ARIZONA
CARDINALS
The Cardinals originally
played in Chicago as a charter member of
the American Professional Football
Association (APPA). The team moved to
St. Louis in 1960 and then to Phoenix in
1988. Contrary to popular logic, the
team was not named after the beautiful
bird but instead because the team played
in used maroon jerseys the original team
(in pre-NFL years) had purchased from
the University of Chicago. When an
observer scoffed that the jerseys were
“faded red,” team owner Chris O’Brien
countered that they weren’t “faded red,”
they were “cardinal red.”
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ATLANTA
FALCONS
A fan contest was held and the
team received more than 1,300
entries suggesting 558 different
names. Although several entries in
a fan contest suggested Falcons, a
schoolteacher was declared the
winner because of her reason “…the
falcon is proud and dignified with
great courage and fight.”
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BALTIMORE
RAVENS
On March 29, 1996, Baltimore’s
NFL team became the Ravens. The nickname
was selected from among three finalists
in a poll conducted by the Baltimore
Sun. Baltimore fans selected the name in
honor of Edgar Allan Poe, the American
poet who penned his famous poem, “The
Raven” while living in Baltimore.
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BUFFALO
BILLS
Buffalo’s team in the
All-America Football Conference (AAFC)
in 1946 was the Bisons. In 1947 a
contest was held to rename the team,
which was owned by James Breuil of the
Frontier Oil Company. The winning entry
suggested Bills, reflecting on the
famous western frontiersman, Buffalo
Bill Cody. Carrying the “frontier” theme
further, the winning contestant further
offered that the team was being
supported by Frontier Oil and was
“opening a new frontier in sports in
Western New York.” When Buffalo joined
the new American Football League in
1960, the name of the city’s earlier pro
football entry was adopted.
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CAROLINA
PANTHERS
Team owner Jerry Richardson’s
son Mark is responsible for the
selection of Panthers as the team name.
Mark, who felt that there should be some
“synergy” between the name and the team
colors also suggested the team colors of
black, blue and silver.
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CHICAGO
BEARS
When this team became a charter
member of the American Professional
Football Association (APFA) in 1920, the
team was located in Decatur, IL, and was
named after team sponsor, the Staley
Starch Company. The team moved to
Chicago in 1921 and became the Chicago
Staleys. In 1922, after team
founder-manager and star end George
Halas purchased the team, he changed the
name to the Bears. Halas reasoned that
because football players were generally
bigger than baseball players, and the
city’s baseball team was the Cubs, then
logically the football team should be
the Bears.
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CINCINNATI
BENGALS
Paul Brown selected the name
because there had once been a pro
football team in Cincinnati named the
Bengals and adopting that name “would
provide a link with past professional
football in Cincinnati."
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CLEVELAND
BROWNS
The Cleveland All-America
Football Conference franchise conducted
a fan contest in 1945 to name the team.
The most popular submission was “Browns”
in recognition of the team’s first coach
and general manager Paul Brown, who was
already a popular figure in Ohio sports.
Brown at first vetoed the choice and the
team selected from the contest entries
the name “Panthers.” However, after an
area businessman informed the team that
he owned the rights to the name
Cleveland Panthers, from an earlier
failed football team, Brown rescinded
his objection and agreed to the use of
his name.
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DALLAS
COWBOYS
In the initial months
following the its formation, the Dallas
team was known as the “Steers.” After a
few weeks, however, the name was changed
to “Rangers.” At the same time, a
baseball team operated in Dallas under
that name, but was scheduled to fold
before the 1960 football season.
However, when the baseball team decided
to play one more season, Clint Murchison
Jr. and Bedford Wynne, two owners of the
new NFL team, selected the name of
Cowboys to avoid confusion.
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DENVER
BRONCOS
“Broncos” was the winning entry in
a fan contest held in 1960 by the
original AFL team. The football
team, however, isn’t the first to
be called the Denver Broncos.
Denver’s 1921 entry in the Midwest
Baseball League was also called
the Broncos.
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DETROIT
LIONS
The Lions name was chosen by
George A. Richards, the Detroit radio
executive who purchased the Portsmouth
Spartans and moved the team to Detroit
in 1934. “The lion is monarch of the
jungle,” a team spokesperson said, “and
we hope to be the monarch of the
league.”
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GREEN
BAY PACKERS
The
name was a natural since the team
was sponsored first by the Indian
Packing Company and later the Acme
Packing Company. Although both
companies went out of business,
the team prospered under the name
Packers.
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HOUSTON
TEXANS
After Houston was awarded the
NFL's 32nd franchise on October 6, 1999,
a series of focus groups were formed to
help come up with a nickname for the
team. On March 2, 2000, the team
announced five choices, the Apollos,
Bobcats, Stallions, Texans and
Wildcatters. The list was then shaved to
the Apollos, Stallions and Texans a
month later. After careful deliberation,
the team unveiled the Texans' name,
colors, and logo at a rally held in
downtown Houston on September 6, 2000.
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INDIANAPOLIS
COLTS
Baltimore’s first pro football
team was a member of the 1947 AAFC. A
fan contest produced the Colts name
reflecting the great tradition and proud
history of horse breeding and racing in
the Baltimore region. The original Colts
disbanded after the 1950 season but the
name was retained when a new Baltimore
franchise began play in 1953. The team
moved to Indianapolis in 1984.
