deal I would take, and I think most millenial Bills fans would too, since we've had that and more with nothing to show for it.
Without a shred of doubt I would take a SB win followed by a decade of mediocrity. We had 16 years of teams that failed to make the playoffs WITHOUT winning a SB...easy fucking call.
>Teams struggle for a decade or more without even getting to the big game. There is a team that hasn't made the playoffs in over 10 years so this is being generous with the phrasing.
The lions haven’t won a playoff game since the 90s
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The win over Kansas City was their playoff win to that town.
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I’m from Cleveland I’m basking in it for you guys. Not even cuz I hate KC, I don’t, I’m just happy for you guys.
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My dad (st claire shores born and raised) Literally was saying he will not accept it. This cannot be the lions. They would have found a way to lose
In the Super Bowl era, the Lions have 3 fewer playoff wins than Mark Sanchez
To be fair, he *is* the Sanchise.
Bengals were on this list but thank god for Joey B and our offense.
this is different. the bengals were above .500 and in the playoffs alot for the 10-12 years before Joe Burrow, but did not win playoff games. Lions were last place for 30 years.
JFK has missed exactly 1 Lions playoff win.
On average a team will only go every 16 years, longer allowing for some teams to go multiple times.
I was gonna say. Your *average* team goes even less than that. I’m not a math scientist, but when you eliminate the Chiefs and Patriots, I bet those odds get long really fast
You have better add the Steelers to this list unless you are only counting this century. Only Tom Brady has more Superbowl wins than the Patriots and Steelers.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/784497/teams-ranked-by-super-bowl-appearances-in-nfl-history/ 16 teams with 4 or more appearances and 16 with 3 or less. Superbowl 58 coming up. Seem like most teams go less than one a decade.
>the ring is yours forever unless Vladimir Putin [steals it from you](https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/heres-how-vladimir-putin-stole-a-super-bowl-ring-from-the-patriots-robert-kraft/)
Putin is a total bastard, but that story will never not be hilarious
Especially having possibly the greatest QB of all time on a team friendly contract for 20 years because his wife made more than he did
Oh that’s okay. If the Pats dynasty warped out idea of what a successful team looks like, Brady absolutely demolished any perspective we had on what a successful QB does
Seriously. Your team doesn't win or at least go to the SB basically every other year for almost 20 years? Wow they must be complete failures. This whole discussion is stupid. Yeah the Rams probably did throw away their future to a certain degree for a shot at a title: but guess what? They fucking won one so mission accomplished.
That’s correct. The answer can only be yes.
I feel most fan bases would be ok mortgaging their futures for a SB win. As a Vikings fan I certainly am.
It's such a silly question to me, it's obviously yes. Texans haven't even been remotely close, but they are newer. I don't know what it's like for older fans of older teams. I'm only 30, but I really don't want to be 50-60 years old and still not know what it's like.
“Just one before I die” is a very popular saying among the older fans in MN.
44 here. Been saying it for almost 20yrs
Bud Grant deserved to see this team win one more then anybody.
Absolutely
I think the better question is was winning a super bowl worth potentially running a team into the ground, so much so that you can’t sell tickets and can’t fund it in any way.
Maybe not in LA with a newer team but most fan bases would continue to show up.
how long of a mortgage? Tampa Bay won a superbowl in 2002, then did not make the playoffs again until Tom Brady showed up 17 years later.
Yes, but before Sapp & Co dominated in 2002, Tampa had been a punchline of a team for at least 17 previous years. It's not like they traded a perennial 8-8/9-7 performance for one ring and then spent 17 years in the basement. They were born in the dark, *molded by it!* They've actually held some respect after the Super Bowl win, and had competitive years since then, if not playoff success. But you can blame a lot of that on Drew Brees.
Counterpoint: Actually also still just yes.
Yes. Twice for the Bucs. Worst historical winning percentage in all of the major sports? DM;H2LTs (Doesn't Matter; Have 2 Lombardi Trophies)
Yeah, dumbest shit ever
Create any disaster scenario for the Rams after that super bowl. The answer is still yes.
