Has Every Organization Been the "Punchline" of the League at least Once?

Babe Ruth

Proud member of the precariat working class.
Feb 2, 2016
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(Saints) had the time in the early 90s where they made the playoffs 3 years in a row.

My point was, you never really heard anything about them until Brees came along and started slinging..
Hell it took them 33 years to win a playoff game.

Agreed, Brees has been the most significant game-changer for their franchise.
And if I'm picking, solely from recollection, the most chronic NFL 'punchline' /based on percentage of franchise' seasons near the bottom/, Saints would be at the top of the list (along with the Bucs). Cards & Bengals would also get (dis)honorable mentions.

As far as notable Saints from the late 80s, I kinda liked Bobby Hebert.. but not in the same class as Brees. peace
 

Terry Yake

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Aug 5, 2013
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They were, I mean they had the time in the early 90s where they made the playoffs 3 years in a row.

My point was, you never really heard anything about them until Brees came along and started slinging (except for when Ditka gave away all of their picks for Ricky). Outside of Roaf, Jackson and Andersen they also lacked any sort of signature player until Brees signed there. AT least now they will be relevant for a while, even after he's gone.

Hell it took them 33 years to win a playoff game.

saints had the famous "dome patrol" defense in the late 80s-early 90s. but yeah aside from that, willie roaf, and ricky williams for a few years you pretty much never heard about them. brees going there completely changed that franchise
 

Big Poppa Puck

HF's Villain
Dec 8, 2009
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Eagles game was still rough, Nick Foles was going Globetrotters and dropping flea flickers on a defense that hadn't cracked all year. I've never seen anything like 2009 though. Basically doubling the Saints yardage, AP fumbling 3 times (1 was credited to Favre but it was APs fault), the horrendous calls down the stretch, the missed call that injured Favre when he threw a pick that would have been reversed and that the NFL apologized for the next day, that injury playing a part in why Favre threw that interception instead of running and sliding to try to seal the game, and just the general outrage over the NFL's OT rules. I've never seen anything like it and I don't think I ever will again (although it's the Vikings, so you never know).

Don't forget 12 men in the huddle right before the Favre INT.
And it was only the WC round but Walsh missing a 27 yarder is another facepalm moment.

If it wasn't for teams like the Browns and Lions. The Vikings would be the jokes. As is they're probably in the Top 5. With I guess the Bills and maybe like Jets? Bengals? Redskins (Snyder era only)? Jaguars (they may still be too young of a franchise)? rounding it out.

It's not just the the choking either it's the circus that constantly follows them. Both of Moss' tenures, The Love Boat, Favre drama x2, Peterson beating his kid, pretty much the whole Childress era (Troy Williamson wanting to fight him, cutting Marcus Robinson on Christmas, the Favre saga, Percy Harvin wanting to fight him, Moss not respecting him and acting out against him, to name a few.) And I think they're top 10 in arrests since 2000. I'm sure I'm forgetting some things. Their newest trick is wasting countless draft picks on specialists.
 

Trap Jesus

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Feb 13, 2012
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Don't forget 12 men in the huddle right before the Favre INT.
And it was only the WC round but Walsh missing a 27 yarder is another facepalm moment.

If it wasn't for teams like the Browns and Lions. The Vikings would be the jokes. As is they're probably in the Top 5. With I guess the Bills and maybe like Jets? Bengals? Redskins (Snyder era only)? Jaguars (they may still be too young of a franchise)? rounding it out.

It's not just the the choking either it's the circus that constantly follows them. Both of Moss' tenures, The Love Boat, Favre drama x2, Peterson beating his kid, pretty much the whole Childress era (Troy Williamson wanting to fight him, cutting Marcus Robinson on Christmas, the Favre saga, Percy Harvin wanting to fight him, Moss not respecting him and acting out against him, to name a few.) And I think they're top 10 in arrests since 2000. I'm sure I'm forgetting some things. Their newest trick is wasting countless draft picks on specialists.
I do think there's been a huge culture change under Zimmer where they've cut a lot of that crap out, but obviously there have been faults under him like the over-reliance on drafting corners and the inability to solve the offensive line problem. Still, it feels like it's night and day from the Tice, Childress and Frazier clown show days. So much talent on a lot of those teams but it was all squandered. I at least get the impression that there's more of a team dynamic and commitment to winning under Zimmer, even if they haven't been able to get it done. That's so tough in itself though.
 
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HisIceness

This is Hurricanes Hockey
Sep 16, 2010
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Panthers in 2001. Won the first game and then lost 15 straight, that had never happened before. On top of that they didn't even get the #1 pick since the Texans were coming into the league via expansion. To a lesser extent 2010 as well, finished 2-14 and Andrew Luck announces he's going back to Stanford for another year, he wanted nothing to do with Jerry Richardson.
 

Roboturner913

Registered User
Jul 3, 2012
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They were, I mean they had the time in the early 90s where they made the playoffs 3 years in a row.

My point was, you never really heard anything about them until Brees came along and started slinging (except for when Ditka gave away all of their picks for Ricky). Outside of Roaf, Jackson and Andersen they also lacked any sort of signature player until Brees signed there. AT least now they will be relevant for a while, even after he's gone.

Hell it took them 33 years to win a playoff game.

They were terrible from the jump, mostly because expansion franchises back then had no chances of being competitive. So from 1967 through about 1982, they were awful. Take the span from 1983 to present and they've averaged 8.3 wins per season which is respectable, but those first 15 years made their reputation as a loser franchise.

As far as people not knowing about their success or not having "signature players" they had plenty of those, but New Orleans is the smallest market in professional sports. To tell the truth, Katrina raised their visibility. I'm not saying Katrina was responsible for their success, but it made people more likely to notice their success.
 
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Captain Bowie

Registered User
Jan 18, 2012
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They were terrible from the jump, mostly because expansion franchises back then had no chances of being competitive. So from 1967 through about 1982, they were awful. Take the span from 1983 to present and they've averaged 8.3 wins per season which is respectable, but those first 15 years made their reputation as a loser franchise.

As far as people not knowing about their success or not having "signature players" they had plenty of those, but New Orleans is the smallest market in professional sports. To tell the truth, Katrina raised their visibility. I'm not saying Katrina was responsible for their success, but it made people more likely to notice their success.

Wait, what?

According to: List of American and Canadian cities by number of major professional sports franchises - Wikipedia (Metropolitan areas)

New Orleans - 1,268,883
Green Bay - 318,236
Hamilton - 747,545
Winnipeg - 778,489
Buffalo - 1,132,804
Salt Lake City - 1,186,187
 

NotABadPeriod

ForFriendshipDikembe
Oct 28, 2006
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no they aren't, not even the second biggest punchline in NY State
they won 11 games 3 seasons ago, the Bills haven't gotten double digits in wins this century.

Well of course they aren't the second biggest punchline in NY State, they aren't even in NY State!
 

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