PPP’s annual poll about the NFL is out at the Chicago Bears are the penultimate. Yes, the Chicago Bears are the second most disliked team in all of America. Guess who beat them for #1 most hated? The so-called “America’s Team” itself, the Dallas Cowboys.
23% of the poll respondents say the Cowboys are their least favorite team with the Chicago Bears a very distant second at 13%. I thought the New England Patriots would be designated the evil empire, but they’re third at 9%, Broncos 8%, Steelers 6%, and Giants 5%. Not sure why the Chicago Bears ended up here, but I’m sure the way the fan base went after the daughters of Marc Trestman, following the Minnesota Vikings loss, did not help.
Now what does the poll say about Americans’ favorite team? Tourists and bandwagoneers. The Broncos are first with 14%. And 12% name the same Dallas Cowboys. So they are in fact “polarizing.” Then you have 11% Green Bay Packers, 10% Chicago Bears, 8% Patriots and Steelers, 5% Giants, and 4% Saints and 49ers. So the Chicago Bears are polarizing too; as they happen to be the nation’s fourth most beloved team.
When this same poll was conducted in 2011 the Packers were undefeated and finished #1 with a bullet at 22%.
In other words, many of the respondents to this poll are fickle front-running bastards. So take what they say about the Chicago Bears with a grain of salt.
Paul M. Banks is the owner of The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. He’s also an analyst for multiple news talk radio stations across the country; with regular weekly segments on NBC and Fox Sports Radio. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks) and RSS Catch him Tuesdays talking Illini and Northwestern for KOZN 1620 The Zone, Fridays talking Chicago Bulls and Bears for WAOR 95.7 The Fan