September 2, 2021 • 41 mins
On the maiden voyage of the NFL explained. podcast, Mike and Aditi explore the beginning of each NFC team to uncover the origin stories surrounding their names.
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Dot up work, dot com um What is in a name?
(01:09):
Welcome to NFL explained. Her name is A D Kinkabla.
My gam with you. This is the maiden voyage of
our podcast add our Mega Major awesome, tremendous, have to
listen podcast. Where are the adjectives? Dam, There's a lot
of adjectives, but I thought I would let you cover
that since your background actually is in print as well,
(01:29):
so you understand sort of the nuance of writing all
these cool things and using all those colorful adjectives. The
magic of words. Yes, the power. Although this episode and
really every episode that we're gonna be doing in this
podcast is going to be focused more on the history
of the sport, the game that we love, and I
should even want to limit this podcast to just the
(01:49):
history behind the NFL. I would just say anything that
any fan wants to know about this sport. D You
and I are going to give all the context and
perspective that people need to hear. And when you say anything,
we're not just talking about what happens on the field.
We're talking about how the field is made, or what
is actually on the field, or the way that the
field is videoed. I mean, really anything that you have
(02:11):
ever wondered about the game, anything that you've ever needed
for a good game of trivia. We have your answers.
The most frequently searched topics that need better perspective, we
will have you covered here on the NFL Explained podcast.
In fact, today I started this episode by saying, what's
in the name? We are all about team names, specifically
(02:31):
the ones in the NFC. Next week it will be
about the A, F, C, A D. D. There have
actually been and I don't know if you realize this,
but more than seventy five franchises in NFL history. But
because that would take a whole lot of time to
go through the history and the origins of all of
those teams, for this episode, it's just NFC teams that
still exist today. Wait, so we're not going to get
(02:51):
to the Tonawanda Cardex. No, I'm not touching that one.
If you'd like to do the what about the Racene Tornadoes?
Are we going to get to the Racene Tornadoes? No,
not touching that one either. The Duluth Kelly's. That one
might actually pop up, just because the whole the Loue
thing just sort of sounds cool to me. But you
and I there is a lot to get to because
it is the NFC, because we have a lot of teams,
(03:13):
because there's so much great history and tradition, I think
it's important to kind of just drive right into it.
And add actually started this podcast by saying, what's in
a name? And I think for a lot of us,
it's not only just a way that we are idd publicly,
but it's in a lot of ways identity. And I
think for a lot of our favorite teams, the history
behind knowing where that name came from, we're just don't know.
(03:35):
In fact, I grew up a Giants fan. Had it
not been for the preparation of this podcast, I couldn't
tell you why they were actually called the Giants. And
I think add I am not alone in that assessment.
We just scream and cheer every single Sunday and we
don't know some of the intricate details to how we
got to the place that we're at. That's a great
launching point. So why don't we start at the beginning,
(03:56):
at least at the beginning in terms of what is
the longest tenured name for the longest tenured franchise that
has played in the same city under the same name.
Do you know what that is? What team has been
around the longest played with the same exact name in
the same exact city. The answer is the Green Bay
(04:18):
Packers and I know there's some Arizona Cardinal fans who
want to talk a little bit about their team. We
netted out on the Packers because of some of the
categories that you just made reference to, the lack of movements,
the history around Lambeau and the whole thing. So they
actually kick off our list. They do. But do you
actually know why the Packers were named the Packers? Do
you want to give it again? I'm gonna let you
(04:39):
explain that because I know you did the deep dive
on the Packers. It did do the deep dive, and
you know what it made me think of my own
athletic career, because when I played Little League, you needed
to go and find somebody to sponsor your team, and
you had to wear you know, some law firm or
some grocery store or some hair salon's name on the
(05:02):
front of your shirt. Well guess what that how the
Packers were named, Mike. What happened was that Curly Lambeau
and George Calhoun founded the team in nineteen nineteen. They
needed money for uniforms, just like I did when I
was a kid, and Curly Lambeau went to his boss
at the Indian Packing Company and his boss said, Okay, sure,
(05:25):
I'll give you five hundred bucks to buy uniforms, but
you need to make sure you put my company's name
on your uniforms, hence the Packers duty. That's actually pretty
cool and it's a great flashback for me to my
childhood Bowers Sports shop. I remember that being all over
our baseball caps and jerseys when I was a kid,
(05:45):
which actually has me thinking, there's gotta be some cool
sponsors that people have had during the course of their
athletic career. So make sure you tweet at us using
that hashtag. NFL explained. I feel like people should also
tweeted us their questions, Mike, because this whole entire thing
just begs the question why do Packers fans where foam
(06:07):
cheese on their heads? I mean, I get that Wisconsin
is America's dairy land and that Wisconsin is known for
its cheese, but the Packers were named after a meat company.
You think that maybe they should put foam meat on
their heads. Meat and cheese, meat and cheese. I always
paired wine and cheese together, or grapes and cheese together.
(06:29):
I actually don't know the reason to it, but there
is some creativity and I think the other thing to
add is that we've learned there are connections sometimes that
aren't as obvious. So maybe the meat and cheese thing
is just one of those we're just going to have
to roll with. I mean, it's fair. But you know,
the other thing with the Packers that I think is
vitally important is that they play in a stadium which
(06:50):
I believe is on your bucket list lambeau Field. Oh yeah,
I just I would prefer to have like winter gear
when I'm there in the dead of winter. But I
think Packer fans have to be loving the fact that
they get to lead off our list. And you know
it's really interesting is from a Chicago Bears perspective. I
was doing some research on this team, and I think
there's there's a lot of really interesting tidbits about the
(07:11):
Chicago Bears. But it's important to note two the league
actually changed its name from the American Professional Football Association
to the National Football League. That actually wasn't the only change.
The Chicago Staley's They actually moved from the Catur to
Chicago in one they changed their name to the Chicago Bears.
And what's fascinating to me about this the Bears. They
(07:33):
played in Wrigley Field, and it's not the only time
that we've seen some football teams playing inside baseball stadiums.
Wriggley obviously has a lot of tradition. We made reference
to Lambeo, but the Cubs, since they were already playing
in Wrigley the football players were just larger in stature,
so they just said, well, why are we going to
call ourselves the Cubs. We're gonna go and call ourselves
the Bears, which to me is kind of cute and interesting.
(07:56):
But it actually could be argued that the Bears are
the NFL's oldest team. The Packers sort of beat them
in the name game, which is why a d D.
You got to start off with Green Bay. The rivalry
it goes back and forth between some of these squads,
so to me, once again, the history around this team
is sort of fascinating. Man, it takes the snap back
to throw under pressure aboards the Ross and he's gonna
(08:19):
fight out of it. Now close the deep downfield, white
up a Tyree who takes the class. Want to play
by Manning, don't want to catch by Tyree? Fifty eight
seconds to goal. Okay, so the new York Giants. You know,
as a Jersey girl, the Giants have been in New
Jersey forever, and I sort of get a little bit
perturbed by the New York thing. But they were indeed
(08:41):
founded in New York. There technically the fourth oldest team
in the NFL, and they did start playing at the
Polo Grounds. The way that they named themselves is after
the baseball team. So there was already the New York
Giants and they were playing baseball, and those New York
Giants named themselves the Giants after Mike. Come on, tell us,
(09:03):
when you're in New York City, what is the most
notable thing besides the pizza. Yeah, the most notable thing
is trying to get through Midtown Manhattan when it's nothing
but tourists that are surrounding you, and they look up
and they're staring at large buildings for no reason. You
take for granted. How if you grew up in that area,
you're just used to it, And in other parts of
the country they're just not used to seeing skyscrapers ding
(09:25):
ding ding ding ding. So the skyscrapers were so tall
they were giant like. And the Major League baseball team
named themselves the New York Giants, and then the football
team came along, which I will say that the baseball
name is really quite clever, but the football team just
copying the baseball team feels a little less creative. And then,
(09:47):
in like the only little ode to creativity, at one point,
the New York Giants became the New York Football Giants
to designate that they were different than the original New
York Giants. Which maybe if you had an unusual and
interesting name like A d. D as opposed to Michael,
you wouldn't really necessarily have to differentiate which Giant you
were or which Michael you were. Yeah, I'm getting now
(10:09):
flashbacks to my childhood being in class and hearing Mike
and four kids in my class going yeah and paying attention.
