Rival Teams That Used To Be In The Same Conference

[JuggernautJ]

Just to continue on the recent topic(s)...

The NFL/AFL merger saw (as we all know) the reassignment of 3 NFL teams to the AFL to create two equal conferences of 13 teams each.
I grew up as a wee lad in the 60's and as a boy was used to seeing Dad's Steelers play their division rivals (in the NFL East) the Giants, Redskins, Cardinals and Eagles (among others).
I still get nostalgic when I see the Steelers play (especially, for some reason) the Giants. I am briefly 8 years old again and at my father's knee... its a wonderful memory of a simpler time.
Likewise, I fondly remember the great western rivalries of the Colts, especially against the Rams. As a kid those two teams (Colts and Rams) had my favorite players.

I started following the Niners when I moved out (coincidentally around 1980) and my early- and mid- adult years were "spent" in the old NFC West with the Niners, Rams, Falcons, Saints and, eventually, Panthers. I can't say I miss any of the current NFC South teams as rivals for the Niners (well, maybe Mora's Saints and a few Bartkowski's Falcons... a little) but it is great to have the Rams back in L.A., where they can properly be despised by Northern Californians.

The Seahawks and Bucs entered the NFL in the NFC and AFC respectively then moved to their "permanent" positions in the opposite Conference the next sreason. Certainly not enough time to develop any rivalries.
But, after playing in the AFC from 1977-2001 Seattle switched to NFC West in the re-alignment of 2002.
I miss the regular match ups between the 'Hawks and the Raiders but I don't know how Seahawks fans (Matt?) feel about their old division rivalries.

How about yourself?
Any old rivalries destroyed by re-alignment(s) on which you'd care to reminisce?

[Reaser]

I miss the regular match ups between the 'Hawks and the Raiders but I don't know how Seahawks fans (Matt?) feel about their old division rivalries.

The Raiders were the primary rivals. The Broncos next and probably passed the Raiders as Elway's career went on (he played in WA through his freshman year of high school and his dad was a fellow member of the WA HS QB club) ... Raiders and Broncos were the two games you wanted to be in the Kingdome for. General "hatred" for the Raiders. With the Broncos it was never louder than when Elway was complaining about crowd noise then "we" would get the announcement of a potential penalty and it would get even louder. Western Washington also had/has an oddly large number of Broncos fans (a lot of people that jumped on the bandwagon in this era of Seahawks football used to be Broncos or Raiders fans). I liked the Chiefs games too but those weren't on the radar as much.

I wasn't happy about moving [back] to the NFC. I was in high school when it was announced and the general thought was; "of course we're the team that has to change conferences" ... Typical of the Seahawks back then, the team the NFL and media treated as if we were in Alaska or some foreign country "way over there" away from everyone else.

The Rams as rivals has never been that big, maybe for a season or two. We've always disliked LA teams here so I'm sure with the Rams in LA that should pick up as well. The "Beat LA" stuff. The 49ers were always disliked and obviously they have become our primary rival. The Cardinals no one cares about, even now and the past couple seasons where they were the other best team in the NFC West, no one talks about them other than from a competitive standpoint ("need to beat the Cardinals to win the division") but no feeling of a rivalry or any tradition or anything. The 49ers filled the Raiders/Broncos void. For me personally the two teams I grew up not liking were Denver and San Francisco (liked individual players on each, of course, but didn't like either team) so that worked out in a way. Where I went from my least favorite teams being Denver and SF to just flipping the order to SF and Denver.

Long story short, I get the "throwback" feelings when Seattle plays Denver (perfect that they blew the Broncos out in the SB), a little with the Raiders but not so much KC or SD. I think about it but Seattle has changed uniforms - twice - since then, played outdoors in a different stadium and so on. It looks different so it's not quite the same as fans of other teams would feel, or I would feel if Seattle played in a dome and the Raiders came in and the Seahawks were in the old unis.

[Rupert Patrick]

The Steelers and Oilers/Titans had built a pretty strong rivalry, and the Steelers and Jaguars were building a strong rivalry when the 2002 realignment changed everything.

It's funny how the 2002 realignment aided in making the Colts and Patriots rivalry stronger. Being in different divisions pretty much set them up as the 1 and 2 seeds in the AFC playoffs every year and they seemed to meet in the postseason every year. If they had remained in the same division after realignment, they would have met more often, but one team would have always been a perpetual 4 seed and it is doubtful the two would have met in as many high stakes postseason games.