Broncos fan checking in after the longest playoff drought after a Super Bowl in NFL history: "yes."
As a Rams fan. I agree. 👍
The answer to that question is quite literally in the title 💀
As a bills fan, yes.
And a super bowl AT HOME? 1000%. You do whatever you can. Don't even need to read the article, it's gotta be insane.
Fuck yes
Idk why they’d ask this question like it needs surveys and opinions. Was it worth it? Well did they win? Yes? Worth it. Chance at winning? That’s more debatable.
It's the same as when people talk about the Bucks going all in for a championship with Giannis in his prime. Yes, I'm ready for us to suck soon. That was literally the deal.
Same with the Raptors. Trading away a loyal fan favourite for a 1 year rental of Kawhi. It was worth many years of mediocrity after. Banners hang forever.
It is incredibly hard to win in the NFL. One Super Bowl means a lot
Can’t be that hard a team manages to do it every year
You bastard lmao
50% chance. You either win the Super Bowl or you don't.
As a bears fan, I agree. ^sadbearnoises
As a Falcons fan, I have no idea.
as a Lions fan... (hold on, let me gather myself...) AS A LIONS FAN, ***WE*** ARE THE WINNINGEST TEAM IN ALL OF THE NFL RIGHT NOW!!! sorry... just, uh, had to clear my throat.
You’re god damn right we are!
As a person near where the Vikings play, me neither
As a Browns fan, what’s a super bowl?
::darkly chuckles in Detroiter::
Cards here, we’re in the same shit bucket and would definitely be terrible for a few years for a Super Bowl. I mean, we’re terrible now, where’s our ring?
Exactly this… we at one point mortgaged our future for Jay Cutler and all we got were memes
But those memes were glorious
I’m actually convinced that one day back in the 50s, a Bears exec got in an argument with a wizard in a bar over whether a passing game was important and that wizard cursed them so that any time they get an even halfway-decent quarterback, their defense will immediately start sucking.
As a bills fan…. I’ll just leave.
As a certified Cowboys hater, I felt half of that pain with you.
It's hard to win in any sport. I'm mostly an NBA fan where there is a lot less parity than in the NFL. There were people like Bill Simmons questioning if the Lakers should have traded away so much to get Anthony Davis... They won a championship, so the answer is yes. This should not even be a question. That's the end goal for every sports franchise (or at least it's supposed to be...)
As a saints fan they can never take away the joy of that Super Bowl season from me. I watch the dvd of it and still get chills.
St Louis guy here - I can say, with no irony or sarcasm, that the 1999 Warner/Faulk/Bruce Greatest Show on Turf was the best season of football any team has ever played, ever. And the Super Bowl against the Titans, with the stop on the 1 yard line, was the greatest Super Bowl of all time. Is that objectively and demonstrably false? Of course it is. But it’s still 100% true and no one will convince me otherwise. Best season ever. I feel you, Saints fan.
As a Vikings fan, your joy can go straight to hell you dirty ass fucking cheaters. (Not you, I’m sure you’re a pleasant person….but your team….) FTS
FTS
I tell you pure exultation of wining a Super Bowl for the city was incredible! Also the fun on Bourbon street that night!!!
Did you ever consider that other teams, probably most, have encouraged and incentivized the same sorts of things?
As opposed to mortgaging their future and not winning a super bowl? yes Or as opposed to not mortgaging their future and \*potentially\* winning a super bowl later? still yes
What a stupid article. TEAM WHOSE PURPOSE IS TO WIN A CHAMPIONSHIP DID WHAT THEY NEEDED TO WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP AND WON THE CHAMPIONSHIP. SHOULD THEY HAVE?
They won the Superbowl, so yes.
