10 CRAZIEST NFL FAN BASES

Some fans are a little more of all that than others though, and some fan bases have more of them then others, which means the fanbase can seem a little crazier than most others. That’s not always a bad thing and it’s not meant as an insult. Teams play better with crazy fans.

Look at soccer fans – I’m sorry football fans – in Europe. Those guys are completely nuts and their teams feed off it. Look at collegiate sports like basketball and football. Of course, you still need a good team on the field, but a great fanbase is a big deal.

Sometimes though, a fanbase for a bad or struggling team can have equally rabid fans. These are die-hard guys who are intense because they have suffered through the lean times and the hope that things are getting better drive them.

No matter why they exist, we’ve got the list of some of the craziest fans out there in the NFL. These teams have some fans who are more than just passionate about their teams—they make die-hard fans go ‘wow, that’s extreme.’

For some, scratch the surface of that intensity and you’ve got tremendous knowledge of their team and sometimes the NFL in general.

Of course, the flip side is that if you are critical of their team, they go nuclear and like anti-bodies attacking a virus, they will assault in numbers. It makes for some interesting Twitter interaction with some of them as many media people can attest to.

I appreciate these fans though, as do the players. Without them the players are not making the huge money they do these days and I am writing about something less interesting like a local bridge being updated or a Piggly Wiggly being opened.

Then again, there are a fair amount of fans—both in and outside of the following fanbases—who would prefer that.

So without further ado, here are the ten craziest and intense NFL fanbases.

10. JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS

It gets a bit crazy. Like the petition they made to have President Obama force the Jaguars to get Tim Tebow, even though the owner had said ‘no, thanks.’ Or the radio ad asking for the same thing from some lawyer.

There seems to have been an awful lot of crazy around Tebow, huh?

Of course, as Crow would point out, that’s the fringe. The fringe is always more squirrely than the base.

That said, this is a passionate, faithful crew and they have their team’s back, Tebow or no. While Jacksonville’s overall attendance draw was 21^st in the NFL last season, their average (65,541) is pretty close to capacity (67,246). It’s expandable for way more, but they don’t do it for football. So for all the talk of tarps, people show to the games.

And more did that last year than they did in football meccas like Pittsburgh (62,226), Indianapolis (65,375) and Chicago (61,681). Now a lot of those numbers have to do with capacity, but that’s true of Jacksonville as well. They just don’t get the credit the other teams do.

They tailgate, they paint their faces, and they demand better teams but support the ones they have.

And as Crow wrote in his piece, their mascot caught on fire once which while not a ‘fan thing’ gives them some bonus points.

9. NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

A month after winning a Super Bowl, Patriots fans are already angry because they were outbid by the Jets for Darrelle Revis, a guy who was always in it for the money. They’re never satisfied (and apparently don’t have a spellcheck).

Isn’t that how it is with crazy fanbases? It’s never enough. You can probably throw down the Patriots fans as second-most hated franchise (behind the Seattle Seahawks fans currently in hibernation after Pete Carrol blundered the last Super Bowl), and it’s in part because they never stop complaining.

Really, you’re looking at people who would complain that by hitting a $250 million lottery, their tax rate would go up.

But like the Jaguars fans, they will come after you hard if you dare to criticize them or their team. For instances of that, just google ‘Deflatgate’ and read the comments. Or probably read the comments here. Over/under on times I’m called an idiot?

The thing is, a lot of these fans are fun to be around. Head to Gillette Stadium and wander the parking lot and as long as you aren’t wearing a Jets jersey, you’re bound to end up talking to some Pats fan over a Sam Adams. Even if you’re a Jets fan, you’ll find someone who will invite you into a tailgate for a beer. The few times I have covered games in Foxboro, I’ve found the fans intense, but relatively fun to be around.

That probably knocks them down this list a little.

At the end of the day, while some of them are a little bent and we’re all tired of the rich folks (in championships) crying poor, the Pats fans are likely just reacting to the piercing cold which teams like Green Bay only overcome through brats and tons of Wisco Disco beer.

It might make anyone a tad unbalanced.

8. NEW YORK JETS

Picture DUVAL and Jacksonville fans but with a much longer stretch of frustration, constant coaching changes and no quarterback. Add in the inferiority complex they have from watching the New York Giants succeed more often than their beloved Jets, sprinkle some hatred for the rest of the AFC East, and you have the Jets fan.

It’s a passionate fanbase so used to grasping at straws that they don’t even realize its happening. Seriously, after Darrelle Revis was announced as returning to New York they were over the moon.

Forget the lack of quarterback, forget the fact that last I checked, Tom Brady was still playing—they had Revis back and dammit, that was all that mattered. There were even calls for a potential Super Bowl run, but let’s assume that was a little too much celebration and Brooklyn Ale.

