It’s a legit question. Sports teams don’t repeat titles like they did before. The Green Bay Packers once won five championships in a seven-year span, the Boston Celtics once won eight in a row and the Montreal Canadiens and New York Yankees each won five in a row, but all of those feats came about half a century ago, if not more.
After the New England Patriots beat the Seattle Seahawks to win Super Bowl XLIX, it’s now been 10 years since anybody has defended their championship in the National Football League.
Prior to that, there were four repeats in a 17-year span (San Francisco in 1988 and 1989, Dallas in 1992 and 1993, Denver in 1997 and 1998 and New England in 2003 and 2004). There were also three repeats in the 1970s (Miami in 1972 and 1973, Pittsburgh in 1974 and 1975 and the Steelers again in 1978 and 1979). Throw in the original repeat of the first two Super Bowls for Green Bay in 1966 and 1967 and we had eight successful title defenses during the first 39 years of the Super Bowl. That means it happened about twice per decade…and now it hasn’t happened once in a decade.
Dating back to when the Canton Bulldogs won back-to-back championships in 1922 and 1923, we’ve never had a stretch this long with a repeat champion.
Why is this happening?
- Free agency began in 1993, making it easier for players to move from team to team.
- On the surface, the above development might have only helped the rich teams get richer by luring top free agents with the prospect of winning championships. But the hard salary cap the league adopted in 1994 changed that.
- The NFL now has 32 teams. Twenty years ago, there were 28. Twenty years prior to that, there were 26. The pool’s getting deeper.
There’s also an intangible factor to consider, and that’s an increase in pressure on reigning champions. The NFL is more popular than ever and the Super Bowl has exploded. I can’t help but wonder if teams are being struck down by the hype and pressure overload that comes with winning the ultimate North American sports championship. That target on your back is massive. And the larger the stakes, the larger the Super Bowl hangover.
That might explain why in the eight years before the Seahawks got back to the Super Bowl in 2015, reigning champs hadn’t even won a playoff game, let alone returned to the championship.
So good luck, New England. The good news is you’ve been bucking trends for nearly two decades, but the odds aren’t in your favor.
