Falcons’ Championship Drought Among the Longest of All-Time

As I mentioned before, I have real, actual memories of watching football for 23 seasons. In those 23 years, only 13 different NFL franchises have won a championship. That means I haven’t seen the other 19 teams hoist the Lombardi Trophy. Unfortunately, one of those teams is the Atlanta Falcons.

Atlanta is one of seven NFL franchises whose dream of winning a championship has never been realized. Since 1966, Falcons fans have seen their team begin each season with high hopes and championship dreams. For 44 years, they have been disappointed.

Hit the jump for more Falcons goodness.

In fact, of the seven teams that have never won a title, the Falcons are the second-oldest franchise. Only the Minnesota Vikings have been a franchise longer but have never been #1 at season’s end.

I know I am supposed to be careful about bold predictions but I can’t help myself. This is just another reason why I think the Falcons championship drought will end soon.

Looking at those candidates, only the Vikings have a better chance to win the Super Bowl than the Falcons. The New Orleans Saints won last season, breaking a 42-year drought, so the precedent is set.

Now the Falcons have the second-longest drought for a team that has never won a championship. But what about all the teams who have been to the mountaintop before but have been suffering for a long time? Let’s take a look at the longest championship droughts, regardless if they had never won before.

So while we don’t have it as bad as some of the other teams (the Falcons are ninth on the overall list), 44 years is a long enough time to wait. Let’s hope they at least break down the Super Bowl door before it reaches 50 years.

Your Turn

Have the Falcons faithful suffered enough? Do we have the pieces in place to end this drought? Let me know in the comments or start the conversation on Twitter.