Poll: Eagles' popularity falls
The Philadelphia Daily News - Eagletarian
Poll: Eagles' popularity falls
Daily News staff
The Dallas Cowboys remain America’s Team, and the popularity of the Eagles nationally is falling, according to a Harris poll released today.
The Birds are ranked 13th, the first time they have been in double digits since being ranked 20th in 2003. The Eagles were fifth in 2004 and 2005 when they were in the Super Bowl and in its aftermath and were seventh last year.
The national poll reflects the responses of 2,620 adults surveyed online from Sept. 14 to 20 by Harris Interactive.
The Cowboys topped the poll for the fourth consecutive year, followed by Indianapolis, Green Bay, Pittsburgh and New Orleans. The Saints jumped 19 spots from last year, the biggest move.
Seattle fell 17 spots to 31 and Tennessee fell 12 places from ninth to a tie for 21st. Jacksonville remained in last place for the fifth time in 6 years.
So, why has the Eagles popularity nationally fallen? One theory is the lack of marquee stars. The Eagles’ biggest name is Michael Vick, and we all know how at least a portion of football fans feel about him.
Even though Vick was with the Eagles last fall, he was not in a prominent role.
“For the casual fans, the knee-jerk reaction will be the change in the quarterback, which for most people, is the face of the franchise,” said Dr. Aubrey Kent, the director of Temple’s Sport Industry Research Center, which is not affiliated with the Harris Poll. “The face of the Eagles franchise right now, is according to the Q score, the most disliked athlete in America.”
Kent said the Eagles will never fall to the bottom, because they are among the “brand names” in “traditonally good football markets.” He added that the volatility of opinion is more about casual fans because “the avid fans are not going to go away.”
“You can’t deny there is a substantial group of people out there who can’t bring themselves to celebrate the success of Michael Vick,” Kent said.
The survey found that 53 percent of Americans said they follow football, a slight increase from last year (51 percent).
As for predictions, 20 percent of those who follow pro football predict the Saints will repeat.
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Well said NovaWildcats36 ! I agreee completely— caddymike
Trade of McNabb and rightly or wrongly the addition of Vick has a lot to do with it. Haven't seen a Kevin Kolb jersey yet either.— tpizza
tpizza, I actually have the 1960 Kolb jersey...I figured I would be wearing it proudly for the next 10 years, but it's looking iffy so far....lol. The only way to go these days is with the Birds' retro jerseys, such as Bednarik, Jerome Brown, Cunningham, and Dawkins. Only time will tell if I ever bust out my #5, but I doubt it.— kjuggs77- I've heard the Eagles are not going to print names on uniforms anymore. They'll just use DT, or QB, etc., so we have some idea of what position they play. That way Andy can plug anyone from South Philly in the games. Nobody memorable.— 4thand10
- I wonder if any of this has to do with Donovan McNabb??
- how about..we used to have a defense that could smother anyone and atack. The O didnt have to do much but the D had attitude and swagger and that defined us, you might beat us but you were gonna pay...and hurt. It's gone now...D sux and this isnt my eagles.— #20fan4life
- If the Eagles fans were frontrunners how come 70,000 fill the stands every home game with another 70,000 on the season ticket waiting list? Frontrunners? Hardly. I love the Phils, hope they get another ring. All the popularity drop shows is how fustrated the Eagles fan base is. Since 2005 we've been watching the "same stale we already know how the season is going to end team." I was excited to see the Kolb era start this year. Don't get me wrong I love watching Vick play but Reid going to him makes no sense unless the Eagles win a Super Bowl and that's not going to happen. All Reid has done is wasted a year of development for Kolb.— pflynn20
- Can't say it any better than NovaWildcats36.— dlscholt
- In my opinion I think phillies fans are a lot like cowboy fans, they only come out when their team is good and when they suck they crawl back into the holes they came out of. I don't like the phillies or baseball, i am a diehard eagles and flyers fan that will always support those two teams. Eagles and Flyers have the two best fan bases in philly, Period!— ghs25
- Tween Vick and Reid... No wonder nobody likes the Eagles. Go Phillies!— Brohn
- At the least the Eagles are more popular than the Republican Party, whose popularity is so far in the toilet no one would get near the stench. I do have to give Fox News and Karl Rove credit for convincing a lot of Americans that Democrats are unpopular and the Republicans will defeat them badly in November, when the opposite is true, the Dems will expand their majority because there aren't nearly as many racist Republicans out there as Faux News would have you believe. I don't know anyone that is voting Republican in November, so if they win I'll know they stole the elections with the help of Diebold and Haliburton.— eldiablodelsol2009
Who gives a F. We're trying to win. Keep your head up #7— elijah29- I bet the popularity of most NFL teams has fallen as the season has started and fans get to see how mediocre the NFL really is. Hard to imagine fans in Dallas, San Fran, NO, and many other cities are very happy with what they have seen so far.— atp2007
- Bill....you still here? LOL— mlr710
Reid must go!!!
