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2/02/2021 6:44 pm  #1


NFL Identity Carousel

Hey y'all, I've been kind of overwhelmed with school and some personal matters over the past few weeks and have been unfortunately putting this site on the backburner. However, I recently was inspired by something I saw on CCSLC and wanted to share it. I'm not sure if it'll turn into anything but I kind of just wanted to get this idea out there.

The idea is a NFL identity carousel. If that sounds confusing, don't worry it's not too bad. The idea is that every NFL city will pass its identity onto another. So for example, the Houston Texans become the Dallas Texans, the Dallas Cowboys become the Kansas City Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs become someone else and so on and so forth. Each new identity isn't pulled out of thin air either (except for a few that were a struggle to fit into the pattern), they each have a historical attachment to that city. For example, the Minnesota Vikings become the Seattle Vikings because Washington has the second highest Scandinavian population out of any state. 

If it sounds interesting to enough people and I get enough time I may post some small concepts. For now though here's the full list of identity changes. 

Houston Texans -> Dallas Texans
Dallas Cowboys -> Kansas City Cowboys
Kansas City Chiefs -> Las Vegas Chiefs
Las Vegas Raiders -> Pittsburgh Raiders
Pittsburgh Steelers -> Detroit Steelers
Detroit Lions -> Arizona Lions
Arizona Cardinals -> Green Bay Cardinals
Green Bay Packers -> Chicago Packers
Chicago Bears -> Minnesota Bears
Minnesota Vikings -> Seattle Vikings
Seattle Seahawks -> Miami Seahawks
Miami Dolphins -> Jacksonville Dolphins
Jacksonville Jaguars -> Atlanta Jaguars
Atlanta Falcons -> Cincinnati Falcons
Cincinnati Bengals -> Philadelphia Bengals
Philadelphia Eagles -> Carolina Eagles
Carolina Panthers -> Tampa Bay Panthers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers -> New Orleans Buccaneers
New Orleans Saints -> New England Saints
New England Patriots -> Washington Patriots
Washington Football Team -> New York Football Team
New York Giants -> Los Angeles Giants
Los Angeles Chargers -> Buffalo Chargers
Buffalo Bills -> Cleveland Bills
Cleveland Browns -> Baltimore Browns
Baltimore Ravens -> Tennessee Ravens
Tennessee Titans -> New York Titans
New York Jets -> Los Angeles Jets
Los Angeles Rams -> San Francisco Rams
San Francisco 49ers -> Denver 49ers
Denver Broncos -> Indianapolis Broncos
Indianapolis Colts -> Houston Colts

If anyone has any suggestions regarding this or ideas about how I could make some of the less sensible names (Cincinnati Falcons, Philadelphia Bengals, Carolina Eagles) make sense, let me know!

 

2/02/2021 7:00 pm  #2


Re: NFL Identity Carousel

This is well... interesting to say the least. Hopefully school goes well for you and you can be more active again!




 
 

2/02/2021 10:21 pm  #3


Re: NFL Identity Carousel

For the Houston Colts, it could be a reference to either a gun or the baseball team.


Owner of the Texas Jackalopes 
2008-2009 AltBA Champions
 

2/04/2021 7:41 pm  #4


Re: NFL Identity Carousel

Los Angeles Jets? A nice nod to LAX and the Burbank airport, right?
Buffalo Chargers? Maybe the current Bills logo with a lightning bolt instead of the red stripe?
Miami Seahawks? The old AAFC squad?
Denver 49ers could also be the Denver 14ers.

 

2/04/2021 10:06 pm  #5


Re: NFL Identity Carousel

NeoPrankster wrote:

Los Angeles Jets? A nice nod to LAX and the Burbank airport, right?
Buffalo Chargers? Maybe the current Bills logo with a lightning bolt instead of the red stripe?
Miami Seahawks? The old AAFC squad?
Denver 49ers could also be the Denver 14ers.

LAX was exactly what I was thinking for the Jets. Same with Miami.
I guess I should explain what my thought process behind some of these were.