That's why Yammer just sort of became an interesting little
nickname that's stuck since my childhood. You know, you mentioned
the Giants and the skyscrapers and the baseball connection. I
just want to highlight this, not only for the rest
of this NFC episode of NFL Explained, but the a
(10:30):
f C one that's going to come out next week.
Add the amount of baseball influence on the sport of football,
as it pertains to team names, is really significant. There's
a large amount of teams that had association connection with
baseball teams, whether they were playing inside those arenas or
being named literally after the baseball team, which sounds ridiculous nowadays,
(10:51):
but this, I guess was a common theme when you
go back to the twenties, thirties and forties. Well, it's
like you said with the Bears in the Cubs, some
of the names were indeed derivative. Did you know, Mike
that there was once a professional football team named the
New New York Yankees? I do, now. I think I
must have missed that in the research back there you
go skip that one. Well, you know, sometimes you have
(11:13):
to do your own research, my friend, especially if you
want to win a trivia which, by the way, I
just I'm about building teams, so I just get all
my smart friends to be on my squad. But you
mentioned doing some of the work, and I did. So
you're a freeloader, is that what you're telling me? Yeah?
I am, but I pick up the drinks, so it's
all good. The Detroit Lions is one of those teams
actually dug pretty deep in in fact, when you just
(11:35):
google ports Smith, Ohio. What comes up is Portsmith dot org,
where Southern Hospitality begins. That's what popped up on my
Google search. And I was like, damn, that sounds like
the type of place that I want to go and hang.
And why it's significant. You're like Portsmith, Ohio, Like, why
the hell are you talking about that? Well, the Detroit Lions,
who are the fifth oldest team, actually started play in Portsmith, Ohio.
(11:56):
And they weren't even called the Lines. In fact, they
were the Spartans. You go back to George A. Richards,
who was a radio executive, and he purchased the Spartans
for eight thousand dollars. Eight K got you a franchise.
Now I get it. I'm flashing back to my grandfather
telling me about you know, things that he was able
to get for a quarter, but a K got him
(12:16):
a football franchise. He ended up moving the team to
Detroit back in ninety four. And you go, how did
the Lions come about? Well, he decided on the Lions
because he wanted them to be the quote Kings of
the NFL, like the line was King of the Jungle.
The tie in was also with the baseball team once again,
this sort of the team that Detroit Tigers. He was
(12:37):
trying to capitalize on the popularity of the baseball team
and that connection there lines and Tigers and Bears. We
can skip the Bears because we already did that a
little bit earlier, but it's just a theme of DD
that just continues to to ring true for the rest
of this podcast. I will say that Spartans has always
been a name that I've liked when it comes to
college football. Nicknamest the Spartan said sort of invokes something,
(13:02):
but yeah, I mean I appreciate that as well, especially
since the majority of original professional football teams really started
in the Midwest, and the two oldest teams in the
NFL have their ties to Chicago. The Decatur Stanley's obviously
became the Chicago Bears, and then the next team we're
talking about, the Arizona Cardinals, actually started as the Chicago Cardinals.
(13:27):
The Cardinals were formed in nineteen twenty in Chicago, just
like the Bears. They were part of the NFL's first
fourteen teams, but the Cardinals roots actually go all the
way back to eighteen. They were an amateur team known
as the Morrigan athletic club on the South side of Chicago,
and the way their name started is really actually quite brilliant.
(13:51):
Their owner was a gentleman named Chris O'Brien, and Chris O'Brien,
being very fiscally responsible, went and bought some old jerseys
from the University of Chicago Maroons in nineteen o one.
The thing is, though, Mike, when he looked at these
dis easy said, that's not maroon, that's Cardinal red because
they were old and they were faded. And you know
(14:13):
why we need to trust Mr O'Brien because he was
a house painter, so obviously he knows the difference between
different shades of red. Hence the Chicago Cardinals were born.
And obviously the Cardinals moved multiple times to St. Louis
and then onto Arizona, which is where they have stayed.
It's crazy to me because there will eventually be an
episode on uniforms on NFL explained just the emphasis that
(14:36):
we have on looking good. What's that phrase, look good,
feel good, play good? And can you imagine being a
member of the Cardinals and rocking old uniforms, probably not
looking good, definitely not feeling good about it. You know what,
I know it's the wrong conference right now, but the
Pittsburgh Steelers were those bumblebee uniforms in real time and
then again, so I can imagine all sorts of things. Yeah,
(14:59):
that's just not exactly the way that I would go,
but just the fascination that I think a lot of
us have with uniform arms in the jerseys. I mean,
how you go to an NFL stadium on a Sunday,
the team colors that you're squad's rocking. Those are really
really important. But add you know, you and I have
been referencing the team names from a lot of these
squads from the nineteen twenties. But coming up next, we're
(15:19):
gonna move along one hundred years to check in on
one recent headline that's making a significant change. We'll do
that coming up on NFL explained. Build the team that
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(15:42):
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five G content optimization there's the snap handa Riggans. God, hold,
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(17:11):
forty two yard touchdown? Ronald Course on a pot. John
Riggins has given the Redskins the lead in Super Bowl seven.
D It is NFL, explained my cam in to d D.
King Kabala with you. This week's episode, we are all
about the history of names for NFL teams in the NFC.
Our episode number two is all about the a f C.
(17:33):
But we continue moving this train ahead of d D
and the Washington football team. You know, it's a franchise
that was actually founded in nineteen thirty two as the
Boston Braves. They moved to d C in nineteen thirty seven.
Now they actually shared the name the Boston Braves with yeah,
you guessed it, the baseball team because they shared the
field with them. Nineteen thirty three happened. So the baseball
(17:54):
team they moved to Fenway changed their name to the
Red Sox. The football team, well, then they became the Redskins.
The name and the logo of the team has obviously
generated a ton of controversy over the last few years
and they finally changed it in to the Washington football team.
But keeping on the baseball side of things, the Cleveland Indians,
you know, they change their names to the Guardians and
(18:15):
the Washington football team. Their president Jason Wright, actually announced
that the franchise has narrowed down add more than forty
thousand submissions. That is a lot of looking over names
for a really long period of time. So the new
nickname for the team is down to three. And if
there's one thing that I have learned from working with
you add in a short period of time when it
(18:36):
comes to team names, no weather conditions are allowed. You
just you're not a fan of it. I just kind
of don't get it. Like the Miami heat. Does that
put you in a great place? The heat? Well, if
I'm on the beach with a cocktail, I'm in a
really good place. Heat. I mean that's different than warm weather.
I don't know, storm, the Seattle storm, the Carolina Hurricanes.
But again, I feel like naming a team is a really,
(18:59):
really difficult endeavor. You just mentioned the Guardians. I mean
people were ripping the Guardians and it's I don't know,
there's not going to be any sort of unanimous approval here,
so you just hope for the best, especially when there's
forty thousand submissions. The one thing for me, Addie, I
will be happy as long as there's a literation when
it comes to the Washington football team and whatever that
(19:21):
nickname is going to be. What does that mean? That's
like the Washington Warriors. But then that doesn't work because
there's already a Warriors. I told you, if there's one
thing that I really really despise, it's naming a team
after a team that already exists. I hear what you're
saying on the Warriors as a guy that lives in
the city of San Francisco, not too far from Chase Center,
where the Warriors play. I got you the Steph Kurry.
(19:42):
I think Warriors. I think Curry bombs away from the
bleachers and knocking down long triples. But there is something
to be said for the alliteration aspect of it. I'm
going enough to think about this one. It's a good
thing that it's not up to me to come up
with the name. You've got some time on that one,
and it has been kind of cool to just say
Washington football team. As you work on shows and we
continue to discuss this. Yes, but it has been very,
(20:03):
very hard to tweet the Washington football team. Do you
know how many characters? That is? Too many accounts? So
I'm with you there, all right. Well, moving up by
nine five and staying in the NFC East, we have
the Philadelphia Eagles. So the Eagles joined the National Football
League in nineteen thirty three, right when the Pittsburgh Steelers did.
And of course, you know, the Pittsburgh Steelers are near
(20:25):
and dear to my heart since I live in the
city of Pittsburgh. But we will get to their naming
and when the Eagles and the Steelers actually joined for
a period of time in our next episode when we
hit the a f C. Sticking with the Eagles, they
were named after a piece of government legislation during FDR's
(20:45):
New Deal era, and that is the National Recovery Act.
