Professional football is a sport that has some of the most passionate fans in the world, and it’s no surprise that team loyalty translates into some serious bad blood for other teams! NFL fandom is a rite of passage for many people, as supporting their hometown team is ingrained at a very young age.
Of course, it’s not fun enough to root for your team – you also have to save plenty of emotion to hate other teams!
1. Washington Commanders
The Washington Commanders, formerly known as the Washington Football Team, is taking the top spot. If you want to find a team with the most hate in the entire NFL, it’s this NFC East franchise. It should be no surprise – the team is hapless, stuck in a vicious cycle of bad draft picks and underachieving players.
Interestingly, NFL fans are near-unanimous in their hatred of the team’s owner, Dan Snyder. One football fan put it all in perspective: “The owner is one of the scummiest men alive,” they said.
2. Dallas Cowboys
Maybe it’s because they have coined themselves “America’s Team” for the better half-century, but there is always an extreme amount of hate towards the Cowboys whenever the topic of NFL teams comes up.
This hatred is because the team has historically had a large amount of media coverage despite never winning a championship in nearly 30 years.
“They get undue attention and hype despite having not won anything for my entire life,” said one understandably bitter Cowboys fan.
3. Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles’ recent Super Bowl loss to the Kansas City Chiefs made many of their haters happy, as the Philly franchise constantly comes up in any NFL discussion. People consistently state their reason for hating them isn’t the team itself but their fanbase! One person’s comment was particularly illuminating: “I absolutely despise the eagle’s fanbase,” the fan said.
“They jump at any opportunity to remind everyone how trashy they are, whether throwing bottles at visiting fans or booing injured players.”
4. New England Patriots
Any team that has been as successful as the Patriots over the past few decades is bound to end up high on this list. Blame it on Tom Brady, their coach Bill Belichick, or just because they always seem to be perennial Super Bowl contenders – sports fans hate winners.
One fan cited the Patriots’ past accusations of cheating as the reason for his hatred, offering a laundry list of New England malfeasances: “Patriots have cheated several times in the past,” he said.
“Deflate-gate, tuck rule, spying on other team’s practices with a drone, etc.”
5. Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns have been mired in mediocrity on the football field for generations now, but fans don’t feel bad for the franchise – the opposite seems true. One person laid it all out for everybody in the thread: “The Browns should be the most hated franchise,” he began.
“They finally got a quarterback who could win in the playoffs and then got rid of him so they could sign an alleged serial rapist who hadn’t played in years. All pity went out the door for them when that happened.” We have to be honest, it must be tough times to be a Browns fan these days!
6. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Fans identified one primary reason the Tampa Bay Buccaneers receive so much hate from the rest of the league – it begins and ends with Tom Brady. Their recently-retired quarterback can be blamed for nearly all the hate thrown their way, as one user helpfully points out: “I hate whichever team has Tom Brady,” she proudly stated.
Despite being arguably the greatest quarterback of all time, wherever Brady goes, pure hatred follows him and his football team.
7. Baltimore Ravens
Although generally regarded as a well-liked and respected NFL franchise, the Ravens have their fair share of detractors. This stems from the club’s move from Cleveland to Baltimore in 1996, as this Ohio native recounted: “The Ravens franchise deserves the most hate.
Cleveland Browns left a loyal and devoted fan base to move to Baltimore and a new stadium to become the Ravens. The year after the expansion Cleveland Browns were created, and the new team in Baltimore won a Super Bowl,” they sadly stated. (Yes, that would also grind our gears if we were a native Clevelander.
8. Las Vegas Raiders
Coming in at the 8th spot on this “most hated franchise” list is the Las Vegas Raiders. The club recently moved from Oakland, California a few seasons back, and fans have pointed to the team’s frequent moves as the primary reason they are so hated around the NFL. Based on what one Oakland resident said about the team, we don’t blame him for hating the Raiders.
“I was born in Oakland,” he confessed. “I saw [the team] leave twice. I saw the Davis family corrupt the Oakland politicians in a way that led to the bankruptcy of the schools in favor of stadium’ improvements.’ I hate the Raiders.” Ouch, strong words – but again, we don’t blame him for feeling that way.
9. Los Angeles Chargers
The dismal ownership at the helm of the Chargers is squarely to blame for the team’s lack of support from fans around the league. We’ll let the words of one disgruntled Chargers fan do the talking:
“Spanos moved the team away from its loyal fan base in San Diego to get sloppy seconds in an already oversaturated LA market,” he angrily said. “Their team’s doctor ought to have his medical license revoked after puncturing Tyrod Taylor’s lung amongst other demonstrated malpractice.
They’ve been a reasonably talented team in the 21st Century but have not made a conference championship game in that span, so you can argue they’ve wasted many great careers such as Philip Rivers.”
The story checks out.
10. Minnesota Vikings
Rounding out this list is the Minnesota Vikings. There seem to be no real hard feelings toward the team other than the fact that the team is a loser – a sentiment echoed by many fans across the league. “I’d say the franchise that gets the most hate is the Vikings and it’s deserved. They seem to choke a ton in the playoffs,” one fan said.
That person isn’t wrong – the Vikings’ NFL playoff history is littered with heartbreak after heartbreak!
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