The ‘original’ nfl teams consist of the Chicago Packers (who take Green Bay’s back story behind the name. Something like they get bought out by a company after moving from Decatur) the Green Bay Cardinals (who are never named after the Acme Packing company and just named a generic sports name) the Chicago/St.Louis/Arizona Lions (who make a twist on the Bears irl backstory. The bears were named after the Cubs, in this universe it’s not bear Cubs but Lion Cubs) New York Football team (the just never pick up a name) Boston/Washington Patriots (better than a racist name) Philadelphia Bengals (it was chosen arbitrarily) Pittsburgh Raiders (who still start as the Pirates but instead choose Raiders as a way to keep the pirate-y theme)

The LA Jets (named after LAX) in this timeline would replace the San Francisco 49ers in our timeline. Joining the NFL in the AAFC merger next to the Cleveland franchise and the Baltimore Colts. Baltimore would fold, and when they get brought back, they come back as the Broncos instead of Colts because alliteration, and the Colts weren’t the best team before they (Cleveland would still move to Baltimore in the 90’s technically, but this is where it got really hard so you could imagine them starting as the Cleveland Bills, still named after some sort of founder, or you could say they were the Browns originally and kept the name upon arrival in b-more, and choosing Bills are reincarnation)
Instead of the Niners in San Francisco, the Cleveland Rams move their after their NFL Championship.
The original Dallas Texans still come and go, but where we’d normally see the Cowboys be born, we instead see the Texans be brought back. This leads to the AFL choosing the Cowboys name for its Dallas franchise, to which they keep upon relocation to KC, which they even considered in our own timeline.
The AFL consists of the New York Titans (who never change to the Jets), Kansas City Cowboys, Los Angeles/San Diego Giants (who are named after the movie and media industry ‘giants’ of LA. The name is kept upon relocation just like in our timeline), Denver 49ers (Denver was founded as a gold mining town so that connection leads to them taking the Niners name) Oakland Chiefs (who still originally choose Senors, but then when they change it, have to pass up on Raiders, instead choosing Chiefs because Raiders is already taken), Miami Seahawks (who are named after the AAFC franchise technically) Cincinnati Falcons (who are named after a name the team contest, similar to how our Falcons got their name), Buffalo Chargers (named after a charging Buffalo) New England Saints (the northeast has a high percentage of Catholics, so, it works I guess) and believe it or not the Houston Oilers (or whatever nickname you want because they still relocate to Nashville eventually).

The mid 60’s nfl expansion teams are the Minnesota Bears, New Orleans Buccaneers (who are both just named after name the team contests) and Atlanta Jaguars (who are named after the Atlanta Zoo’s Jaguar, similar to our timeline’s Jaguars)

The 76 expansion gives us the Tampa Bay Panthers and Seattle Vikings who both use local demographics and wildlife to choose their name.

The 90’s expansion gives us Carolina Eagles and Jacksonville Dolphins. Carolina chooses Eagles as a generic ferocious animal, which is why irl founder Jerry Richardson chose Panthers. Jacksonville chooses Dolphins through a name the team contest or something. The university just wouldn’t have that nickname in this universe as well.

The relocations would stay mostly the same. With the Oakland Chiefs becoming the LA Chiefs and later the Las Vegas Chiefs, the San Francisco Rams becoming the St.Louis Rams still, the Houston AFL franchise going to Memphis then Nashville and becoming the Tennessee Ravens (chosen from a name the team contest or something) finally the original Cleveland would still go to Baltimore, whether or not their named the Browns at that point, becoming the Baltimore Browns upon arrival, and then reincarnating as the Cleveland Bills 3 years later. Houston would come back as the Colts in 02, named after a name the team contest.

Yes it’s a lot. Hopefully that explains some of my reasonings. There are some definite weak spots, obviously the Cleveland situation is a bit rough, and I don’t love the Philadelphia Bengals idea still but oh well.

     Thread Starter
 

2/08/2021 12:47 am  #6


Re: NFL Identity Carousel

I had hoped to make some simple suggestions and leave a lot of what'd you'd done as is, but the nature of the carousel messed that up by making any suggestion require moving everything around to fit. So, I went through and made an identity carousel of my own by following your framework and using some of the same switches. Hopefully this doesn't come across as me stepping all over your work too much!

