OT-ish: If the Lions and the Patriots meet in the Super Bowl
(ignore if you aren't a Lions fan)
If the Lions meet Tom Brady and the Patriots in the Super bowl, who would you root for? Keep in mind that winning a fourth Super Bowl would allow Brady to cement his legacy as arguably the Greatest. QB. Ever. Period. Brady is a true Michigan Man and reps his alma mater as well as anyone in the league. On the other hand, if you were born and raised in the State of Michigan, chances are you rooted for the Lions growing up, watched Barry Sanders rewrite the record books without ever getting a shot at a ring, and suffered through the Millen years. A Lions Super Bowl victory might be a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence.
Personally, I would root for Brady to get his fourth ring. Brady was our starting QB for two of my five undergraduate years at Michigan, and though I've been going to Michigan games since I was a kid, my most vivid memories of the Big House are from when he was the QB. I'm nominally a Lions fan and I enjoy watching pro football, but I find it hard to get too excited about any particular team (particularly since until now, rooting for the Lions to do well was like rooting for a lifelong alcoholic to suddenly sober up). I mainly just root for Michigan players to do well.
Thoughts?
EDIT: More context - I live in the SF Bay Area and most of my friends are annoying, smug 49er fans who think Joe Montana is the best thing that ever happened to football and that it's ridiculous to think Tom Brady is even in the same category as him. They point to the fact that Joe Montana never lost a Super Bowl and that he has 4 rings whereas Brady has 3.
October 4th, 2011 at 3:24 PM ^
Why do people think it's okay to act like assholes on internet message boards when they would never act like that in real life?
October 4th, 2011 at 12:20 AM ^
get there, let alone the lions? We're talking about a team that has won zero playoffs games the past two season after good regular seasons. They have got flat out dominated in those two games. That ravens game two years may have be one of the most dominating performances I've seen in a while. It's pretty clear that Brady hides so many flaws of that team. When they play more talented like the Jets or Ravens in the postseason, the team has gotten exposed.
I know somebody will bring up the super bowls they won nearly a decade ago to counter what I said. Which has no relevence on the team they bring to the postseaon now.
October 4th, 2011 at 12:22 AM ^
hy·po·thet·i·cal/ˌhīpəˈTHetikəl/
October 4th, 2011 at 12:26 AM ^
are no fans that actually believe the patriots will make the super bowl this year...
October 4th, 2011 at 12:35 AM ^
It was difficult to tell that the original poster was posing a hypothetical. I had to read all the way to "If" to figure it out.
October 4th, 2011 at 1:09 AM ^
sometimes people get tripped up on the conditionals.....
If the Lions were playing the Patriots in the Super Bowl....Michigan Man or not, I would hope that the first play would be Suh swinging his arms and Brady's head rolling across the turf. Well maybe not that extreme....but at least Brady being on his back more than a French whore.
October 4th, 2011 at 12:20 AM ^
its going to be the packers again...so dont even worry about it ha
October 4th, 2011 at 2:22 AM ^
meet Mr. Woodson, Heisman Trophy winner and NFL defensive PoY.
October 4th, 2011 at 12:22 AM ^
the Lions make the playoffs. Baby steps man, baby steps.
Enjoy the great turnaround its going to be a fun few years for Lions fans.
October 4th, 2011 at 12:29 AM ^
I think a certain team one state to the west might have something to say about Detroit reaching Indy this season, or for the forseeable future. Rodgers has gone into full-on Unicorn mode and Green Bay is dropping just a stupid amount of points this season. The Lions aren't coming back from 20+ down against the Packers. I'm happy to see the turnaround this year though, better them than the damn Vikings.
October 4th, 2011 at 12:28 AM ^
I mean, a lot of people have said this already, but as a fan of both Michigan and the Lions, and a much bigger M football fan than a Lions fan, I would absolutely pick the Lions to win. If TB plays anyone else, I'll cheer for him.
But if it's the Lions, I'd be cheering my hardest for them. I have a feeling the entire non-Boston world would be doing the same.
