2011 NFL Draft Results: Top 5 Most Hated Teams Following the NFL Draft
Every year, we have fans who like to gang up on a certain team and blast them for every single thing they do—like the New York Yankees in baseball.
Like the Yankees, several teams have been deemed the Evil Empire for their dominance in the NFL. Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots are one of the most hated organizations in the sport.
Since acquiring Rex Ryan and his big mouth, the New York Jets may actually be the most hated at the moment. His constant guarantees and antics upset many fans and analysts.
Of course, the beauty of this sport is that all fans are extremely passionate for their teams. As fans become more involved with their teams, they begin to hate the division rivals even more.
It’s rare to hear a Giants fan call Tony Romo a great quarterback. Let’s not even get started about the AFC North and AFC West rivalries—those are off the charts. Green Bay and Chicago fans may even take the cake with their hatred for one another.
With certain moves made and players selected in this year’s draft, which are the top five most-hated teams heading into the season?
5. Minnesota Vikings
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There has been quite the backlash for the Minnesota Vikings after they selected Christian Ponder with the No. 12 selection.
Just about everyone, not including myself, feels this was a reach pick and that they desperately needed to trade down if they were eying Ponder the whole time.
Whenever teams make sketchy, reach selections that fans across the NFL don’t agree with, those same fans want nothing more than to see that team fail. The way these fans see it—if the organization was too dumb to select the player where they did, they deserve to have that player become a major bust and set the franchise back for years.
The Vikings want to bring in a veteran to take the reins of the starting job, but a lot of fans already want to see Minnesota fail for their draft selections highlighted by Ponder.
4. Detroit Lions
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Nick Fairley, a player who already generates a lot of opinion from fans, fell to the Lions at No. 13.
They then grabbed Titus Young to complement Calvin Johnson, and traded back into the second round for Mikel Leshoure to complement Jahvid Best.
Immediately following the draft, some, including myself, raved about how successful this team could be. I’ve already pegged them for a division title run. They have essentially completed their offense and formed the greatest defensive tackle duo in the history of the league with Fairley and Ndamukong Suh.
Yet, despite the constant praise, these Lions still have concerns. Is their secondary good enough? Do they have an outside pass rusher to complement Suh and Fairley? Will Matthew Stafford finally stay healthy?
Despite these concerns, the Lions head into the 2011 season with the possibility to make a strong run. A lot of fans will jump on these Lions for being too young and not having enough pieces to truly get out of the dumpster they’ve called home over the past decade.
More importantly, don’t think for a second the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers won’t be posting newspaper clippings on their bulletin boards.
3. Atlanta Falcons
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I’m not one of them, but the majority of fans are blasting the Falcons organization for their move to trade up with the Cleveland Browns for the No. 6 overall selection.
The Falcons traded away their 2011 first, second and fourth-round selections, plus their 2012 first and fourth-round selections, to land Alabama wide receiver Julio Jones.
I feel that Jones gives the Falcons a complete offense. Teams will be picked apart by Jones if they double team Roddy White.
The offense is set for the next decade with Jones and Matt Ryan together.
Yet, as more people analyze Jones’ role in making the Falcons an elite offense, they will surely begin to call them one of the favorites to win it all.
The more praise the Falcons receive for this move heading into the season, the more people will be calling for their feathers to be clipped.
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2. Carolina Panthers
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Yes, the Panthers start off the list due to their No. 1 overall selection of Cam Newton.
Talk to anybody, I dare you, they have a strong opinion of the Auburn QB. This is a kid who is determined to become more than just a quarterback. He wants to become an even bigger superstar than he already is.
Newton has a checkered past of character concerns, which has completely turned off a lot of people.
Right now, Newton is living the dream: He came out of nowhere to form one of the most magical seasons in the history of college football. He won the Heisman trophy, the BCS National Championship and then became the No. 1 overall pick in the draft.
He is sitting on top of the world right now.
For that, people want to see him come crashing back down to the ground. They want to see him fail over and over again. They want him to be even worse than JaMarcus Russell or Ryan Leaf.
You rub people the wrong way or become too successful and people will hate you. The Panthers are now associated with all of the envy and hatred.
1. New England Patriots
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You didn’t think we’d leave Bill Belichick and the Evil Empire known as the New England Patriots off this list, did you?
Aren’t the Patriots always one of the top five most-hated teams? They boast one of the greatest coaches in the league, but one who thinks he is always five steps ahead of the game and can essentially do whatever he wants.
The team boasts “The Golden Boy” Tom Brady who appears to live the perfect life and is only improving on the field.
People are already sick of the Patriots, but following their questionable draft, which included the usual stockpiling of picks, refusal to draft perceived needs, constant unexpected selections and taking Ryan Mallett, it just feels like the Patriots are trying too hard to be different. Many fans are turned off by the pompous actions of the organization.
Yet, as always, they’ll be one of the top-five favorites to win the Super Bowl.
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