Jets fans are constantly kicked when they’re down but their resilience is insane. They simply get back up, dust off and head back to MetLife Stadium. While maybe Fireman Ed has quit, the rest of Jets Nation is still showing up to the stadium and cheering for the green and white.

I mean seriously, what’s wrong with them?

The Jets fans are crazy because they always have hope. They are always ready to believe that this time it’s different. That this time, everything will work out.  Even Tim Tebow didn’t beat that out of them.

They show up early, they stay late (usually) and they are always ready to give the other team hell from the stands no matter how hopeless the cause. Because one day it’s getting better and they are going to be part of it.

7. SEATTLE SEAHAWKS

The fabled 12^th man, the loud as heck stadium, the weather, the chants.

The Seahawks have a tremendous fanbase, although like the Patriots fans, they tend to get on everyone’s nerves. Seriously, how can a team’s fanbase complain as much as the Seahawks when they spend all their time winning?

At least this offseason, there is a reason to tear their hair out given that nobody has figured out what Pete Carroll was thinking not handing the ball off to Marshawn Lynch.

While they will go a bit far defending the indefensible and can have a bit of a bad reputation at times, they are loud and proud and have some pretty spectacular face painting going on.

Seriously, you try to keep your makeup from running when it’s constantly misting out.

While there have been charges of a surge in bandwagon fans (as illustrated by Thanh Tan in the Seattle Times), for the most part it’s a team which has had a strong fanbase for a long time and if there are some new faces, that’s only to be expected. Although some would say there are limits even for Seattle.

Seahawks fans are a bit intense and maybe a little overbearing, but that’s just passion. Like the Pats, a lot of hate is jealousy, and let’s be honest, it’s hard to react well to that and they don’t. That said, there are plenty of face-painting 12^th man denizens who know their football and can talk about it for hours, when they aren’t trying to break world records for noise.

6. GREEN BAY PACKERS

I’ve had a love/hate relationship with the Pack and its fans for a long time, though I have to admit to being more on the ‘love’ side in the last few years. Packers fans are an insular group, moving around in small packs (see what I did there), often with huge chips on their shoulders.

They nurse grudges, whether it’s for poor officiating or for Pro Bowl snubs, Packers fans remember it. The thing is, they are often just as passionate about football and the NFL in general, as they are their Packers.

My very first interaction with a Packers fan started with a violent (for Twitter) disagreement about who was better—Charles Wooodson or Darrelle Revis. I know right? Seems obvious, but we argued. But arguing was followed by respect and then beers and really, that’s the basis of any relationship.

Because at the heart of it, a lot of Packers fans are intense about their team but also willing to argue and debate and listen to the other side.

Which doesn’t take away from the fact that these folks still talk about the Ice Bowl as if it was a reasonable event and look forward to the next one, wear cheese on their heads and park on people’s front lawns prior to games. Heck, the stadium seems to be nestled in people’s front yards as well.

I suppose you’d have to be a little crazy to live in the arctic that is Wisconsin, and if you did, you might need something to keep you sane over the winter. Than hobby—in this case, wearing cheeseheads and quoting ‘Discount Double Check’ commercials—might become an obsession.

Which would explain a lot about Packer fans.

5. CHICAGO BEARS

Once upon a time, Bears fans were such a big deal they had their own segment on Saturday Night Live. They’ve had their own dance and the team plays in a stadium that, while refurbished, has one of the oldest exteriors of any stadium in the NFL.

Is it any shock that Bears fans are super-intense about Da Bears?

Bears fans have a bit of an inferiority complex when it comes to that legacy in some ways, as it’s been a while since they had a championship. They have only been to the Super Bowl once since the Super Bowl Shuffle days, and they get to watch the Packers win the division almost every year.

But if you back a Bears fan into a corner, he will defend his team to the end, even while criticizing Jay Cutler’s body language. Remember, it’s fine if they do it—Cutler is their guy, after all. Anyone else is an interloper and should quiet down.

This is the fanbase which is aching so bad to wrest control of the division away from the Packers, it’s almost as bad as Jets fans trying to ‘win’ New York from the Giants.

The problem with being a Bears fan is, unlike the Jets who have largely been just plain bad (save for two years under Rex Ryan); the Bears have made runs and had talent. There just seems to always be something that goes wrong, whether an injury to the quarterback, the decline of their defensive studs or the complete lack of an offensive line.

As soon as one thing gets fixed, it seems like another thing breaks.

Like the Packers fan, Chicago Bears fans have to deal with some cold weather and the wind and fog off the lake. I’d imagine it makes you little nuts, though they should be able to get over it with some excellent deep dish pizza.

Overall the Bears fans are super-intense, and occasionally a little unhinged when talking NFC North teams, but you won’t find too many more loyal fanbases in the NFL.