The symbol for the National Recovery Act was the Eagle,
and so the Philadelphia Eagles were born. But I've got
a little added votus piece of trivia for you here
the Eagles. Oh, I thought you were going to quiz
me on like speak softly and carrying a big stick.
(21:08):
Ron Roosevelt my friend. But I mean, it's true, not
that either of us really knows anything about speaking softly,
but Ron Roosevelt, same family. In any case, the Eagle
will not be hosting a history podcast at any single
point in my career. I just ruined that opportunity for myself.
So thank you for calling me out on that. Add
(21:28):
In any case, let me go back to my trivia.
You've took me off my game. Okay, here's my question
for you, Mr Yama. The Eagles logo is distinct from
every logo in the National Football League because oh uh god,
(21:50):
I actually don't know the answer to this as it
have to do like I'm just thinking like something animal related,
bird related. You know, there are other birds and there
are other animals. I'm sorry, Mike, you do not win
a beernay Eagles. You're the one that said you were
buying earlier in any and you're not on my tribute team,
(22:11):
especially in the history category. Yes, all right, the Eagles
logo is the only logo in the NFL that faces left,
and the reason it faces left. We'll go ahead and
look at all the logos. It's really interesting, Like if
you see all thirty two logos lined up, it's the
only one facing that way. And that's so that the
(22:32):
eagles tail feathers can make an e Okay, sorry, not
the tail feathers, I'm sorry, the feathers at the tail
of its head. So if you look at the Eagles
logo come literally which okay, okay, if you look at that,
if you look at the eagle's head, the back, the tail,
the feathers on the back of its head make an
(22:53):
e and that only works if the eagle's eyes are
facing left. Okay, Yeah, there's something to that. I think
that's relatively cool. The thing is a little bit of
a stretch. Actually, as I google the logo, someone actually
did the outline, I am going to say, I'm okay,
if I don't get that trivia question right, Well, Mike,
that's clearly just your bias as a Giants fan speaking.
(23:15):
All right, there might be a little bit of that
in play, but d D, there is absolutely no bias
here right now. Maybe maybe not, because I am all
about the l A. Rams. I happen to be a
very very proud Fordham University alone and certainly thrilled that
somehow I can work into this show of NFL explained
(23:37):
a reference to where I went to school, six same
year for the Rams. The same year that Boston moved
to Washington, the Cleveland Rams were born. Well guess what
teams GM? Damon buzz what's his favorite college team? Yes,
the Fordham Rams. I can't even tell you how much
I lit up when I saw the history. Does Fordham
still have a football team? Yes, we do have a
(23:59):
football team. And I see the little tone. Look, I
get it. We're not a top twenty five squad where
you know, look it happens, but we have had success
at the FCS level that needs to be thrown out there.
In fact, when I was there, Dave Classen was their
head coach who's now at Lake Fourest. But the point is,
and he turned around the program. Joe Moore head who
is now the offensive coordinator Oregon, kudos to him in
(24:19):
that offense. I'm going to go on tangents all day,
but Will actually was a huge Fordham Rams fan. We
just lost half our listeners. No, no, we didn't. We
didn't care. I'm sorry. They do care about Lombardi though,
who used to walk around the Rosehoe campus just like
I did, and he was five eight a buck eighty
something and was part of it dropping right there. Oh yeah,
(24:40):
it was part of a dominant offensive line. It gives
me hope, no, no hope, because things have changed physically
for football players. Seven blocks of granted, come on, now,
some old school heads know what I'm talking about. The
Ramso the professional football team, they've actually moved around a lot. Six.
They moved out of l A the year after they
won the NFL championship in nineteen. Following the ninety four season,
(25:01):
they moved from St. Louis, then back to l A
for the season, and now we're neighbors with them, NFL
Network sort of moving in next door to Sofi Stadium.
So certainly I think a lot of people excited about that.
And you're right, Mike, that is a beautiful Sofi stadium.
But let's head up the beautiful Pacific Coast Highway to
another team in California, and that is the one in
(25:24):
San Francisco, which plays its games in Santa Clara. But
that's not really where we're going with this very very
clever name here. You want to take one stab at
why the San Francisco team is called the San Francisco
forty Niners. It's my life motto of trying to get
rich quick. I have not been able to achieve that.
Though that a stretch to try to link those two
(25:44):
things out. That's right on point, isn't it. That's pretty
good right there. So in ninetifty the NFL merged with
the All American Football Conference. Three new teams came into
the NFL. One of those new teams was the forty Niners,
and of course it is because of all of those
gold prospectors who rushed to Northern California after the Team
(26:06):
forty nine gold Rush, and that is of course why
the uniforms still have besides that red red, you know,
like the Big Red, they also have that gold. I
do like the gold helmets. I have to tell you.
They're pretty sweet, man, Like those old school unis. They
are definitely fun to watch and I was kind of
light up. And I'm not even a Niners fan, but
living in San Francisco seeing them, it is kind of
(26:27):
cool to see, just sort of like the nostalgia that
that comes up when you see some of those jerseys.
So when you think of all the names, right, when
you think of all the names, animals, articles of clothing
odes to the region, forty Niners is really a very
brilliant fitting name, isn't it. Yeah, it totally makes sense,
you know. And as we shift our attention to America's team,
(26:48):
Dallas Cowboys, there was a time they were almost called
the Steers, which to me is sort of interesting. The
GM at the time, tex Tram didn't actually like the
idea of naming his team after basically Steer, and there
was a little bit of push back there. He couldn't
go Rangers because it was already taken by the minor
league baseball team in Dallas at the time, so they
settled on the Cowboys. And how about this, Like, you
(27:11):
just think about the popularity of the Dallas Cowboys and
then here we go, this team, the NFL's first modern
error expansion team, the success that they've had, and we
could have been calling them the Steers the entire time
of it does feel like Cowboys is more of an
America's Team sort of name than Steers and the Hats
and all of that. Yes, somebody who lived in Texas
(27:32):
for a while, it's hard to imagine them being called
anything else. But that the fact that our next team
is associated with nothing that would remind me of the
middle of the country. I think is just random, really mean,
the Vikings. But that just speaks to what you know
of where we are. Because here you're going to get
a bonus, my friend, Ken, Okay, you're not only going
(27:54):
to get a lesson on why the Minnesota Vikings are
named the Vikings. You're going to get a lesson about
the region of Minnesota. So Minnesota Vikings. This is the
first team in the NFL to actually use their state
instead of a city, which I kind of really appreciate
because you know, it's the whole state in general that
roots for a team. It's about a region, and Minnesota
(28:16):
doesn't have to share. You know, states like Ohio, Pennsylvania,
New Jersey, even though New Jersey isn't named they all
have multiple teams Texas, Minnesota has the one. So that's
really good. And the reason that they are called the
Vikings is because there's actually a very very strong Nordic
tradition in the Upper Midwest, and the general manager at
(28:38):
the time in nineteen sixty Burt Rose, thought, you know what,
not only should we honor this Nordic tradition here in
the Upper Midwest where we are based, but also what
do you think of When you think of Vikings, you
think of tough, aggressive fighters who stop at nothing. I
think Game of Thrones for some reason, kind of have
(28:59):
that Game of Thrones vibe. Maybe that speaks to your youth.
But I will say this, Mike Zimmer, the coach of
the Vikings, he's definitely some that you would think would
lead a team called the Viking. Yeah. No, I think
that is very very appropriate. By the way, I appreciate
you calling me young. Got card to the other day.
I got it really excited about that. I got more
white hair than I would like to admit. So yeah,
anytime you can compliment me like that, probably they just
(29:21):
had to card you. You know, when you wear a mask,
you need to card everybody just in case. Let's not
go that way. I like the way that I was thinking.
The person thought I was really young. But I'm here
to keep it real. Okay, that's fine. Coming up next.
I need a little bit of a break from adity
right now, so it's probably a good time to take it.
Will take it through the rest of the NFC. We're
just getting started here because we've got some mergers and
(29:41):
some teams that are starting to pop up at a
ridiculously fast rate. We'll explain that coming up next on
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You know, as you look back at the year of
nineteen sixty, you probably remember a great many sports events. However,
(31:31):
I doubt that anything was more important than the established
but of the American Football League continuing to roll on
here on NFL explained. We are taking you through the
history of the teams in the NFC and how they
got their names. But I mentioned nineteen sixty being a
big year d d for the NFL. First time ever
a successful rival league was actually created after a whole
(31:53):
lot of failed attempts. Nineteen six, nineteen thirty six, nineteen forty,
and then of course we get the American Football League.