Houston Texans -> Dallas Texans
Dallas Cowboys -> Kansas City Cowboys

Kansas City Chiefs -> Green Bay Chiefs (a nod to the Native American history in the area)
Green Bay Packers -> Chicago Packers
Chicago Bears -> New England Bears (black bears can be found in Massachusetts and much of New England)
New England Patriots -> Philadelphia Patriots (Declaration of Independence, Founding Fathers)
Philadelphia Eagles -> Washington Eagles (patriotic)
Washington Football Team -> New York Football Team (I could totally see this being a great opportunity for some kind of NYFT logo, ala Yankees/Mets/NYC FC)
New York Jets -> Los Angeles Jets
Los Angeles Rams -> Las Vegas Rams (the Nevada state animal is the Desert Bighorn)
Las Vegas Raiders -> Pittsburgh Raiders
Pittsburgh Steelers -> Detroit Steelers
Detroit Lions -> New York Lions (for the lion statues in front of the New York Public Library)
New York Giants -> Tennessee Giants (for the music "giants" in Nashville)
Tennessee Titans -> San Francisco Titans (when the Golden Gate Bridge was first built, it was the tallest suspension bridge in the world -- also this would complement the MLB team nicely)
San Francisco 49ers -> Denver 49ers
Denver Broncos -> Los Angeles Broncos (wild horses and a nod to the city's Spanish heritage)
Los Angeles Chargers -> Carolina Chargers (for all the NASCAR race cars that charge across the finish line -- yeah, it's a bit of a stretch!)
Carolina Panthers -> Tampa Bay Panthers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers -> New Orleans Buccaneers
New Orleans Saints -> Minnesota Saints (name them the Minneapolis Saints and it's a nod to the twin cities)
Minnesota Vikings -> Buffalo Vikings (because Buffalo is cold)
Buffalo Bills -> Cleveland Bills
Cleveland Browns -> Baltimore Browns
Baltimore Ravens -> Seattle Ravens (ravens are more associated with Vancouver, but are found throughout the Pacific Northwest)
Seattle Seahawks -> Miami Seahawks
Miami Dolphins -> Jacksonville Dolphins
Jacksonville Jaguars -> Arizona Jaguars (jaguars used to roam parts of the Southwest, but there's only been one sighting in Arizona in the last decade)
Arizona Cardinals -> Cincinnati Cardinals (Ohio state bird and some lovely alliteration, also the red would complement the MLB team well)
Cincinnati Bengals -> Atlanta Bengals (Tiger Mountain in Georgia's Blue Ridge Mountains? Fictional fan vote?)
Atlanta Falcons -> Indianapolis Falcons (there are Peregrine falcons in the state)
Indianapolis Colts -> Houston Colts


The Bengals, Falcons, and Jaguars were hard to find spots for, and it was tough to match something with Indianapolis, Charlotte, and Tennessee. I really dislike the 49ers name after this as well, because there were so many better names for Denver (Rams, Bills, Cowboys, Chiefs) that got blocked by there being no other place for the 49ers name. I also agree that the Cleveland situation is not too great. There are too many generic names in the NFL!

PS. Let me know if you'd have any interest in having a collaborator for this. I was a big fan of your "Open Branding Football" project on CCSLC and would love to help!

Last edited by Megildur (2/08/2021 1:00 am)

 

2/08/2021 1:57 am  #7


Re: NFL Identity Carousel

Megildur wrote:

Kansas City Chiefs -> Green Bay Chiefs (a nod to the Native American history in the area)

I hate to break it to you, but this applies just about everywhere.

 

2/08/2021 2:02 am  #8


Re: NFL Identity Carousel

I’m a fan of a lot of those ideas actually! I think you handled my Eagles predicament much better, I thought about trying to fit them into Washington or New York but couldn’t get it to work quite how I liked and ended up putting it off till the end. I also like the Cincinnati Cardinals.