4. PHILADELPHIA EAGLES

Eagles fans will say they get a bad rap. A few batteries chucked, a couple of ice-balls and booing Santa will do that, but a lot of that is overblown.

That said, the Link isn’t the most welcoming place for opposing fans, especially those from NFC East teams. In the times I have been there I have seen some pretty ugly altercations and arguments between Eagles fans and Cowboys/Giants/Washington fans. You get that at every park, but it seems to be a pretty common occurrence still, even if the new stadium lacks the stadium court the Vet had, installed by the City of Philadelphia in 1998.

The New York Times Dave Anderson did a piece on the old stadium which lists some of the insanity Eagles fans have wrought, including arson (firing a flare gun), battery throwing and other nonsense.

While the overall vibe has mellowed some, it’s a tough group to hang with. Eagles fans are a dedicated group, loyal to the point of craziness in a way which most of the teams on this list can understand. They support their team wholeheartedly though and firmly believe that things will improve.

They aren’t naïve though, they know when things are going south and will push ownership to make moves when it looks like it has to happen.

Overall, the Eagles have throttled back the crazy, but that doesn’t make them any less intense.

3. BALTIMORE RAVENS

The other half of one of the best rivalries in football, the Ravens and their fans are just as intense as the Steelers. Ravens fans have had more recent success but that didn’t decrease the chip on their shoulders.

Their quarterback is disrespected, their defense is overlooked and they had to withstand the slings and arrows with how their team dealt with Ray Rice last season as well. So you’ll have to forgive them if they’re a little on edge these days.

Just a few years removed from a Super Bowl win, the fans saw their team struggle as it tried to repeat its win, and witnessed other teams—notably the Cincinnati Bengals—begin to rise in prominence.

Ravens fans aren’t taking that lying down, that’s for sure.

The interesting thing about Ravens fans is how quiet they get, especially in the off-season. It’s like they are conserving energy for the season or something. You see less trash talk from them before the draft, but it ramps up quickly, until it crescendos as the season hits.

For Ravens fans, they will always have that chip on their shoulder, and if you want to see it just mention how Joe Flacco is tremendously overpaid or not elite.

Even as silly a term as ‘elite’ is, that’s sure to get them fired up.

OAKLAND RAIDERS

No list of passionate or crazy fans would be complete without the Oakland Raiders fans. These are fans who dress up in costumes in a section called ‘The Black Hole’ and are rowdy enough to where when they travel to San Diego for a Chargers game, the Chargers hire more security.

There are a lot of reasons to laud the intensity and insanity of this group. There is a contingent which fell in love with the silver and black when they resided in Los Angeles which flies up on game days and home after the game. Every Sunday.

They’ll do the same in reverse if the Raiders move south again.

There is the acceptance—and pride—of both players and fans in how unruly they can be on the field and in the stands (though the rough play on the field is a little less now). Despite the rep and the pride in it, I used to find Raiders fans (especially the commuters on Sundays) to be very pleasant people, fright masks aside.

And of course, their utter hatred of the entire AFC West which makes it impossible for them to have a sane conversation with the fans of those teams.

Raiders fans tend to have a pretty solid knowledge of NFL history though—it might be because it’s been so long since this was a successful franchise—and take pride in how critical their team was to the success of the NFL today. And like many on this list, the long-suffering Raiders fans are hanging in there against all odds that things will get better soon.

While it hasn’t looked good for a long time, Raiders fans hang in there and cheer their hearts out for their team every Sunday in the hopes it will turn around sooner than later.

PITTSBURGH STEELER

Now the team that I grew up watching and then went on to cover them for 34 years. No team in the NFL has a bigger follower the Steelers. When the Steelers travel, they have some of the biggest fan turn out then the team there playing.

Steelers fans have the reputation of being true-blue collar, intense and loyal to their team. Even when they leave Pittsburgh, Steelers fans will continue to don their Ben Roethlisberger or Le’Veon Bell jerseys, plop down in front of the TV and root for the black and gold.

Their hatred of the rest of the AFC North is epic—even for the woeful Cleveland Browns, who really don’t bother anyone, right? But this is a fanbase which sees all the other teams in their division as coming for what is right fully theirs—the division crown.

Really, the Steeler fanbase has been through some lean times of late, but they turn out to Heinz Field with religious fervor and adamantly believe in their team. They adore their players, love the coach and even when things look dim—as they did for much of the 2014 season—they turn out to cheer their team on.

If you want to know how intense this group can get, just check out any Steeler-Raven game, with the Terrible Towels waving and the deafening voices of thousands of fans trying to drown out Joe Flacco’s signal calls.

Steelers-Ravens games are intense because you have two franchises who despise each other on the field and their fans feel the same way with the same intensity.

The whole AFC North is a cauldron of hate for the other teams and Steelers fans are definitely all for continuing to add to the stew that makes up those rivalries.