The a f L and the NFL would eventually merge
in nineteen seventy, but that merger was announced four years
before in nineteen sixty six. When we do our a
f C naming show, we're gonna go through a lot
of those squads that has sort of popped up here,
(32:15):
But I do want to focus in on the NFC
front when it comes to the Atlanta Falcons. Did you
made reference to this? Sometimes like the fans that get
involved in the team names, Well, guess what, the Falcons
also one of those teams that went to the community
and said, hey, what should we do? Because they joined
the league in nineteen sixty five. The owner at the time,
Rickon Smith, was actually offered an NFL franchise to keep
(32:35):
him from joining the a f L, Which is why
the history around the NFL and the a f L
and the merger it's really significant because it was a
rival league. So the name was chosen by a contest.
Over five hundred names were submitted by the fans. You
got a lot of examples that didn't necessarily make the cut.
Peaches sort of one of my personal favorites, the Vibrants,
(32:57):
the Lancers favorites or is that? Can you imagine a
football team named the Peaches really unique? Though not exactly
strike Fear. You said, look, you wanted unique. No one
else is the Peaches, the Vibrants, the Lancers. I don't
really want have been crazy about that one. One that
really would have created a lot of controversy, and it's
probably a good thing they didn't go down that path. Uh,
(33:17):
the Confederates, because something tells me that wouldn't have lasted
the way some of the name changes have gone down.
But the Falcon name was actually submitted by a couple
of different fans. A school teacher said her reason for
picking the name was because the falcon was a proud
and dignified bird with great courage to fight. She went
on to say, it never drops its prey. It's deadly
(33:39):
and has got a great sporting tradition. I think that's
kind of cool, especially in a game where you never
want to let go of the football, so dropping your
prey prey football. I think there's some sort of connection
there a d D. I feel like that's something that
Arthur Smith could possibly be pulling out this year to say, hey, everybody, reminder,
this is where our name comes from, and this is
(34:00):
who we are supposed to be, especially that defense. Maybe
I think there's some issues too offensively, let's get that going.
Moving right along, we'll go a little bit west to
the New Orleans Saints, who also asked for fans submissions
for city choices candidates when it came to naming their team.
(34:21):
And now here's something incredibly cool. They were officially founded
on November one, they being the New Orleans Saints, and
November one is All Saints Day. But the New Orleans
Saints didn't actually get their name from being founded on
All Saints Day. It's because of the song when the
(34:41):
Saints go marching in, and that's of course a homage
to all of the city street jazz bands and is
so so so fitting for that city and for that team.
And now I feel like, can you sing me a
didny no no? As a guy that's actually never been
to New Orleans, believe me, I would absolutely love to
head down there. I know, I know you give me
(35:03):
the shock. Look, I know this is a podcast of
people can't see you a DV is surprised. I know,
bad job by me. I mean, I'm surprised by the
fact that you haven't been to Green Bay, but I'm
definitely more surprised by the fact that you've never been
to New Orleans. Yeah. Yeah, you know, like I said,
grew up Northeast. I've been all over the West Coast
covering college football for a really long period of time
and certainly dipping into some NFL stuff for the years.
But New Orleans has not been a city that I
(35:25):
have been fortunate enough to visit. It almost happened a
couple of years ago for a bachelor party. That's definitely
a story for another time. We did not make it
to New Orleans. Well, maybe I'll get to the Superdome
where everything is deafening when they play, when the Saints
go marching in, when you know they're on defense. Just
in general, the Superdome is a very very deafening place.
Is it louder than the Twelfth Man in Seattle? Because
(35:46):
it gets pretty loud up in the Pacific Northwest for
that franchise, that's pretty loud. But I think Arrowhead Stadium
is pretty late too. Is it still called Arrowhead Stadium
by the way, Yeah, I was there a couple of
years ago. I'm terrible at that. Just while we're talking
about names, when teams move, you know, the Los Angeles Chargers,
I'll still occasionally called them the San Diego Chargers. And
(36:08):
when stadiums change, like the Bills, they're now playing in
a new stadium. But it's going to take me a while.
You're just pretty wired that way pretty much. By the way,
speaking of loud franchises, I know I had said it,
because it does get loud. In Seattle nineteen seventy four,
the NFL said, you know what, Seattle, you get a franchise, Seahawks.
They joined the lead in seventies six. There were seventeen
(36:32):
hundred unique suggestions by fans, the Skippers, the Pioneers, the Lumberjacks,
the Seagulls. I'm really glad they didn't go with the Seagulls,
really glad. I know you and I are on the
same page on that one. Their GM John Thompson went
with the Seahawks because of their prominence in the Northwest.
There's an unique aggressive nature that apparently he felt like
(36:53):
that name actually conjured up. But can you imagine, seriously,
if you're the twelfth man yelling for the Skippers to
me just would not have been great. But a little
fun factoid that I was able to find Seahawks only
team to switch offerences twice in the post merger. I
didn't really even put those things together. Seventy six NFC West,
which conferences with the Buccaneers after one season and then
(37:16):
joined the a f C West and then returned in
two thousand to NFC West realigned in the NFL. But
I found that I was like, oh damn, Like I
actually didn't realize that that had gone down. So that
was I thought something I wanted to pass along. Well,
it's a perfectly great segue to the Bucks then, of course,
who were originally in the a f C West and
then swapped with the Seahawks, as you just said, and
(37:37):
then they came back to the NFC South in two
thousand two. And what's actually interesting though, is that this
was not the first itineration of an NFL team called
the Buccaneers. There used to be Mike the Los Angeles Buccaneers.
Of course, that team didn't make it. So then you
go to the Bucks in Tampa Bay. And the Bucks
(37:57):
in Tampa Bay got their name not only from owner
Hugh culver House, but from a group of people that
he gathered together who are some of the smartest, most
creative minds on the planet. Who would those people be sportswriters.
A paddle of sportswriters came up with the idea of
(38:17):
Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a nod to the pirates who
used to raid the Florida coastline back in the seventeenth century.
And beyond that, Mike, it was actually a newspaper cartoonist
who came up with the mascot Bucko Bruce. So cartoonists
also impacting another franchise in the a f C, which
(38:39):
we will get to in our next episode, and that
would be the Patriots, believing the history around that particular
franchise also sort of fascinating. I just love all the
parallels and who each NFL franchise leans on in order
to help create an identity for their organization. And then
that's a little bit more on the old Dodge and
say old school side, but a little bit more new
(39:00):
school as well. Carolina Panthers kind of rounding out our
NFC squads. The youngest team, the Panthers actually born out
of that expansion. The team name came after the team
exacts thought that the animal was everything a player should be, powerful, sleek,
and strong. Yeah, I think those are good attributes to
(39:21):
give NFL players. They also appeared with the Jags as
the youngest team to appear in a conference championship and
only their second season. But I do know the Carolina
Panthers right now? Are they a powerful, sleek and strong team? Uh?
They got some really good players on that squad. I
don't know if I necessarily describe them in that regard,
more like some younger players. But they're hoping. They're hoping.
(39:43):
But I do. I like their colors, I like their logo.
I like the name. I think it's all fitting and
it's unique. It is unique, and that might be the
most important thing. But look, you and I episode number
one of the NFL Explained Podcast, Officially in the books,
I am no longer nervous to be working with you
just because look, you are nervous to work with me. No,
(40:05):
you bring the heat. So I just wanted to make
sure that I was matching the intensity. And I know
our coverage on some of the burning topics, the most
search topics. We will have everyone covered throughout the course
of the season. Our next episode is all about the
a f C and history behind their team names. And
I know you're pumped for that. Just wait, just wait,
I am, because you know that's sort of my wheelhouse
(40:25):
right there. We've got some juicy things Mike in the
next one. But speaking of juicy things, there are things
you've always wondered. Don't hesitate to message us. You can
find me on Twitter at a Kinka Bwala. You can
find Mike at Mike Underscore. Yam do the I G deal.
I also do the Twitter deal. Sorry, I just kind
of wanted to sound hippen cool. You can also comment
(40:47):
in the comments section of Apple Podcasts well great, follow
review those the pillars of course at any successful podcast,
and also tell us what you are curious about. We
are here to answer your questions. Uh brought to you
(41:11):
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Dot up work, dot com um What is in a name?