October 4th, 2011 at 12:31 AM ^
He's basically the only reason I care about the league, and I don't care much. The Lions have been the worst franchise in sports for 10 years. The NFL product is lost on me and I will never care about the Lions. Go Brady and Zoltan!
October 4th, 2011 at 12:32 AM ^
Lions. Period.
October 4th, 2011 at 12:38 AM ^
What the fuck???
Seriously, what the fuck?
Let me tell you a story. The first player from my high school to play I-A football in a long, long time is a college junior right now. He's the second-string tight end and "reps his alma mater" as the only player from there to step on a BCS-level football field on Saturdays. His name is Reid Fragel and he plays for Ohio State.
By the OP's logic I should probably be pulling for him even against Michigan. Hell, I didn't even go to Michigan. I'm a WMW.
I did not suffer through the Millen era only to turn on them if they make it to the NFL's holy of holies. I really don't think the term "Lions fan" applies to you if you're going to root for a spoiled-ass franchise and their spoiled-ass fans and arrogant coach instead of the Lions just because their quarterback played at Michigan. If you're that much of a Michigan fan, you're more than entitled to feel that way, but this is an insulting question to Lions fans.
October 4th, 2011 at 1:36 AM ^
+1 million. If the Lions played the Pats in the Super Bowl...then die Brady die
October 4th, 2011 at 2:50 AM ^
seriously
you're not a fucking Lions fan, you just cheer for the Lions by some sense of default. Stop following the NFL and stick to watching old Michigan games from MGoVideo or summat.
October 4th, 2011 at 12:41 AM ^
I like brady. Against the Lions, though, he'd be just more meat for Suh.
October 4th, 2011 at 12:58 AM ^
I'm still pissed with Brady over the tuck rule. And that's just because it screwed over Woodson. If the Lions play the Patriots, I will be fine if Brady is knocked out of the game by the end of the first quarter.
October 4th, 2011 at 12:04 PM ^
Shouldn't you be mad at the NFL there? Brady didn't come up with the rule. He just benefitted from it.
October 4th, 2011 at 1:11 AM ^
Stop deluding yourself, if the Lions made it to the Super Bowl and you rooted against them, you are not "nominally a Lions fan", you are not a Lions fan at all.
October 4th, 2011 at 1:15 AM ^
mgoboard fail. You made me log in just to tell you that this is the worst question I've seen asked on these boards. I don't know where you're from nor your interest in the Lions, but by god, any "true" Lions fan would be rooting for the Lions. On top of that, we would be America's Team for the Super Bowl - everyone would love us.....
Really? Just because Brady might get his 4th, FOURTH Super Bowl ring?
October 4th, 2011 at 1:26 AM ^
Question I have ever heard. Do you have any clue about what being a fan means? No you don't.
October 4th, 2011 at 1:34 AM ^
the other responses, but I am a Michigan fan over a Lions fan. That being said, that only means I root for Michigan to win a Big Ten or NC more then the Lions to win a Super Bowl. But if it came down to Lions winning a Super Bowl over New England...sorry Tom...break your ribs. GO LIONS
October 4th, 2011 at 1:36 AM ^
If there is one native of the state of Michigan who would root for the Patriots over the Lions in that game, I would personally like to kick his ass.
October 4th, 2011 at 2:45 AM ^
People who threaten or talk about inflicting physical violence on internet message boards are usually those who are least capable of inflicting physical violence in real life.
October 4th, 2011 at 12:05 PM ^
I'm gonna kick your ass for saying that.
October 4th, 2011 at 9:45 AM ^
And loved the Lions until Barry retired in 1998. I kept following them intently even after that.
But when Brady took over for Bledsoe in 2001, the Patriots became my favorite team. Hell, living in southeast Michigan it has been easier to watch a Patriots game on tv than a Lions game because the Lions get blacked out yet the Patriots get put on CBS because they are awesome. And don't say I am a fair weather fan. I suffered for years with the Lions but couldn't keep investing in them emotionally when they were so incompetent. I didn't jump ship just on a whim. And I started rooting for the Patriots the same game Bledsoe went down when no one could have predicted they would win the Super Bowl.
So there you go. I am a Michigander who would root for Brady. I would root for the Lions against anyone else. Go Blue!
