Who, What When Where, Why, and HOW...did these teams becomes Rivals?

Question

When Game time is on......I Feel soooooo MUCH Hatred and Tension, especailly when my Team The Redskins suit up against the Cowboys. I know we have alot of History, but I'm just curious to how this whole things Started...

Just aswell as all other Rivalries in the NFL today...like the Chief/Raiders, Raiders/Broncos, Steelers/Browns, 49ERS/Cowboys, and so on.....

So fill me in on some Rivalry History if you know? *peace*

Answer 1

Well coming from pittsburgh..

About the browns/steelers one, I think its just becuase they have been playing each other for a very long time. And also how the teams areas are very close together too.

Answer 2

Redskins vs. Cowboys really started with George Allen, who always referred to them as the "God d**n Dallas Cowboys." This rivalry really took off in the early 1970's. Prior to that, you could really say that Dallas's biggest rival was Green Bay.

Chiefs and Raiders, along with the Chargers and Broncos, have been in the same division together for 47 years, including 2006, so naturally you would expect a lot of hatred.

Steelers and Browns have been in the same division (mostly) since 1950 and were 2 of the 3 teams who went from the NFL to the AFC when the merger occurred in 1970 (Colts were the third). The proximity (just take the PA Turnpike to the Ohio Turnpike, turn right and stop when you hit Lake Erie) has naturally bred hatred between the two.

49ers and Cowboys started in 1981, when San Francisco started their Super Bowl run at Dallas's expense.

Other big ones are the entire NFC North (though Bears-Packers is the biggie), Dolphins-Jets, and Giants-Eagles-Redskins.

Answer 3

Proximity and competition make for the best rivalries in the NFL.

If you look at all of the good rivalries in the NFL, it's all based on competition and proximity, but mostly competition.

3 perfect examples are the Colts and Pats, The Cowboys and Redskins and the Vikings-Packers-Bears rivalry.

Dallas and Washington are a half a continent apart, but they're about the biggest rivals in the NFL due to the teams constantly jockeying eachother for supremacy in the NFC East, which at that time, was the best division in football. The winner of the NFC East generally went on to go on to the NFC Championship game. The Redskins won 3 Superbowls and the Cowboys won 5 out of that rivalry. They still compete with eachother to this day.

The Colts and Pats have a major rivalry based on competition. Those 2 teams never had that much of a rivalry even though they shared the same division for a long time.. until they started competing for dominance of the AFC. That rivalry is sure to die as soon as the 2 teams stop getting dominant.

The NFC North probably parallells the AFC North in having a 3-way major rivalry, but the Bengals in that rivalry haven't given a consistant challenge to the Steelers and Browns for division supremacy so I won't count that one here.....yet.

The Bears-Vikings-Packers rivalry is probably the best example of a rivalry that wanes and waxes based on performance, but also has deep hatred based on proximity. I counted this compound rivalry because of the complex relationship between the rivals in this very hotly contested divsion.

Recently, according to many Milwaukee Journal Sentinal polls, the Bears-Packers have been eclipsed in the minds of many Packer fans with the Vikings-Packers rivalry, even though the Vikes are slightly farther away than the Bears in proximity. Until recently, the Packers and the Vikings have constantly competed for divisional crowns. The Bears and Packers haven't competed for divisional championships that much within the last 20 years. The rivalry is sure to slip now the Vikes are barely a wild card team and the Packers.... They're the Packers. No use having a feirce and hated rival that doesn't give you good competition, although the hatred will still be there because of proximity.

Soon, the Packers-Vikings rivalry will be eclipsed in importance by the once dormant Bears-Vikings rivalry that at times, was larger than the Bears-Packers rivalries of the 80's because the Bears and Vikings actually competed for something, like they're going to do this year. The Vikings are seen as the Bears main threat against them winning the NFC North this year.

I do agree, no matter what, there will still be hate between those 3 teams for eachother, and the Packers will hate the Bears more (but demographics are changing to the point where the rivalries are considered nearly equal), the Vikings will hate the Packers more, but the rivalries will wax and wane in importance to eachother based on competition. Just look at the NFC North banter on this board. It's mostly between Bear and Viking fans.

Answer 4

GO SKINS!!!! In 1960, the only team the Skins beat was the Cowboys. Next year tied em. Throughout early 60's they just had a bunch of close games, built up tensions. Things really heated up in 71' with George Allen. Redskins played Cowboys 3x that season and finally won the NFC East (and they'll do it again this year).

Steelers vs. Browns was because they were like the first two teams. They were the coal miners playing against each other from the two big coal mining cities. They first played in 1950.

NY Giants and Eagles was a huge rivalry. They played each other in 1933. See "Miracle at the Meadowlands" 1978...

GO SKINS!

Answer 5

Broncos/Raiders are a rivalry because they are in the same division, meaning they play each other twice a year. Also there is a bitter hatred there for the Broncos Head Coach Mike Shanahan because he used to work for the Raiders, and they duped him out of something the promised him, so he takes the game very personally. That rivalry will always be there between those 2 teams. Raiders fans and Bronco fans HATE each other.

Answer 6

Dolphins/Bills
The 'Phish became hated when they beat us every game in the '70s. From 1970 to 1979, they beat us everytime. 'Phish fans saw us as a joke and bitterness had grown strong in Bills fans. The first Bills/Dolphins game of 1980 resulted in a Buffalo victory. So exuberant was the crowd that they poured onto the field and tore down the goalposts. Owner Ralph Wilson said it was the happiest he ever was to replace a goalpost. Ever since, the 'Phish have never given us respect, even during the Super Bowl years they insisted we weren't any good even though we invariably took the Divisional and/or Conference crowns nearly every year. 'Phish fans are routinely heckled entering and exiting Ralph Wilson stadium, and I doubt the Carp fans are any more hospitable...

Answer 7

you just missed one of the biggest sport rivalry in history well it's not NFL it's MLB

Yankee Vs Red Sox