However there are some issues. I like the names for Arizona, Las Vegas and Indianapolis, though a problem arises since those are all older franchises that have relocated from former cities. The Arizona Jaguars might be the biggest offense to this. I love the idea of tying the Jaguars of the southwest into a team but I don’t think Arizona is the way to go here, since that would mean they were at one point the Chicago Jaguars back in the early 1900’s, which I think is a bit unrealistic. The same problem arises with both Las Vegas and Indy. Las Vegas might still work as the Oakland Rams aren’t too bad, but you end up with the Los Angeles Rams from 82-94. Having them as the LA Rams anyway kind of defeats the point no?
Indy isn’t as much of a problem, I just don’t see a Baltimore franchise from the 50’s choosing the name Falcons. (The Baltimore Colts relocated to Indy in the 80’s)

I’d love to talk over some collab ideas. I’ve seen your work over on the motherboard and I’m a fan. Maybe we could draft up a better carousel concept to integrate both of our ideas into one. I’ve sent you a pm!

     Thread Starter
 

2/08/2021 1:35 pm  #9


Re: NFL Identity Carousel

Arizona Cardinals - Cleveland Cardinals
Atlanta Falcons - San Francisco Falcons
Baltimore Ravens - Carolina Ravens
Buffalo Bills - Denver Bills
Carolina Panthers - Cincinnati Panthers
Chicago Bears - Las Vegas Bears
Cincinnati Bengals - New York Bengals
Cleveland Browns - Philadelphia Browns
Dallas Cowboys - Kansas City Cowboys
Denver Broncos - Houston Broncos
Detroit Lions - New England Lions
Green Bay Packers - Indianapolis Packers
Houston Texans - Dallas Texans
Indianapolis Colts - Detroit Colts
Jacksonville Jaguars - New Orleans Jaguars
Kansas City Chiefs - Arizona Chiefs
Las Vegas Raiders - Jacksonville Raiders
Los Angeles Chargers - Buffalo Chargers
Los Angeles Rams - Minnesota Rams
Miami Dolphins - Tampa Bay Dolphins
Minnesota Vikings - Green Bay Vikings
New England Patriots - Baltimore Patriots
New Orleans Saints - Tennessee Saints
New York Giants - Chicago Giants
New York Jets - Atlanta Jets
Philadelphia Eagles - Washington Eagles
Pittsburgh Steelers - Los Angeles Steelers
San Francisco 49ers - Seattle 49ers
Seattle Seahawks - Miami Seahawks
Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Los Angeles Buccaneers
Tennessee Titans -  Pittsburgh Titans
Washington Football Team - New York Football Team

Last edited by Rugrat (2/08/2021 1:46 pm)




 
 

2/08/2021 6:20 pm  #10


Re: NFL Identity Carousel

Whats the idea behind some of these? I'm trying to put some reason behind some of the more arbitrary seeming ones, like the Las Vegas Bears. Is the idea there that the original Oakland Bears were named after the bear on the California flag, because if so that's not a bad idea. Are the Arizona Chiefs named after native tribes like the Navajo and Hopi? I'm not sure that idea fits for a franchise that originated in Chicago and then St. Louis. A few others like Denver Bills, New York Bengals, Green Bay Vikings, LA Steelers and others toward the bottom of the list are also head scratchers and seem just random. 


I actually went back late last night and revamped my list with some of the ideas Megildur presented and I think it's a bit better.  I think I may have solved the Browns issue and found a better home for names like the Eagles and Giants, which I wasn't too happy with before.
Here's the updated list. The bolded names are the changed ones. Underlines ones are ones I took from your list Megildur.

Dallas Texans
Kansas City Cowboys
Las Vegas Chiefs
Pittsburgh Raiders
Detroit Steelers
Philadelphia Lions
New England Eagles
Washington Patriots

New York Football Team
Chicago Giants
Green Bay Bears
Cincinnati Packers
Atlanta Bengals
Baltimore Falcons

Tennessee Ravens
New York Titans
Los Angeles Jets
San Francisco Rams
Denver 49ers
Los Angeles Broncos
Tampa Bay Chargers
New Orleans Buccaneers
Minnesota Saints
Seattle Vikings
Miami Seahawks
Jacksonville Dolphins
Carolina Jaguars
Buffalo Panthers

Cleveland Bills
Arizona Browns
Indianapolis Cardinals
Houston Colts

     Thread Starter
 

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