(01:09):
Welcome to NFL explained. Her name is A D Kinkabla.
My gam with you. This is the maiden voyage of
our podcast add our Mega Major awesome, tremendous, have to
listen podcast. Where are the adjectives? Dam, There's a lot
of adjectives, but I thought I would let you cover
that since your background actually is in print as well,
(01:29):
so you understand sort of the nuance of writing all
these cool things and using all those colorful adjectives. The
magic of words. Yes, the power. Although this episode and
really every episode that we're gonna be doing in this
podcast is going to be focused more on the history
of the sport, the game that we love, and I
should even want to limit this podcast to just the
(01:49):
history behind the NFL. I would just say anything that
any fan wants to know about this sport. D You
and I are going to give all the context and
perspective that people need to hear. And when you say anything,
we're not just talking about what happens on the field.
We're talking about how the field is made, or what
is actually on the field, or the way that the
field is videoed. I mean, really anything that you have
(02:11):
ever wondered about the game, anything that you've ever needed
for a good game of trivia. We have your answers.
The most frequently searched topics that need better perspective, we
will have you covered here on the NFL Explained podcast.
In fact, today I started this episode by saying, what's
in the name? We are all about team names, specifically
(02:31):
the ones in the NFC. Next week it will be
about the A, F, C, A D. D. There have
actually been and I don't know if you realize this,
but more than seventy five franchises in NFL history. But
because that would take a whole lot of time to
go through the history and the origins of all of
those teams, for this episode, it's just NFC teams that
still exist today. Wait, so we're not going to get
(02:51):
to the Tonawanda Cardex. No, I'm not touching that one.
If you'd like to do the what about the Racene Tornadoes?
Are we going to get to the Racene Tornadoes? No,
not touching that one either. The Duluth Kelly's. That one
might actually pop up, just because the whole the Loue
thing just sort of sounds cool to me. But you
and I there is a lot to get to because
it is the NFC, because we have a lot of teams,
(03:13):
because there's so much great history and tradition, I think
it's important to kind of just drive right into it.
And add actually started this podcast by saying, what's in
a name? And I think for a lot of us,
it's not only just a way that we are idd publicly,
but it's in a lot of ways identity. And I
think for a lot of our favorite teams, the history
behind knowing where that name came from, we're just don't know.
(03:35):
In fact, I grew up a Giants fan. Had it
not been for the preparation of this podcast, I couldn't
tell you why they were actually called the Giants. And
I think add I am not alone in that assessment.
We just scream and cheer every single Sunday and we
don't know some of the intricate details to how we
got to the place that we're at. That's a great
launching point. So why don't we start at the beginning,
(03:56):
at least at the beginning in terms of what is
the longest tenured name for the longest tenured franchise that
has played in the same city under the same name.
Do you know what that is? What team has been
around the longest played with the same exact name in
the same exact city. The answer is the Green Bay
(04:18):
Packers and I know there's some Arizona Cardinal fans who
want to talk a little bit about their team. We
netted out on the Packers because of some of the
categories that you just made reference to, the lack of movements,
the history around Lambeau and the whole thing. So they
actually kick off our list. They do. But do you
actually know why the Packers were named the Packers? Do
you want to give it again? I'm gonna let you
(04:39):
explain that because I know you did the deep dive
on the Packers. It did do the deep dive, and
you know what it made me think of my own
athletic career, because when I played Little League, you needed
to go and find somebody to sponsor your team, and
you had to wear you know, some law firm or
some grocery store or some hair salon's name on the
(05:02):
front of your shirt. Well guess what that how the
Packers were named, Mike. What happened was that Curly Lambeau
and George Calhoun founded the team in nineteen nineteen. They
needed money for uniforms, just like I did when I
was a kid, and Curly Lambeau went to his boss
at the Indian Packing Company and his boss said, Okay, sure,
(05:25):
I'll give you five hundred bucks to buy uniforms, but
you need to make sure you put my company's name
on your uniforms, hence the Packers duty. That's actually pretty
cool and it's a great flashback for me to my
childhood Bowers Sports shop. I remember that being all over
our baseball caps and jerseys when I was a kid,
(05:45):
which actually has me thinking, there's gotta be some cool
sponsors that people have had during the course of their
athletic career. So make sure you tweet at us using
that hashtag. NFL explained. I feel like people should also
tweeted us their questions, Mike, because this whole entire thing
just begs the question why do Packers fans where foam
(06:07):
cheese on their heads? I mean, I get that Wisconsin
is America's dairy land and that Wisconsin is known for
its cheese, but the Packers were named after a meat company.
You think that maybe they should put foam meat on
their heads. Meat and cheese, meat and cheese. I always
paired wine and cheese together, or grapes and cheese together.
(06:29):
I actually don't know the reason to it, but there
is some creativity and I think the other thing to
add is that we've learned there are connections sometimes that
aren't as obvious. So maybe the meat and cheese thing
is just one of those we're just going to have
to roll with. I mean, it's fair. But you know,
the other thing with the Packers that I think is
vitally important is that they play in a stadium which
(06:50):
I believe is on your bucket list lambeau Field. Oh yeah,
I just I would prefer to have like winter gear
when I'm there in the dead of winter. But I
think Packer fans have to be loving the fact that
they get to lead off our list. And you know
it's really interesting is from a Chicago Bears perspective. I
was doing some research on this team, and I think
there's there's a lot of really interesting tidbits about the
(07:11):
Chicago Bears. But it's important to note two the league
actually changed its name from the American Professional Football Association
to the National Football League. That actually wasn't the only change.
The Chicago Staley's They actually moved from the Catur to
Chicago in one they changed their name to the Chicago Bears.
And what's fascinating to me about this the Bears. They
(07:33):
played in Wrigley Field, and it's not the only time
that we've seen some football teams playing inside baseball stadiums.
Wriggley obviously has a lot of tradition. We made reference
to Lambeo, but the Cubs, since they were already playing
in Wrigley the football players were just larger in stature,
so they just said, well, why are we going to
call ourselves the Cubs. We're gonna go and call ourselves
the Bears, which to me is kind of cute and interesting.
(07:56):
But it actually could be argued that the Bears are
the NFL's oldest team. The Packers sort of beat them
in the name game, which is why a d D.
You got to start off with Green Bay. The rivalry
it goes back and forth between some of these squads,
so to me, once again, the history around this team
is sort of fascinating. Man, it takes the snap back
to throw under pressure aboards the Ross and he's gonna
(08:19):
fight out of it. Now close the deep downfield, white
up a Tyree who takes the class. Want to play
by Manning, don't want to catch by Tyree? Fifty eight
seconds to goal. Okay, so the new York Giants. You know,
as a Jersey girl, the Giants have been in New
Jersey forever, and I sort of get a little bit
perturbed by the New York thing. But they were indeed
(08:41):
founded in New York. There technically the fourth oldest team
in the NFL, and they did start playing at the
Polo Grounds. The way that they named themselves is after
the baseball team. So there was already the New York
Giants and they were playing baseball, and those New York
Giants named themselves the Giants after Mike. Come on, tell us,
(09:03):
when you're in New York City, what is the most
notable thing besides the pizza. Yeah, the most notable thing
is trying to get through Midtown Manhattan when it's nothing
but tourists that are surrounding you, and they look up
and they're staring at large buildings for no reason. You
take for granted. How if you grew up in that area,
you're just used to it, And in other parts of
the country they're just not used to seeing skyscrapers ding
(09:25):
ding ding ding ding. So the skyscrapers were so tall
they were giant like. And the Major League baseball team
named themselves the New York Giants, and then the football
team came along, which I will say that the baseball
name is really quite clever, but the football team just
copying the baseball team feels a little less creative. And then,
(09:47):
in like the only little ode to creativity, at one point,
the New York Giants became the New York Football Giants
to designate that they were different than the original New
York Giants. Which maybe if you had an unusual and
interesting name like A d. D as opposed to Michael,
you wouldn't really necessarily have to differentiate which Giant you
were or which Michael you were. Yeah, I'm getting now
(10:09):
flashbacks to my childhood being in class and hearing Mike
and four kids in my class going yeah and paying attention.