October 4th, 2011 at 9:59 AM ^
But to stop rooting for a team because they're losing IS the defintion of being a fairweather fan. And Lions games flat out weren't blacked out really until the 0-16 season.
October 4th, 2011 at 12:41 PM ^
I didn't stop rooting for them when they started losing. I never really stopped rooting for them. I just stopped paying much attention or caring because the management was so bad and I had a hard time watching them. I moved back to Ann Arbor just in time for them to go 0-16.
And I started rooting more for the Patriots because of Brady before they won anything.
October 4th, 2011 at 11:59 AM ^
Your a Loser
October 4th, 2011 at 12:42 PM ^
buddy
October 4th, 2011 at 2:06 AM ^
Wow. Didn't expect that the question would be received so harshly. Those of you who called me out on claiming to be a nominal Lions fan, point conceded; I guess I can't say I'm any kind of a Lions fan if I wouldn't unconditionally root for them in the Super Bowl. I've never been able to feel passionately about any pro sports team. To me, rooting for a pro team is like rooting for a jersey, a logo, and whichever billionaire happens to own the franchise. But hey, to each their own; I recognize that I'm in the minority on that point. Personally, I watch pro football because I like the game and because it's entertaining, but I just root for Michigan players to do well.
Here's where I'm coming from: I was born and raised in Ann Arbor and have been going to Michigan football games since I was a kid. I met my wife at Michigan. I was a student there for eight years. We have four Michigan degrees between us. Michigan Football is the only team that I rooted for because I actually felt strongly about it, as opposed to rooting for a team just because my friends did (which is why I rooted for the Lions). That's not to say that I think I'm a bigger Michigan fan than anyone else, but it makes it impossible for me to take off my Maize and Blue glasses when I watch the NFL. So to me, Tom Brady is a Michigan Man above all else. He also has a shot to be regarded as the greatest QB in the history of the game, a distinction that's currently occupied by an alum of one of our arch-rivals. So the issue isn't 3 rings vs 4 rings, it's a Michigan Man surpassing Joe Montana as the Greatest Of All Time.
Also, I no longer live in Michigan and am kind of disconnected from the ongoing Lions fever.
I realize that some of you think it's cut-and-dry and don't understand how anyone wouldn't root for their hometown team to win the Super Bowl, but not everyone looks at pro sports the same way.
To those of you who actually took the time to reply and say this was the dumbest queston you've ever heard: fuck off and die.
October 4th, 2011 at 2:25 AM ^
"So the issue isn't 3 rings vs 4 rings, it's a Michigan Man surpassing Joe Montana as the Greatest Of All Time."
Sorry man, that's not the question you posed. Brady winning another Super Bowl doesn't automatically make him the best. You're arguing that him tying Montana somehow makes him the best. In the minds of a lot of people he already is the best. Montana played on a stacked team.
The question you posed was "I'm not a Lions fan or really a fan of the NFL, but I'd like to ask those who are, would you rather your favorite team, a team that went 0-16 and still sold out half if its games, a team that's never had a Super Bowl despite having one of the best players ever, would you rather trade that team winning the Super Bowl so that Tom Brady, considered by some the greatest of all time, might get more evidence on his side that he's the greatest of all time. I'm going to mask this absurd question by making it seem like it's in the same vein as Michigan winning a national title versus Super Bowl even though its nowhere near. What'd ya think?"
Let me guess, the next question you ask is "OT: Would you root for Les Miles against Michigan? "
"Les Miles played for MIchigan and has a chance to be considered one of the best ever if he wins a second National Title. Would you root for him to win that and be considered one of the greats? He went to Michigan, so that reflects on us."
Go Tigers.
October 4th, 2011 at 2:37 AM ^
Let me guess, the next question you ask is "OT: Would you root for Les Miles against Michigan? " "Les Miles played for MIchigan and has a chance to be considered one of the best ever if he wins a second National Title. Would you root for him to win that and be considered one of the greats? He went to Michigan, so that reflects on us."
I hope you realize how utterly ridiculous this comparison is. Actually, you probably don't since you edited your original post to add this stupid analogy.
