7 Teams NFL Fans Will Never Care About

The NFL is not an even playing field.

Like it or not, not all teams are created equal and that translates to how popular each team is amongst the average NFL fan.

While Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association try hard to market players rather than teams, the NFL works to market the team and its location and has a handful of stars that people know from other forms of marketing and advertising.

In other words, we would not automatically pick Curtis Painter or Matt Schaub out in a shopping mall.

Teams have a way of playing up or down to their market. While big cities like Chicago, New York and Dallas all have teams that seem to be in the playoff hunt, other teams like Jacksonville, Kansas City and St. Louis are all struggling to keep an identity.

Like I said, the NFL was not created fairly.

And while these teams, all 32 of them fight for supremacy and the ultimate prize of an NFL title, most will be adored by fans. But for some, it would not matter what they do, unless they win the Super Bowl or go undefeated. They will not exist in the eyes of the true football fan.

So is it better to live in obscurity and compete, or be loved and adored and therefore placed on the "pedestal" of the NFL?

These teams are fighting to make that decision.

Arizona Cardinals

Arizona used to be a team that the opposition could pencil in as a win for the season and move on.

But something odd happened a few years ago. They started winning.

Blame it on or credit it to the coaching job of Ken Whisenhunt.

And miraculously, the Cardinals, led by Kurt Warner, went to the Super Bowl, only to lose to the Steelers in the last seconds of the game.

But since then, as well as Warner's retirement, the Cardinals haven't done anything to excite the fan base.

And honestly, if not for Pat Tillman's act of heroism and that one run to glory, the Cardinals would be an afterthought in the NFL.

Cincinnati Bengals

Another team that teases you with greatness, including two Super Bowl appearances and division titles, but they continue to fall by the waste side.

Hopefully this will change soon.

The team even drafted a star receiver and a new quarterback to run the offense and the defense under Mike Zimmer, who is the best in the NFL.

But it still appears it is not hip to follow the Bengals.

Buffalo Bills

Remember when the NFL feared Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas and Bruce Smith?

They don't fear the Bills anymore.

Playing in a town that is one of the smaller NFL markets and the rumors of the team maybe going to Toronto don't make for a compelling argument to support the team.

Bills fans are loyal, but around the country, it is more of "what have you done for me lately?"

Jacksonville Jaguars

This one was easy for me.

I see this happen on a daily basis.

A small market team that needs to find ways to sell out games and keep the team viable.

The Monday night win helps, but this team is still in need of a marketing makeover.

And the head coach is still on the hot seat.

Except for Maurice Jones Drew, there aren't many players to market on this team.

Seattle Seahawks

They are five years removed from the Super Bowl.

And they won a division title last year...with a losing record.

They have a great coach in Pete Carroll and decent players.

But again, this team could fall off the planet and it would not matter.

Not even their "12th Man" can save them.

Cleveland Browns

This team remains in the middle of the fight. At 3-3, they are in the middle of the wild card race.

But look at this team. No true stars and they have an internal struggle over the running game.

There are loyal fans in the Dawg Pound and older fans the remember the days of Otto Graham, Brian Sipe and Ozzie Newsome.

But today's NFL fan does not care about this team.

St. Louis Rams

They used to be the "Greatest Show on Turf" and now, well, they are nothing.

So much promise and so much hope.

What happened?

St. Louis is a baseball town that had the Cardinals football team long ago and were blessed when the Rams moved east.

But except for a few good years thanks to Dick Vermeil, Marshall Faulk and Kurt Warner, this team has not been what they should and the NFL fan lost interest fast.