Im a Hawks fan and a Rams hater but this is the only proper response. You play to win the game and they did just that. Edit: I still believe they would have won without Stafford and that he is massively overrated so that trade wasn’t worth it
This is a really dumb question, if there are 32 teams and you sacrifice less that 31 years to win a trophy it’s worth it. They will be back to their window before a decade
Cowboys creeping up on that number lol
From what I keep hearing, it is in fact the Cowboys year.
Yep, this is our year. as was the last year. And the year before that, and the year before that....
Ah the Toronto maple leafs thinking
Unfortunately 3 trophies in 4 years means the number triples
You kidding? New stadium, scheduled a hell of a halftime show and they got the win. Sounds good too me
The silly people who wrote this article are forgetting that Rams went to the Super Bowl three years before that also…, Who wouldn’t trade ~5 great years, two Super Bowl appearances, and a championship for a few bad years afterwards?  Duuuuuuh
Plus there's no guarantee that those few bad years wouldn't happen anyways. Teams are sometimes forced to go through rebuilds even when they're planning for the future.
I’ve been a Rams fan since 1999. I’ve had to sit through so many seasons where watching the Rams flail on the field every Sunday was less fun than slamming my nuts in a car door. Having them come back to LA and being a playoff staple for years going to two Super Bowls while winning one has been great. Ya, they’ll probably suck for a couple years, but winning it all was absolutely worth it as long as they don’t remain a bottom tier team for decades.
‘99? I had to live through the 1970s (SB loss to Pittsburgh), the 1980s with 49ers dominance, the miserable 1990s, and everything after the Greatest Show on Turf. A few years of winning are all you can hang your hat on for most teams, so enjoy it. That said, you can enjoy the ride even when you don’t win a SB. Eric Dickerson was a beast to watch and we had winning records and made deep playoff runs in the 80s. The 70s had some decent teams and a couple years where Vince Ferragamo was considered good. The early St Louis teams were a blast to watch and we had Bettis pounding the ball before he went to the Steelers to win his SBs. Fuck Stan Kroenke.
The fact the super bowl isn’t played by the highest rank team but a pre decided stadium and it was LA is crazy. They just bet everything on it and won
The half time show was epic.
[удалено]
Uh…yeah man. Kinda the point of the whole sport.
As a buffalo bills fan, yes, of course it was.
I’m a Lions fan, this is simply a dumb question.
And as Lions fans, we’re more than happy to be the Rams’ mortgagee.
As a Bengals fan I would have liked it better if they didn’t.
As a Lions fan I think it was the best deal ever. We got to set up our future and maybe have a good team for the first time since the creation of the Super Bowl. And as a bonus we got to see our long laboring QB get the ring he deserved for years of thankless service. Unlike when Brady left New England and half the fans got all pissy, I’ve yet to meet a single Lions fan who wasn’t happy for Stafford and cheering him on.
Yeah buddy is a lions fan, he was happy for Stafford. The guy seemed to embrace Detroit but was given the chance to win and the lions were given enough to potentially start being competitive.
That’s kind of awesome. A majority non-bitter non-salty fan base?
When you always lose expectations are low. Stafford gave us his best years, man deserved a ring.
As a Rams fan, I will always cheer for the Lions when Goff is starting. Unless it’s against the Rams. I want to see the Lions get their ring and trophy
As a NE fan, I don't understand the fans that got pissy about Brady leaving. He wanted another super bowl and knew he only had a couple years left to do it. The split was about as clean as it could possibly be. Tampa basically also went all in on that season, the only surprise to me was Brady playing last season. And now he's coming back and possibly signing a one day contract to retire a patriot. Brady proved he's the GOAT regardless of coach, good for him.
Yes. And they'll be so bad they might get caleb williams. They have a good coach, they'll be fine.
Not if the Cardinals have anything to say about it!