That's why Yammer just sort of became an interesting little
nickname that's stuck since my childhood. You know, you mentioned
the Giants and the skyscrapers and the baseball connection. I
just want to highlight this, not only for the rest
of this NFC episode of NFL Explained, but the a
(10:30):
f C one that's going to come out next week.
Add the amount of baseball influence on the sport of football,
as it pertains to team names, is really significant. There's
a large amount of teams that had association connection with
baseball teams, whether they were playing inside those arenas or
being named literally after the baseball team, which sounds ridiculous nowadays,
(10:51):
but this, I guess was a common theme when you
go back to the twenties, thirties and forties. Well, it's
like you said with the Bears in the Cubs, some
of the names were indeed derivative. Did you know, Mike
that there was once a professional football team named the
New New York Yankees? I do, now. I think I
must have missed that in the research back there you
go skip that one. Well, you know, sometimes you have
(11:13):
to do your own research, my friend, especially if you
want to win a trivia which, by the way, I
just I'm about building teams, so I just get all
my smart friends to be on my squad. But you
mentioned doing some of the work, and I did. So
you're a freeloader, is that what you're telling me? Yeah?
I am, but I pick up the drinks, so it's
all good. The Detroit Lions is one of those teams
actually dug pretty deep in in fact, when you just
(11:35):
google ports Smith, Ohio. What comes up is Portsmith dot org,
where Southern Hospitality begins. That's what popped up on my
Google search. And I was like, damn, that sounds like
the type of place that I want to go and hang.
And why it's significant. You're like Portsmith, Ohio, Like, why
the hell are you talking about that? Well, the Detroit Lions,
who are the fifth oldest team, actually started play in Portsmith, Ohio.
(11:56):
And they weren't even called the Lines. In fact, they
were the Spartans. You go back to George A. Richards,
who was a radio executive, and he purchased the Spartans
for eight thousand dollars. Eight K got you a franchise.
Now I get it. I'm flashing back to my grandfather
telling me about you know, things that he was able
to get for a quarter, but a K got him
(12:16):
a football franchise. He ended up moving the team to
Detroit back in ninety four. And you go, how did
the Lions come about? Well, he decided on the Lions
because he wanted them to be the quote Kings of
the NFL, like the line was King of the Jungle.
The tie in was also with the baseball team once again,
this sort of the team that Detroit Tigers. He was
(12:37):
trying to capitalize on the popularity of the baseball team
and that connection there lines and Tigers and Bears. We
can skip the Bears because we already did that a
little bit earlier, but it's just a theme of DD
that just continues to to ring true for the rest
of this podcast. I will say that Spartans has always
been a name that I've liked when it comes to
college football. Nicknamest the Spartan said sort of invokes something,
(13:02):
but yeah, I mean I appreciate that as well, especially
since the majority of original professional football teams really started
in the Midwest, and the two oldest teams in the
NFL have their ties to Chicago. The Decatur Stanley's obviously
became the Chicago Bears, and then the next team we're
talking about, the Arizona Cardinals, actually started as the Chicago Cardinals.
(13:27):
The Cardinals were formed in nineteen twenty in Chicago, just
like the Bears. They were part of the NFL's first
fourteen teams, but the Cardinals roots actually go all the
way back to eighteen. They were an amateur team known
as the Morrigan athletic club on the South side of Chicago,
and the way their name started is really actually quite brilliant.
(13:51):
Their owner was a gentleman named Chris O'Brien, and Chris O'Brien,
being very fiscally responsible, went and bought some old jerseys
from the University of Chicago Maroons in nineteen o one.
The thing is, though, Mike, when he looked at these
dis easy said, that's not maroon, that's Cardinal red because
they were old and they were faded. And you know
(14:13):
why we need to trust Mr O'Brien because he was
a house painter, so obviously he knows the difference between
different shades of red. Hence the Chicago Cardinals were born.
And obviously the Cardinals moved multiple times to St. Louis
and then onto Arizona, which is where they have stayed.
It's crazy to me because there will eventually be an
episode on uniforms on NFL explained just the emphasis that
(14:36):
we have on looking good. What's that phrase, look good,
feel good, play good? And can you imagine being a
member of the Cardinals and rocking old uniforms, probably not
looking good, definitely not feeling good about it. You know what,
I know it's the wrong conference right now, but the
Pittsburgh Steelers were those bumblebee uniforms in real time and
then again, so I can imagine all sorts of things. Yeah,
(14:59):
that's just not exactly the way that I would go,
but just the fascination that I think a lot of
us have with uniform arms in the jerseys. I mean,
how you go to an NFL stadium on a Sunday,
the team colors that you're squad's rocking. Those are really
really important. But add you know, you and I have
been referencing the team names from a lot of these
squads from the nineteen twenties. But coming up next, we're
(15:19):
gonna move along one hundred years to check in on
one recent headline that's making a significant change. We'll do
that coming up on NFL explained. Build the team that
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(15:42):
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five G content optimization there's the snap handa Riggans. God, hold,
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forty two yard touchdown? Ronald Course on a pot. John
Riggins has given the Redskins the lead in Super Bowl seven.
D It is NFL, explained my cam in to d D.
King Kabala with you. This week's episode, we are all
about the history of names for NFL teams in the NFC.
Our episode number two is all about the a f C.
(17:33):
But we continue moving this train ahead of d D
and the Washington football team. You know, it's a franchise
that was actually founded in nineteen thirty two as the
Boston Braves. They moved to d C in nineteen thirty seven.
Now they actually shared the name the Boston Braves with yeah,
you guessed it, the baseball team because they shared the
field with them. Nineteen thirty three happened. So the baseball
(17:54):
team they moved to Fenway changed their name to the
Red Sox. The football team, well, then they became the Redskins.
The name and the logo of the team has obviously
generated a ton of controversy over the last few years
and they finally changed it in to the Washington football team.
But keeping on the baseball side of things, the Cleveland Indians,
you know, they change their names to the Guardians and
(18:15):
the Washington football team. Their president Jason Wright, actually announced
that the franchise has narrowed down add more than forty
thousand submissions. That is a lot of looking over names
for a really long period of time. So the new
nickname for the team is down to three. And if
there's one thing that I have learned from working with
you add in a short period of time when it
(18:36):
comes to team names, no weather conditions are allowed. You
just you're not a fan of it. I just kind
of don't get it. Like the Miami heat. Does that
put you in a great place? The heat? Well, if
I'm on the beach with a cocktail, I'm in a
really good place. Heat. I mean that's different than warm weather.
I don't know, storm, the Seattle storm, the Carolina Hurricanes.
But again, I feel like naming a team is a really,
(18:59):
really difficult endeavor. You just mentioned the Guardians. I mean
people were ripping the Guardians and it's I don't know,
there's not going to be any sort of unanimous approval here,
so you just hope for the best, especially when there's
forty thousand submissions. The one thing for me, Addie, I
will be happy as long as there's a literation when
it comes to the Washington football team and whatever that
(19:21):
nickname is going to be. What does that mean? That's
like the Washington Warriors. But then that doesn't work because
there's already a Warriors. I told you, if there's one
thing that I really really despise, it's naming a team
after a team that already exists. I hear what you're
saying on the Warriors as a guy that lives in
the city of San Francisco, not too far from Chase Center,
where the Warriors play. I got you the Steph Kurry.
(19:42):
I think Warriors. I think Curry bombs away from the
bleachers and knocking down long triples. But there is something
to be said for the alliteration aspect of it. I'm
going enough to think about this one. It's a good
thing that it's not up to me to come up
with the name. You've got some time on that one,
and it has been kind of cool to just say
Washington football team. As you work on shows and we
continue to discuss this. Yes, but it has been very,
(20:03):
very hard to tweet the Washington football team. Do you
know how many characters? That is? Too many accounts? So
I'm with you there, all right. Well, moving up by
nine five and staying in the NFC East, we have
the Philadelphia Eagles. So the Eagles joined the National Football
League in nineteen thirty three, right when the Pittsburgh Steelers did.
And of course, you know, the Pittsburgh Steelers are near
(20:25):
and dear to my heart since I live in the
city of Pittsburgh. But we will get to their naming
and when the Eagles and the Steelers actually joined for
a period of time in our next episode when we
hit the a f C. Sticking with the Eagles, they
were named after a piece of government legislation during FDR's
(20:45):
New Deal era, and that is the National Recovery Act.