[BD Sullivan]

In the 50's, the Browns had big rivalries with the Giants and Lions, though the latter was one-sided the other way. In the 1960's the Cardinals seemingly became a perennial rivalry, and in their last three years in the old NFL, the Browns and Cowboys had faced off in the playoffs against each other.

[nicefellow31]

I miss the regular match ups between the 'Hawks and the Raiders but I don't know how Seahawks fans (Matt?) feel about their old division rivalries.

The Raiders were the primary rivals. The Broncos next and probably passed the Raiders as Elway's career went on (he played in WA through his freshman year of high school and his dad was a fellow member of the WA HS QB club) ... Raiders and Broncos were the two games you wanted to be in the Kingdome for. General "hatred" for the Raiders. With the Broncos it was never louder than when Elway was complaining about crowd noise then "we" would get the announcement of a potential penalty and it would get even louder. Western Washington also had/has an oddly large number of Broncos fans (a lot of people that jumped on the bandwagon in this era of Seahawks football used to be Broncos or Raiders fans). I liked the Chiefs games too but those weren't on the radar as much.

I wasn't happy about moving [back] to the NFC. I was in high school when it was announced and the general thought was; "of course we're the team that has to change conferences" ... Typical of the Seahawks back then, the team the NFL and media treated as if we were in Alaska or some foreign country "way over there" away from everyone else.

The Rams as rivals has never been that big, maybe for a season or two. We've always disliked LA teams here so I'm sure with the Rams in LA that should pick up as well. The "Beat LA" stuff. The 49ers were always disliked and obviously they have become our primary rival. The Cardinals no one cares about, even now and the past couple seasons where they were the other best team in the NFC West, no one talks about them other than from a competitive standpoint ("need to beat the Cardinals to win the division") but no feeling of a rivalry or any tradition or anything. The 49ers filled the Raiders/Broncos void. For me personally the two teams I grew up not liking were Denver and San Francisco (liked individual players on each, of course, but didn't like either team) so that worked out in a way. Where I went from my least favorite teams being Denver and SF to just flipping the order to SF and Denver.

Long story short, I get the "throwback" feelings when Seattle plays Denver (perfect that they blew the Broncos out in the SB), a little with the Raiders but not so much KC or SD. I think about it but Seattle has changed uniforms - twice - since then, played outdoors in a different stadium and so on. It looks different so it's not quite the same as fans of other teams would feel, or I would feel if Seattle played in a dome and the Raiders came in and the Seahawks were in the old unis.

Most years the Seahawks play all or at least some of their old AFC West rivals during the preseason.

[Reaser]

Most years the Seahawks play all or at least some of their old AFC West rivals during the preseason.

Yup, 2009 and 2015 they played the entire AFC West in the preseason. In the years leading up to realignment the 49ers, Cardinals and Colts (I was there when Manning threw his first pass for a TD) were seemingly the common preseason opponents.

After moving to the NFC they played 3 of the 4 (all except the Raiders) in the preseason the first couple years while keeping the Colts game. Wasn't until 2006 that the Raiders were added and they've stayed as the Seahawks opponent for the 4th and final preseason game every season since then. Most years since 2004 there's - including final game against OAK - 2 or 3 AFC West opponents with the Vikings and/or Packers most seasons (& Cowboys, Titans and Bears a couple years each) ...

2016 is:
KC (played them in the PS twice in the previous six preseasons)
MIN (also PS opp. in 2004-2005, 2007-2008, 2010-2011)
DAL (PS opp. in 2005 and 2006)
OAK (been week 4 PS game every season since 2006)

The only 'rivalry' feel in the PS has probably been with the Broncos the previous few years and that was more about good v. good (potential SB to SB rematch) than past AFC West feelings.

[SixtiesFan]

In the 50's, the Browns had big rivalries with the Giants and Lions, though the latter was one-sided the other way. In the 1960's the Cardinals seemingly became a perennial rivalry, and in their last three years in the old NFL, the Browns and Cowboys had faced off in the playoffs against each other.

From 1957-63, the Giants-Browns were the NFL's biggest rivalry, or close to it.

[JohnH19]

In the late 60s, when I first took an interest in the NFL, the Cowboys and Browns had a good thing going. I still get a feeling of nostalgia when they play today. The Browns' horrible new uniforms will certainly diminish the visual appeal of the matchup, though.

[Mark L. Ford]

More of a classic postseason rivalry, but my first thought was the Steelers and the Cowboys, both sharing the NFL Eastern Conference in the 1960s.

[BD Sullivan]

More of a classic postseason rivalry, but my first thought was the Steelers and the Cowboys, both sharing the NFL Eastern Conference in the 1960s.

The Cowboys won seven of the last eight meetings during the 60's.