In today's episode, Mike and Keith look over the entire NFL and whittle the list of possible teams for Mike down to a more manageable size. This is the post-Raiders-to-Vegas re-evaluation we promised a while back.
Here's the short list of possible teams we came up with and the reasons why these teams are on the list:
- Arizona Cardinals - a team that left St. Louis in 1987 for completely different reasons from the more recent departure, Cardinals President Michael Bidwill was pro-STL in the LA debacle and has given time to the St. Louis community since the departure.
- Chicago Bears - Mike was hesitant to put this team on the short list due to his bad experiences in Chicago (ask him sometime about his 2008 trip to Minneapolis), but when two of the co-hosts (Keith and Tim) are Bears fans you know they'll find their way on the list.
- Cincinnati Bengals - The Bengals are a Maybe due to their recent regular season successes.
- Cleveland Browns - Mike was at the Browns' first game back from the Modell stunt - the 1999 Hall of Fame Game in Canton, contested between Cleveland and Dallas (and the origin of the "Jerry's going back to Texas in a golf cart" story). He sat in the famous Dawg Pound, and was treated quite well. On that experience alone, the Browns are on the list.
- Denver Broncos - This team has resurfaced as a Maybe on the list because of their history of winning. The fact that they tie in to two of the most well-known adult cartoons today (South Park and The Simpsons) is an added bonus.
- Green Bay Packers - As has been stated time and again, the Packers are the only fan-owned team in the major American pro sports leagues - and Mike's sister (a Packers fan) owns a share of the Packers.
- Houston Texans - Most of Mike's late mother's side of the family lives in Houston. They felt the sting of relocation once before when the Oilers left for Tennessee in 1997 (ironically, Jeff Fisher was the Oilers' head coach for that move). Texans owner Bob McNair was on the ill-fated LA committee and personally advised the St. Louis stadium task force on their ill-fated plan (in a related moot point, we're still waiting on such detailed plans from San Diego and Oakland).
- Indianapolis Colts - The Colts have long been Mike's second team, having shared ownership (Carroll Rosenbloom) and Hall of Fame players (Marshall Faulk and Eric Dickerson) with Mike's former team. The fact that the city is just further down I-70 doesn't hurt. Mike is willing to look past Colts owner Jim "the Mad Tweeter" Irsay's pro-Stan stance and give this team another chance.
- Minnesota Vikings - This one has more to do with the fact that Mike likes Minneapolis than it does with the team itself, as Zygi Wilf was pro-Stan in the LA debacle.
- New Orleans Saints - The Saints are on here because of Mike's Cajun roots as well as the team's post-Katrina commitment to winning.
- New York Football Giants - The Giants are on here because of owner John Mara's role on the LA committee.
- Philadelphia Eagles - While their owner was pro-Stan, Mike has always been a closeted Eagles fan. This was especially true when Donovan McNabb was on the team.
- Pittsburgh Steelers - Mike's father is from Pittsburgh and almost everyone on that side of the family are Steelers fans. Also, owner Art Rooney II was on the LA committee.
Fair use: Arsenal Fan TV and "Senor Stan" make comebacks because reasons.
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