I respect the greatness of Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, who are looking more and more like the best coach-quarterback combo in NFL history. Belichick might be the best coach, and Brady might be the best quarterback. But it would be fun to see Atlanta win Super Bowl LI.
I think it’s extra special any time a city has been waiting for a long time. We saw that in Seattle a few years back. We’ve seen it in the NBA with the Warriors and Cavaliers the last two years. We got that with the Cubs in the World Series.
Atlanta is in that group. That city hasn’t won anything since the Braves won a World Series in 1995. The Falcons have been to only one Super Bowl in their history. Toss in the Atlanta Hawks and their NHL franchises and Atlanta has gone 76 sports seasons in a row without finishing No. 1 in any of the four major sports.
Only five cities have longer droughts.
LONGEST CHAMPIONSHIP DROUGHTS | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
City | MLB | NFL | NBA | NHL | Total | Last champion |
Buffalo | 0 | 51 | 9 | 46 | 106 | none |
San Diego | 48 | 51 | 7 | 0 | 106 | none |
Minneapolis | 24 | 26 | 26 | 20 | 96 | 1991 Twins |
Milwaukee | 45 | 0 | 46 | 0 | 91 | 1971 Bucks |
Washington | 12 | 25 | 25 | 24 | 86 | 1992 Redskins |
Atlanta | 21 | 22 | 22 | 11 | 76 | 1995 Braves |
Toronto | 23 | 0 | 24 | 23 | 70 | 1993 Blue Jays |
Houston | 21 | 16 | 22 | 0 | 59 | 1995 Rockets |
—Ian Allan