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JACKSONVILLE
JAGUARS
The Jaguars name was selected
through a fan contest. Finalists for the
name included the Sharks, Stingrays and
even Panthers, but Jaguars was
ultimately selected on December 6, 1991.
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KANSAS
CITY CHIEFS
The AFL franchise began in
1960 as the Dallas Texans. When the team
was moved to Kansas City in 1963, the
new name was selected by a fan contest.
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MIAMI
DOLPHINS
A fan contest drew 19,843
entries to name the AFL expansion team.
A total of 622 contestants suggested
“Dolphins.” Team owner Joe Robbie said
he liked the name because, “The dolphin
is one of the fastest and smartest
creatures in the sea.”
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MINNESOTA
VIKINGS
Bert Rose, the first general
manager of the Minnesota team that
began NFL play in 1961, selected
the Vikings name because so many
people in Minnesota and the
surrounding area traced their
heritage to Scandinavia.
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NEW
ENGLAND PATRIOTS
The new AFL team originally
located in Boston, was named the
Patriots because of the area’s
heritage as the birthplace of the
American Revolution.
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NEW
ORLEANS SAINTS
The
name Saints was the popular choice
in a fan contest staged by the New
Orleans States-Item. However, with
or without the contest, the New
Orleans team would most likely
have been called the Saints. The
franchise was awarded on All
Saints Day, November 1, 1966. New
Orleans was famous worldwide as
the city of jazz and the famous
marching song, “When the Saints Go
Marching In.”
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NEW
YORK GIANTS
Owner Tim Mara “borrowed”
the Giants name from the city’s Major
League Baseball team of the same name.
This was not unusual among early day pro
football franchises. At one time or
another there were NFL franchises named
the New York Yankees, Brooklyn Dodgers,
Cleveland Indians, Cincinnati Reds, and
Detroit Tigers.
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NEW
YORK JETS
New York’s original AFL team
was called the Titans. When Sonny Werblin took over the franchise in 1963,
he changed the team name to Jets to
reflect the modern approach of his team
and the star-studded performances he
hoped his team would produce.
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OAKLAND
RAIDERS
For a brief period, the new
AFL team was known as the Senors but by
the time the 1960 season started, the
Oakland team was known as the Raiders.
The origin of the Raiders name is not
known but, since it is doubtful a fan
contest would have been staged in
Oakland since the first team would have
to play in San Francisco, it is most
likely the name was chosen by principal
owner Chet Soda and his partners.
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PHILADELPHIA
EAGLES
When Bert Bell established his NFL
franchise in Philadelphia in 1933,
the country was struggling to
recover from the Great Depression.
New president Franklin D.
Roosevelt had introduced his “New
Deal” program through the National
Recovery Administration, which had
the Eagle as its symbol. Since
Bell hoped his franchise also was
headed for a new deal, he picked
Eagles as the team name.
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PITTSBURGH
STEELERS
The original 1933 team was named
the Pirates after the city’s major
league baseball team. In 1940,
Owner Art Rooney Sr. changed the
team name to Steelers to more
properly represent the city’s
dominant steel industry.
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SAN
DIEGO CHARGERS
Barron Hilton agreed
after his general manager, Frank Ready
picked the Chargers name when he
purchased an AFL franchise for Los
Angeles. The Chargers played in Los
Angeles in 1960 and moved to San Diego
in 1961. “I liked it because they were
yelling ‘charge’ and sounding the bugle
at Dodgers Stadium and at USC games.”
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SAN
FRANCISCO 49ERS
The 49ers name was
adopted when San Francisco obtained an AAFC franchise in 1946. The name was
selected as a recognition of the
pioneering and adventurous spirit of the
men of the 1849 gold rush in the Sierra
Nevada mountains east of San Francisco.
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SEATTLE
SEAHAWKS
The nickname Seahawks was the
result of a fan contest that drew
20,365 entries and suggested 1,742
different names. Seahawks was
suggested by 151 entrants and
judged by the team ownership as
the best choice.
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ST.
LOUIS RAMS
The franchise was
originated in Cleveland in 1936 as a
member of the American Football League.
In 1937 the team joined the NFL.
Principal owner Homer Marshman and his
general manager, Damon “Buzz” Wetzel
picked the Rams name because Wetzel had
said his favorite football team had
always been the Fordham Rams and
Marshman liked the sound of the name.
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TAMPA
BAY BUCCANEERS
A team advisory board reviewed 400
name possibilities and selected
Buccaneers.
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TENNESSEE
TITANS
Originally located in Houston, the
team was known as the Oilers.
After playing two seasons as the
Tennessee Oilers, team owner Bud
Adams formed an advisory committee
to research names and a “Guess the
Name” contest to gain additional
feedback was also held. The
committee selected Titans citing
the desire to have a nickname that
reflected “strength, leadership
and other heroic qualities.”
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WASHINGTON
REDSKINS
George Preston Marshall
acquired an NFL franchise in 1932 and
named it the Boston Braves after the
city’s Major League Baseball team.
However, after a financially devastating
and poorly attended season in 1932,
Marshall abandoned the Braves name in
favor of the Redskins. The Redskins name
was retained when the team was moved to
Washington in 1937.
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