The symbol for the National Recovery Act was the Eagle,
and so the Philadelphia Eagles were born. But I've got
a little added votus piece of trivia for you here
the Eagles. Oh, I thought you were going to quiz
me on like speak softly and carrying a big stick.
(21:08):
Ron Roosevelt my friend. But I mean, it's true, not
that either of us really knows anything about speaking softly,
but Ron Roosevelt, same family. In any case, the Eagle
will not be hosting a history podcast at any single
point in my career. I just ruined that opportunity for myself.
So thank you for calling me out on that. Add
(21:28):
In any case, let me go back to my trivia.
You've took me off my game. Okay, here's my question
for you, Mr Yama. The Eagles logo is distinct from
every logo in the National Football League because oh uh god,
(21:50):
I actually don't know the answer to this as it
have to do like I'm just thinking like something animal related,
bird related. You know, there are other birds and there
are other animals. I'm sorry, Mike, you do not win
a beernay Eagles. You're the one that said you were
buying earlier in any and you're not on my tribute team,
(22:11):
especially in the history category. Yes, all right, the Eagles
logo is the only logo in the NFL that faces left,
and the reason it faces left. We'll go ahead and
look at all the logos. It's really interesting, Like if
you see all thirty two logos lined up, it's the
only one facing that way. And that's so that the
(22:32):
eagles tail feathers can make an e Okay, sorry, not
the tail feathers, I'm sorry, the feathers at the tail
of its head. So if you look at the Eagles
logo come literally which okay, okay, if you look at that,
if you look at the eagle's head, the back, the tail,
the feathers on the back of its head make an
(22:53):
e and that only works if the eagle's eyes are
facing left. Okay, Yeah, there's something to that. I think
that's relatively cool. The thing is a little bit of
a stretch. Actually, as I google the logo, someone actually
did the outline, I am going to say, I'm okay,
if I don't get that trivia question right, Well, Mike,
that's clearly just your bias as a Giants fan speaking.
(23:15):
All right, there might be a little bit of that
in play, but d D, there is absolutely no bias
here right now. Maybe maybe not, because I am all
about the l A. Rams. I happen to be a
very very proud Fordham University alone and certainly thrilled that
somehow I can work into this show of NFL explained
(23:37):
a reference to where I went to school, six same
year for the Rams. The same year that Boston moved
to Washington, the Cleveland Rams were born. Well guess what
teams GM? Damon buzz what's his favorite college team? Yes,
the Fordham Rams. I can't even tell you how much
I lit up when I saw the history. Does Fordham
still have a football team? Yes, we do have a
(23:59):
football team. And I see the little tone. Look, I
get it. We're not a top twenty five squad where
you know, look it happens, but we have had success
at the FCS level that needs to be thrown out there.
In fact, when I was there, Dave Classen was their
head coach who's now at Lake Fourest. But the point is,
and he turned around the program. Joe Moore head who
is now the offensive coordinator Oregon, kudos to him in
(24:19):
that offense. I'm going to go on tangents all day,
but Will actually was a huge Fordham Rams fan. We
just lost half our listeners. No, no, we didn't. We
didn't care. I'm sorry. They do care about Lombardi though,
who used to walk around the Rosehoe campus just like
I did, and he was five eight a buck eighty
something and was part of it dropping right there. Oh yeah,
(24:40):
it was part of a dominant offensive line. It gives
me hope, no, no hope, because things have changed physically
for football players. Seven blocks of granted, come on, now,
some old school heads know what I'm talking about. The
Ramso the professional football team, they've actually moved around a lot. Six.
They moved out of l A the year after they
won the NFL championship in nineteen. Following the ninety four season,
(25:01):
they moved from St. Louis, then back to l A
for the season, and now we're neighbors with them, NFL
Network sort of moving in next door to Sofi Stadium.
So certainly I think a lot of people excited about that.
And you're right, Mike, that is a beautiful Sofi stadium.
But let's head up the beautiful Pacific Coast Highway to
another team in California, and that is the one in
(25:24):
San Francisco, which plays its games in Santa Clara. But
that's not really where we're going with this very very
clever name here. You want to take one stab at
why the San Francisco team is called the San Francisco
forty Niners. It's my life motto of trying to get
rich quick. I have not been able to achieve that.
Though that a stretch to try to link those two
(25:44):
things out. That's right on point, isn't it. That's pretty
good right there. So in ninetifty the NFL merged with
the All American Football Conference. Three new teams came into
the NFL. One of those new teams was the forty Niners,
and of course it is because of all of those
gold prospectors who rushed to Northern California after the Team
(26:06):
forty nine gold Rush, and that is of course why
the uniforms still have besides that red red, you know,
like the Big Red, they also have that gold. I
do like the gold helmets. I have to tell you.
They're pretty sweet, man, Like those old school unis. They
are definitely fun to watch and I was kind of
light up. And I'm not even a Niners fan, but
living in San Francisco seeing them, it is kind of
(26:27):
cool to see, just sort of like the nostalgia that
that comes up when you see some of those jerseys.
So when you think of all the names, right, when
you think of all the names, animals, articles of clothing
odes to the region, forty Niners is really a very
brilliant fitting name, isn't it. Yeah, it totally makes sense,
you know. And as we shift our attention to America's team,
(26:48):
Dallas Cowboys, there was a time they were almost called
the Steers, which to me is sort of interesting. The
GM at the time, tex Tram didn't actually like the
idea of naming his team after basically Steer, and there
was a little bit of push back there. He couldn't
go Rangers because it was already taken by the minor
league baseball team in Dallas at the time, so they
settled on the Cowboys. And how about this, Like, you
(27:11):
just think about the popularity of the Dallas Cowboys and
then here we go, this team, the NFL's first modern
error expansion team, the success that they've had, and we
could have been calling them the Steers the entire time
of it does feel like Cowboys is more of an
America's Team sort of name than Steers and the Hats
and all of that. Yes, somebody who lived in Texas
(27:32):
for a while, it's hard to imagine them being called
anything else. But that the fact that our next team
is associated with nothing that would remind me of the
middle of the country. I think is just random, really mean,
the Vikings. But that just speaks to what you know
of where we are. Because here you're going to get
a bonus, my friend, Ken, Okay, you're not only going
(27:54):
to get a lesson on why the Minnesota Vikings are
named the Vikings. You're going to get a lesson about
the region of Minnesota. So Minnesota Vikings. This is the
first team in the NFL to actually use their state
instead of a city, which I kind of really appreciate
because you know, it's the whole state in general that
roots for a team. It's about a region, and Minnesota
(28:16):
doesn't have to share. You know, states like Ohio, Pennsylvania,
New Jersey, even though New Jersey isn't named they all
have multiple teams Texas, Minnesota has the one. So that's
really good. And the reason that they are called the
Vikings is because there's actually a very very strong Nordic
tradition in the Upper Midwest, and the general manager at
(28:38):
the time in nineteen sixty Burt Rose, thought, you know what,
not only should we honor this Nordic tradition here in
the Upper Midwest where we are based, but also what
do you think of When you think of Vikings, you
think of tough, aggressive fighters who stop at nothing. I
think Game of Thrones for some reason, kind of have
(28:59):
that Game of Thrones vibe. Maybe that speaks to your youth.
But I will say this, Mike Zimmer, the coach of
the Vikings, he's definitely some that you would think would
lead a team called the Viking. Yeah. No, I think
that is very very appropriate. By the way, I appreciate
you calling me young. Got card to the other day.
I got it really excited about that. I got more
white hair than I would like to admit. So yeah,
anytime you can compliment me like that, probably they just
(29:21):
had to card you. You know, when you wear a mask,
you need to card everybody just in case. Let's not
go that way. I like the way that I was thinking.
The person thought I was really young. But I'm here
to keep it real. Okay, that's fine. Coming up next.
I need a little bit of a break from adity
right now, so it's probably a good time to take it.
Will take it through the rest of the NFC. We're
just getting started here because we've got some mergers and
(29:41):
some teams that are starting to pop up at a
ridiculously fast rate. We'll explain that coming up next on
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You know, as you look back at the year of
nineteen sixty, you probably remember a great many sports events. However,
(31:31):
I doubt that anything was more important than the established
but of the American Football League continuing to roll on
here on NFL explained. We are taking you through the
history of the teams in the NFC and how they
got their names. But I mentioned nineteen sixty being a
big year d d for the NFL. First time ever
a successful rival league was actually created after a whole
(31:53):
lot of failed attempts. Nineteen six, nineteen thirty six, nineteen forty,
and then of course we get the American Football League.