October 4th, 2011 at 2:57 AM ^
fine, here's a better one:
"this question is only for staunch liberal Democrats
if Barack Obama was facing Rick Snyder in 2012, would you vote for Snyder just because he went to Michigan? I would, even though I'm nominally a democrat, because a MICHIGAN MAN should be running the free world"
October 4th, 2011 at 9:53 AM ^
I grew up in Michigan and a Lions fan. I would root for Brady.
I am a die hard Liberal progressive. I have never voted for a Republican before. I would have voted for Andy Dillon, but since he didn't win the nomination, I did vote for Snider because he went to U of M and lives in Ann Arbor.
That is the depths of my affinity for Michigan and everything connected to it. Of course I also moved back to Ann Arbor after residency even though where I work is an hour away.
October 4th, 2011 at 1:25 PM ^
oh, cool beans... bet you're pretty glad those seniors are getting their pensions taxed just so a MICHIGAN MANNNNNN could run Michigan
October 4th, 2011 at 2:12 AM ^
"I'm nominally a Lions fan and I enjoy watching pro football, but I find it hard to get too excited about any particular team (particularly since until now, rooting for the Lions to do well was like rooting for a lifelong alcoholic to suddenly sober up)."
A Lions fan would say, "I've been waiting for this moment my whole life, the idea of comparing the Lions winning to a Michigan player, regardless of whom, regardless of how much I love MIchigan, winning his 4th ring compared to that is ludicrous."
It's fine that you don't like the NFL or the Lions because you're not a Lions fan.
October 4th, 2011 at 2:26 AM ^
I hate Boston sports teams. They could all die as far as I could care. I enjoy watching Tom Brady, but besides that, I wish they would lose forever. The Lions are great this year but I can't believe anyone besides an ESPN writer would put them in the Super Bowl so early.
October 4th, 2011 at 2:28 AM ^
I have watched the Lions fail since 1960. Brady is not playing for Michigan anymore.
2 + 2 = ?
October 4th, 2011 at 5:15 AM ^
I thought this was going to be a real dilemma-type question when I opened the thread.
Lions. This fanbase has suffered too long to have that much deference to whomever is on the Patriots' roster. Doesn't matter if Tom Brady has racked up what will likely be a storied career in the NFL when he is through. Doesn't matter if he went to Michigan. I rooted for him then. Now, if they meet in the Super Bowl, I hope Suh and Fairley (if he comes back) play the "get Tom" defense all day.
October 4th, 2011 at 5:29 AM ^
I'm not even a Lions fan and this thread still pisses me off. I love how Michigan has players on over half the teams in the NFL but apparently Tom Brady is the only one that counts.
October 4th, 2011 at 9:37 AM ^
QB is THE position. It gets all the attention. Fair or not that's the way it is. And since U of M is >>>>>>>>>>>>>the Lions to me, I think its great whenever Brady accomplishes anything. It reflects positive things to the University. Now I think its great that Backus is still doing his thing in the NFL, but having a qb who is the best in the leauge and has a chance to go down as the best of all time just doesn't compare to any other position.
October 4th, 2011 at 5:45 AM ^
Agree with lots of other posters. I root for the Patriots against any other NFL team, mostly because of Brady, but it is the Lions by a mile.
It would be a win-win situation though. I would be happy with either outcome but would prefer most definitely a Lions victory.
October 4th, 2011 at 6:15 AM ^
If you root for Brady, you would be rooting against Jeff Backus. Lions for me, not even close.
October 4th, 2011 at 9:22 AM ^
But can you consider the powers of one emperor of space as well?
October 4th, 2011 at 8:00 AM ^
then Brady
else
Lions
October 4th, 2011 at 9:49 AM ^
Otherwise, GO LIONS!
October 4th, 2011 at 8:03 AM ^
No contest.....Brady is already going down as one of the greatest QB's ever even if he doesn't win another ring. The Lions have been horrible for far too long.
October 4th, 2011 at 8:06 AM ^
Did I just wake up from a coma or something? Isn't it only 4 weeks into the season?
I'd root like all hell for the Lions and probably flip my own car over if they won.