# Easiest NFL team to have been a fan of **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 26, 2019, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-nfl-team-to-have-been-a-fan-of/839239 "2019-08-26T00:38:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 19
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-nfl-team-to-have-been-a-fan-of/839239/19 "2019-08-26T23:57:00Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > The Patriots have had a lot of success… Over the last couple of decades, the Patriots have indeed had “a lot of success.” According to the number crunchers over at [FiveThirtyEight](https://fivethirtyeight.com/), there’s never been an NFL dynasty like the Patriots. Since 2002, there have been 18 Super Bowls, and the Pats have played in nine of them, winning six. No other team comes close to that record over that short of a time period. Cites: [The Patriots Dynasty Just Won’t Die](https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-patriots-dynasty-just-wont-die/) [There’s Really Never Been An NFL Dynasty Like The Patriots](https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/theres-really-never-been-an-nfl-dynasty-like-the-patriots/) [The Patriots Are The NFL’s Greatest Dynasty](https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-patriots-are-the-nfls-greatest-dynasty/) > [@zimaane](#): > > …they are probably the most divisive team in the League. A lot of people don’t like them, for a variety of reasons. Everyone likes the underdog. Case in point – those lovable losers (until 2016, anyway) the Chicago Cubs, who are the [most liked MLB team in the country](https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/america-has-spoken-the-yankees-are-the-worst/). Nobody likes a team that consistently dominates a sport. Case in point – the most hated MLB team in the country is the New York Yankees. Cite: [America Has Spoken: The Yankees Are The Worst](https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/america-has-spoken-the-yankees-are-the-worst/) With respect to the Patriots, all that crap about Deflategate and the like is mostly just sour grapes. Deflategate in particular was also a bunch of overblown B.S., as I noted on the SDMB [here](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=18079159&postcount=157) and [here](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19980251&postcount=126). > [@Super Bowl 51: Patriots vs Falcons](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-51-patriots-vs-falcons/779093/126): > > MIT mechanical engineering professor John Leonard says that based on his study of the Deflategate data: **“I am convinced that no deflation occurred and that the Patriots are innocent. It never happened.”** [Cite](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/23/sports/football/nfl-ignores-ball-deflation-science-at-new-england-patriots-expense.html?_r=0). > > Prof. Leonard teaches a course called “Measurement and Instrumentation” and posted a lecture about Deflategate that can be viewed [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwxXsEltyas). Per the _New York Times_ article linked to above: “It is utterly convincing.” I mean, give me a break. The [New Orleans Saints were giving out bounties](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Orleans_Saints_bounty_scandal) to their players to intentionally injure players on opposing teams, a despicable tactic that started the year they won the Super Bowl…and people make less of this than the allegations lobbed at the Patriots. Hearing people whine about Deflategate is like hearing people complain about Hillary’s emails. With all that said, the vitriol directed at the Pats seems to have spurred them on in recent years. Tom Brady especially seems to still feel he needs to prove the haters wrong, so there is that. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-nfl-team-to-have-been-a-fan-of/839239)._