The a f L and the NFL would eventually merge
in nineteen seventy, but that merger was announced four years
before in nineteen sixty six. When we do our a
f C naming show, we're gonna go through a lot
of those squads that has sort of popped up here,
(32:15):
But I do want to focus in on the NFC
front when it comes to the Atlanta Falcons. Did you
made reference to this? Sometimes like the fans that get
involved in the team names, Well, guess what, the Falcons
also one of those teams that went to the community
and said, hey, what should we do? Because they joined
the league in nineteen sixty five. The owner at the time,
Rickon Smith, was actually offered an NFL franchise to keep
(32:35):
him from joining the a f L, Which is why
the history around the NFL and the a f L
and the merger it's really significant because it was a
rival league. So the name was chosen by a contest.
Over five hundred names were submitted by the fans. You
got a lot of examples that didn't necessarily make the cut.
Peaches sort of one of my personal favorites, the Vibrants,
(32:57):
the Lancers favorites or is that? Can you imagine a
football team named the Peaches really unique? Though not exactly
strike Fear. You said, look, you wanted unique. No one
else is the Peaches, the Vibrants, the Lancers. I don't
really want have been crazy about that one. One that
really would have created a lot of controversy, and it's
probably a good thing they didn't go down that path. Uh,
(33:17):
the Confederates, because something tells me that wouldn't have lasted
the way some of the name changes have gone down.
But the Falcon name was actually submitted by a couple
of different fans. A school teacher said her reason for
picking the name was because the falcon was a proud
and dignified bird with great courage to fight. She went
on to say, it never drops its prey. It's deadly
(33:39):
and has got a great sporting tradition. I think that's
kind of cool, especially in a game where you never
want to let go of the football, so dropping your
prey prey football. I think there's some sort of connection
there a d D. I feel like that's something that
Arthur Smith could possibly be pulling out this year to say, hey, everybody, reminder,
this is where our name comes from, and this is
(34:00):
who we are supposed to be, especially that defense. Maybe
I think there's some issues too offensively, let's get that going.
Moving right along, we'll go a little bit west to
the New Orleans Saints, who also asked for fans submissions
for city choices candidates when it came to naming their team.
(34:21):
And now here's something incredibly cool. They were officially founded
on November one, they being the New Orleans Saints, and
November one is All Saints Day. But the New Orleans
Saints didn't actually get their name from being founded on
All Saints Day. It's because of the song when the
(34:41):
Saints go marching in, and that's of course a homage
to all of the city street jazz bands and is
so so so fitting for that city and for that team.
And now I feel like, can you sing me a
didny no no? As a guy that's actually never been
to New Orleans, believe me, I would absolutely love to
head down there. I know, I know you give me
(35:03):
the shock. Look, I know this is a podcast of
people can't see you a DV is surprised. I know,
bad job by me. I mean, I'm surprised by the
fact that you haven't been to Green Bay, but I'm
definitely more surprised by the fact that you've never been
to New Orleans. Yeah. Yeah, you know, like I said,
grew up Northeast. I've been all over the West Coast
covering college football for a really long period of time
and certainly dipping into some NFL stuff for the years.
But New Orleans has not been a city that I
(35:25):
have been fortunate enough to visit. It almost happened a
couple of years ago for a bachelor party. That's definitely
a story for another time. We did not make it
to New Orleans. Well, maybe I'll get to the Superdome
where everything is deafening when they play, when the Saints
go marching in, when you know they're on defense. Just
in general, the Superdome is a very very deafening place.
Is it louder than the Twelfth Man in Seattle? Because
(35:46):
it gets pretty loud up in the Pacific Northwest for
that franchise, that's pretty loud. But I think Arrowhead Stadium
is pretty late too. Is it still called Arrowhead Stadium
by the way, Yeah, I was there a couple of
years ago. I'm terrible at that. Just while we're talking
about names, when teams move, you know, the Los Angeles Chargers,
I'll still occasionally called them the San Diego Chargers. And
(36:08):
when stadiums change, like the Bills, they're now playing in
a new stadium. But it's going to take me a while.
You're just pretty wired that way pretty much. By the way,
speaking of loud franchises, I know I had said it,
because it does get loud. In Seattle nineteen seventy four,
the NFL said, you know what, Seattle, you get a franchise, Seahawks.
They joined the lead in seventies six. There were seventeen
(36:32):
hundred unique suggestions by fans, the Skippers, the Pioneers, the Lumberjacks,
the Seagulls. I'm really glad they didn't go with the Seagulls,
really glad. I know you and I are on the
same page on that one. Their GM John Thompson went
with the Seahawks because of their prominence in the Northwest.
There's an unique aggressive nature that apparently he felt like
(36:53):
that name actually conjured up. But can you imagine, seriously,
if you're the twelfth man yelling for the Skippers to
me just would not have been great. But a little
fun factoid that I was able to find Seahawks only
team to switch offerences twice in the post merger. I
didn't really even put those things together. Seventy six NFC West,
which conferences with the Buccaneers after one season and then
(37:16):
joined the a f C West and then returned in
two thousand to NFC West realigned in the NFL. But
I found that I was like, oh damn, Like I
actually didn't realize that that had gone down. So that
was I thought something I wanted to pass along. Well,
it's a perfectly great segue to the Bucks then, of course,
who were originally in the a f C West and
then swapped with the Seahawks, as you just said, and
(37:37):
then they came back to the NFC South in two
thousand two. And what's actually interesting though, is that this
was not the first itineration of an NFL team called
the Buccaneers. There used to be Mike the Los Angeles Buccaneers.
Of course, that team didn't make it. So then you
go to the Bucks in Tampa Bay. And the Bucks
(37:57):
in Tampa Bay got their name not only from owner
Hugh culver House, but from a group of people that
he gathered together who are some of the smartest, most
creative minds on the planet. Who would those people be sportswriters.
A paddle of sportswriters came up with the idea of
(38:17):
Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a nod to the pirates who
used to raid the Florida coastline back in the seventeenth century.
And beyond that, Mike, it was actually a newspaper cartoonist
who came up with the mascot Bucko Bruce. So cartoonists
also impacting another franchise in the a f C, which
(38:39):
we will get to in our next episode, and that
would be the Patriots, believing the history around that particular
franchise also sort of fascinating. I just love all the
parallels and who each NFL franchise leans on in order
to help create an identity for their organization. And then
that's a little bit more on the old Dodge and
say old school side, but a little bit more new
(39:00):
school as well. Carolina Panthers kind of rounding out our
NFC squads. The youngest team, the Panthers actually born out
of that expansion. The team name came after the team
exacts thought that the animal was everything a player should be, powerful, sleek,
and strong. Yeah, I think those are good attributes to
(39:21):
give NFL players. They also appeared with the Jags as
the youngest team to appear in a conference championship and
only their second season. But I do know the Carolina
Panthers right now? Are they a powerful, sleek and strong team? Uh?
They got some really good players on that squad. I
don't know if I necessarily describe them in that regard,
more like some younger players. But they're hoping. They're hoping.
(39:43):
But I do. I like their colors, I like their logo.
I like the name. I think it's all fitting and
it's unique. It is unique, and that might be the
most important thing. But look, you and I episode number
one of the NFL Explained Podcast, Officially in the books,
I am no longer nervous to be working with you
just because look, you are nervous to work with me. No,
(40:05):
you bring the heat. So I just wanted to make
sure that I was matching the intensity. And I know
our coverage on some of the burning topics, the most
search topics. We will have everyone covered throughout the course
of the season. Our next episode is all about the
a f C and history behind their team names. And
I know you're pumped for that. Just wait, just wait,
I am, because you know that's sort of my wheelhouse
(40:25):
right there. We've got some juicy things Mike in the
next one. But speaking of juicy things, there are things
you've always wondered. Don't hesitate to message us. You can
find me on Twitter at a Kinka Bwala. You can
find Mike at Mike Underscore. Yam do the I G deal.
I also do the Twitter deal. Sorry, I just kind
of wanted to sound hippen cool. You can also comment
(40:47):
in the comments section of Apple Podcasts well great, follow
review those the pillars of course at any successful podcast,
and also tell us what you are curious about. We
are here to answer your questions. Uh brought to you
(41:11):
by up work, where you can build the team that
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The Bobby Bones Show
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