Who Else is Waiting for Next Year?

Here at Waiting for Next Year we are experts at waiting for … y’know…the next year. While our focus remains steadfastly on Northeast Ohio we also recognize that we are not the only ones waiting. In fact, some cities have been waiting longer in various sports. And since misery loves company, and in the wake of the Detroit Lions NFC Championship Game loss on Sunday, it seems like a good opportunity to review our professional football colleagues to see who is sitting with us in the waiting room.While most lists like this focus on “years since most recent championship” there are plenty of organizations who have not won a title, but that absence does not make the droughts any more tolerable. So, for our purposes we will count from the most recent title or founding year as applicable. Also, since the NFL absorbed the AFL’s statistics and records after the 1970 merger, we are counting pre-Super Bowl AFL titles as comparable to NFL titles of the same era.

7. Buffalo Bills (58 years)

A founding member of the American Football League, the Bills won back-to-back championships in 1964 and 1965. Buffalo’s greatest run came from 1990-93 when they appeared in four straight Super Bowls. None was more painful than the dreaded “Wide Right” finish against the Giants in Super Bowl 25. Scott Norwood sliced it just a little bit and broke Western New York’s hearts. The next three losses were not nearly as closed and helped launch the Cowboys as the “team of the 90’s.” A close second for their pain came in 1999 when the Titans pulled off The Music City Miracle in the dying seconds of the AFC Wild Card game. A 17-year playoff drought was snapped in 2017, but not even Josh Allen has been able to deliver a parade to the good people of Buffalo. Maybe next year.

6. Cleveland Browns (59 years)

If you’re reading this, then you already know what happened and when. John Elway had a good afternoon, Ernest Byner didn’t cross the goal line, Art Modell can go fly a kite in hell, Kelly Holcomb ran out of magic, the touchback rule is stupid, and when you Flacco around you find out. The good news is it could be worse. (In case you don’t know about the team’s 1964 title, I highly recommend this book by Terry Pluto).

5. Los Angeles Chargers (60 years)

Another AFL founding member, the Chargers won the 1963 league title 51-10 against the Patriots. Since then, it’s been a mixed bag. They lost the next two AFL title games to the Bills then missed the playoffs for 13 seasons. The Chargers finally reached the Super Bowl in 1994 only to get smacked by Steve Young and the 49ers 49-26. The Chargers have been largely unremarkable since then and even their relocation to Los Angeles in 2017 didn’t change their fortunes. Justin Herbert has gone largely underutilized and in 2022 the team choked away a 27-point lead to the Jaguars in Jacksonville. But they did just hire Jim Harbaugh to be their head coach so … problems solved?

4. Tennessee Titans (62 years)

One more AFL originator, the franchise once known as the Houston Oilers won the first two AFL Championship Games in 1960 and ‘61. After joining the NFL, they failed to reach the postseason until 1978. They never managed to win the big one in East Texas and the franchise relocated to Nashville in 1997. In 1999 the Titans were one open field tackle away from tying the Super Bowl, but it wasn’t meant to be. They’ve reached two AFC Championship Games since, most recently in 2019, but have never returned to the NFL’s biggest stage.

3. Minnesota Vikings (63 years)

The Vikings are sneakily consistent. Established in 1961, they didn’t make the playoffs until the 1968 season. Since then, they’ve never gone more than four straight years without a playoff appearance, appearing in 52 total postseason games. Younger Browns fans might not know that the Minnesota and Cleveland clashed in the 1969 NFL Championship game, a contest the Vikes won 27-7. Minnesota went on the lose Super Bowl IV to the Chiefs. They also reached the Super Bowl in 1973, 1974, and 1976 losing by 17, 10, and 18 points, respectively. Their pain has sharpened in the past quarter century, punctuated by Brett Favre’s unfathomable interception in the 2009 NFC title game and Blair Walsh’s impossible missed field goal in 2015. But they do have their 2019 Minneapolis Miracle to keep them warm.

2. Detroit Lions (66 years)

Hello, old friend. The Lions are one of the NFL’s longest running football teams, dating back to the 1930 Portsmouth Spartans. It’s been feast or famine for the Lions. A 1935 championship preceded a 16-year playoff drought including a 0-11 campaign in 1942. Then the ‘50’s were Detroit’s decade. They defeated the Browns in the 1952, 1953, and 1957 NFL Championship Games (though Cleveland got the better of them in 1954). They’ve endured multiple 11-year playoff droughts since 1971. After losing the 1991 NFC Championship game they lost eight straight postseason games before breaking through this season. They still have not won a playoff game on the road since 1957 so they have a goal for next season.

1. Arizona Cardinals (76 years)

You need to squint a little bit for this one. This nomadic franchise started in Chicago in 1920 before moving to St. Louis in 1960 then Arizona in 1988. The franchise has only two titles to their name – they were designated champions in 1925 and won the NFL Championship Game in 1947. They only played in one Super Bowl in 2008 and lost a heartbreaker to the Steelers. A 13-3 run in 2015 ended at the hands of the Panthers and the club has been mediocre at best for the past eight seasons. One could argue that this championship drought is a little fuzzy and I get that. It’s remarkable to think that when the Cards last ruled supreme, the phrase “World War II veterans” meant strapping young men in their physical prime. Do Phoenician football fanatics feel the pain of those empty, title-less years in Missouri or Illinois? Probably not, but since titles don’t stay in the cities where they are earned the record stands.Theoretically, sports droughts like these shouldn’t happen. Theoretically every team has a 1-in-32 (3.125%) chance of winning the Super Bowl every year and in a vacuum no wait goes longer than three decades. In practice, however, some of these clubs have gotten agonizingly close to a championship only to miss a field goal, run the wrong route, throw a pick, or simply receive some bad luck. Any of these cities would be thrilled to host a parade, but until then their fans can just watch the Chiefs and 49ers on February 11 and think “next year is our year.”