Professional Football Researchers Association Forum
PFRA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the history of professional football. Formed in 1979, PFRA members include many of the game's foremost historians and writers.
BD Sullivan wrote: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.
The Browns and Giants had a terrific rivalry during the 50's and early 60's. The rivalry with Pittsburgh in the 70's never really seemed like much to me compared to the earlier rivalry with the Giants and Detroit in the 50's for that matter. It was/is promoted as a big rivalry to try to make up for the loss of the Giants, Cowboys, and Cardinals rivalries after Art moved the Browns into the AFL/AFC for some money.
BD Sullivan wrote: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.
The Browns and Giants had a terrific rivalry during the 50's and early 60's. The rivalry with Pittsburgh in the 70's never really seemed like much to me compared to the earlier rivalry with the Giants and Detroit in the 50's for that matter. It was/is promoted as a big rivalry to try to make up for the loss of the Giants, Cowboys, and Cardinals rivalries after Art moved the Browns into the AFL/AFC for some money.
Of course, the Bengals and Ravens make up for all those silly old "historical" rivalries....
Not necessarily "rivalries", but I do enjoy watching the Steelers play the Packers, 49ers, and Redskins. To see several of the older/oldest NFL franchises go at it is always fun for me, and very entertaining.
JuggernautJ wrote: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.
I remember that the Seahawks' decisive 27-7 win over the Raiders in 1978 seemed to hail their arrival as a contender in the NFL. In 1976 and 1977, Seattle was improving and at times very exciting, but not particularly threatening to better teams. The 1978 win over the Raiders, who were 5-2 before the Seattle game and still thought of as possibly the best team in the AFC given their mystique that had built throughout the mid-1970s, was more than a bit shocking. Probably one of the most significant wins in Seattle history.
Then the Seahawks really made it a rivalry by beating the Raiders again in 1978, meaning that every 1979 preview of the Seahawks contained the line "Can the Seahawks, who beat Oakland twice in 1978, continue flying toward the top?"