NFL Team Popularity Contest

In an online survey of 2,620 adult sports fans in the U.S., conducted Sept. 14-20 by Harris Interactive, the Dallas Cowboys were again "America's Team" finishing first in popularity for the fourth straight year. The full rankings are:

1. Dallas Cowboys	12. San Francisco 49ers	23. Carolina Panthers
2. Indianapolis Colts	13. Philadelphia Eagles	24. St. Louis Rams
3. Green Bay Packers	14. Denver Broncos	25. Kansas City Chiefs
4. Pittsburgh Steelers	15. Washington Redskins	26. Cleveland Browns
5. New Orleans Saints	16. New York Jets	27. Cincinnati Bengals
6. New England Patriots	17. Houston Texans	28. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
7. New York Giants	18. Oakland Raiders	29. Buffalo Bills
8. Minnesota Vikings	19. Baltimore Ravens	30. Detroit Lions
9. Chicago Bears	20. San Diego Chargers	31. Seattle Seahawks
10. Atlanta Falcons	21. Miami Dolphins	32. Jacksonville Jaguars
11. Arizona Cardinals	22. Tennessee Titans

Now I'm just a blind Bambi, but this list validates my expectations that teams in more populous regions and/or teams which have had recent success are, in general, the more "popular" teams nationwide.  If you surveyed fan groups, however, I would certainly expect that according to each, their team and its fans are unquestionably the "best."  The fact that even teams which perennially struggle have fans that take pride in their team and are relentlessly optimistic about future victories, though, is an important element of the game.