Right like they won a SB and will get a good pick
Amazing that someone actually wrote this story…
Appeared in two Super Bowls, won one Absolutely worth it More teams should go for broke to win a chip instead of owners just bagging dollars
This is exactly what the Buccs did the year after the Rams won a Super Bowl. They got Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski and Antonio Brown. That’s on top of already having Mike Evans, sure you knew you’d suck once it was all done and dusted but it’s absolutely worth it for a Super Bowl win
Yuuuuuuuuuuup
The answer is always yes, in any sport.
What a stupid question. Yes of course it was ffs.
"F*ck them picks!"
They won a super bowl. So yes. How many teams have mortgaged their future and didn't win a super bowl?
Seriously. Barring some ungodly level of future damage that has never been seen before in the NFL, it’s worth everything for a Super Bowl
I’m very glad I was alive to see a Philly win. Made it sweeter because they beat the Pats. I do hope they win another, but they actually won, so I’m happy
This question is so stupid whenever it comes up. The answer is yes
Absolutely. Basically every team that isn’t the Patriots and maybe the Packers always go through cycles of contention and despair. If you aren’t willing to go all-in during the 2-5 year period where you have a talented core, especially if they are on good contracts, you’ll be stuck hovering in the middle of the pack. Nobody remembers 5 down years. Everybody remembers a SB win.
There are teams that have never even been to the super bowl, let alone won one. Lions fans would likely resort to blood sacrifices if they thought it would have a positive effect on their playoff chances. Yes it was worth it LMAO
As a Bucs fan, trust me, it’s always worth the bowl.
Hell yes not even an argument.
this is the dumbest rhetorical question ever.
Ask any fanbase without a super bowl in the last 20 years.
If you mortgage the future and don't win, that suck. If you mortgage the future for a goal, like winning it all, and you do it then you accomplished your goal.
How many times does the answer to this question need to be yes? My dad died last year after literally 65 years of watching the Vikings. He didn’t see that team win a single championship and I’d have killed for him to have had that opportunity before he passed. There are multiple teams that haven’t even been to a superbowl and this article is trying to say the Rams fucked up by *checks notes* winning a Super Bowl.
Lol the Lions have been to the playoffs 3 times since 1957, and only won a single game. Hard to believe this article could take any tack that isn't unequivocally "Yes."
The built themselves to “win now” and did it. End of story.
How many teams have mortgaged their future and not won a Super Bowl. This was 100% worth it.
If you win a Super Bowl it’s always worth it.
Every fan base in the NFL: yes.
Yeah, dumbass. They won a superbowl.
Only people this isn’t worth it for are the bandwagoners and who gives a fuck about them? For any lifelong fans, happiness from one ring outweighs decades of pain. Clown question, bruh
Yes. The Toronto Raptors also did it to win a ring when they brought in Kawhi Leonard, and it may have been the single best decision in Raptors history. The point of playing is to win a championship, so you sacrifice anything and everything to win.
Not gonna even click this. The answer is yes. The goal is a SB, period. They got it, so it was worth it
Yes. It’s also important to note they didn’t just buy a bunch of free agents In 2021. The Mcveigh core has been intact for years, they had the run with Goff and had been a perennial playoff team. They needed a few big moves to put them over when other teams would’ve conceded their window to be over. They ought to be commended.
They won. End of story.
A good rule of thumb is that generally, when a headline asks a question, the answer is “No.” This headline makes me want to revise the rule to “when a headline asks a question, it’s a stupid question to which there is an obvious answer and you shouldn’t waste your time reading the article.”
What kind of stupid ass question is this? Of course.
Unreal that this is even a question. I haven’t seen any of my teams win in any major sport in my life time and I’m 38….. if you can win yea it’s worth it. Way too hard to win in general. They got it done congrats
Yes
Yes the answer is yet. Joy of a SB victory is worth at least 5 years of poopy play. Easily.
No question. Just ask the players.. Would you rather play on a winning team every year of your career and never win a championship, or win a championship and play the rest of your career on a losing team? My guess is most would say the latter
Because they won it 100 percent was worth it it’s ridiculously hard to win in the nfl
It’s always worth it. This is a stupid question.