Seahawks possibly moving back to AFC?

[brendonkuhn]

People who go with the "Bleacher Report? Not reading" line anytime BR is quoted are being incredibly lazy. Just because BR was founded as a 15 y/o blogger site doesn't mean it hasn't evolved over the years. Jason Cole is a legit NFL insider, hired away from yahoo (I believe?), and has very credible sources.

I enjoy being in the NFCW, I'd love to see Az and Oak swap though. For road trip purposes, it'd be nice to add another Cali team.

 

[Hawknballs]

True, Bleacher Report become CNN's sports news site a couple years ago and has since become a somewhat more credible site.

I mean, go look at fox's sports page - it makes bleacher report look like CSPAN.

 

[Hasselbeck]

They would never take the Raiders out of the AFC West. The history they have with the teams in that division would prevent them from ever switching conferences.

Not sure if you watched the video, but the report is Mark Davis himself volunteered to make the move to the NFC West if the Chargers and Raiders both moved to LA.

The NFL seems hell bent on getting 2 teams out in LA now .. I believe it will eventually happen, with any combination of Oakland, San Diego and St. Louis.

 

[rjdriver]

Of course, we would then shortly have the unique distinction of being the only Super Bowl winner to have won in the NFC and AFC.

 

[chris98251]

If Mark Davis said that Al is waking in his grave and doing his Best Mummy impression, I don't beleive Mark would crap on his dad like that, Al was a commisioner of the AFL and was the main instigator for merger becasue he and the Jets were actually going after and paying players that the NFL wanted.

If it is said then it's a leverage push to get something done.

 

[theENGLISHseahawk]

St. Louis will be in LA, making this a moot point.

Kroenke didn't buy that land for a theme park.

And the NFL isn't breaking up SEA/SF for the sake of Oakland.

 

[bandiger]

Battles between Luck and Wilson would be neat to see in the playoffs.

 

[Popeyejones]

]
And the NFL isn't breaking up SEA/SF for the sake of Oakland.

Absolutely agreed, although I don't see how Oakland moving south again would necessitate any alignment changes.
Same story with the Chargers going 40 miles or north, or the Rams returning for that matter (they'd make more sense in the NFCW if they were back in LA.).

Basically, this report hinges on the 1) IF the Raiders and Chargers both moved to LA (not too likely) then 2) the NFL wouldn't want two AFCW teams in L.A.

Real question: why not? It's a great story at least twice a year and creates a ready made rivalry. I don't see what the problem is even if this thing happened (which it won't). Didn't the Chargers re-up their lease last year?

 

[hawkfan68]

Raiders will never move out of the AFC west. They have historical rivalries with the Chiefs and Denver. I could see the Chargers moved out of the AFC West but not the Raiders.

 

[HawkFan72]

They would never take the Raiders out of the AFC West. The history they have with the teams in that division would prevent them from ever switching conferences.

Not sure if you watched the video, but the report is Mark Davis himself volunteered to make the move to the NFC West if the Chargers and Raiders both moved to LA.

The NFL seems hell bent on getting 2 teams out in LA now .. I believe it will eventually happen, with any combination of Oakland, San Diego and St. Louis.

You're right, I did not watch the video. But I just don't see the NFL allowing such a move, regardless of what Davis wants to do.

 

[Evil_Shenanigans]

And what conference would the London Expansion team be in?

 

[lsheldon]

So we can beat Denver twice a year? Heck yeah.

 

[kearly]

It will never happen, Denver,Oakland,Kansas City, and San Diego all original teams in the AFC and in the West, they moved us due to that in the first place and won't change it now.

Exactly this.

If they move the Raiders AND the Chargers to LA, they will definitely move one of them to the NFC. The NFL has always preferred to avoid having two teams coming from the same city in the same conference.

I don't think the NFL is married to history anyway, there's a fairly lengthy list of teams that have bounced from divisions or conferences in the past. Not to mention changing cities. And there has never been a commissioner in any sport ever who loved change for the sake of change more than Roger Goodell.

Though if they really wanted to keep the current alignment, there is an easy solution. Move the Rams to LA instead of the Chargers. Or just have one team go to L.A. Then nobody would have to change divisions or conferences.

If there is one thing we know about Goodell, it's that he worships the almighty dollar. I can only imagine how badly he wants to get the NFL back into America's second largest metro market. Which would also explain the greedy nature of the rumor (not one team moving but two).

 

[kearly]

And the NFL isn't breaking up SEA/SF for the sake of Oakland.

By the time this happens I doubt SEA/SF will still be a thing anymore. Harbaugh is probably coaching his last season with the 49ers. Or at least that's what every sports reporter in America has been saying the last few months.

And what conference would the London Expansion team be in?

AFC. They'll move the Pats there just for shits. Or better yet, they move the Bills there and rename them the Redcoats.

 

[Cartire]

It will never happen, Denver,Oakland,Kansas City, and San Diego all original teams in the AFC and in the West, they moved us due to that in the first place and won't change it now.

Exactly this.

If they move the Raiders AND the Chargers to LA, they will definitely move one of them to the NFC. The NFL has always preferred to avoid having two teams coming from the same city in the same conference.

I don't think the NFL is married to history anyway, there's a fairly lengthy list of teams that have bounced from divisions or conferences in the past. Not to mention changing cities. And there has never been a commissioner in any sport ever who loved change for the sake of change more than Roger Goodell.

Though if they really wanted to keep the current alignment, there is an easy solution. Move the Rams to LA instead of the Chargers. Or just have one team go to L.A. Then nobody would have to change divisions or conferences.

Thats true, but I also think the magic number of 32 teams and 8 divisions in 2 conference has finally meshed perfectly. 2002 was a big year for the NFL, and one that I think has brought even more parity then people realize just because of how everything flows perfectly with scheduling. Where im sure we'll change again, we found a real sweet spot in sports in general when it comes to fair scheduling and equal divisional fights.

 

[kearly]

Thats true, but I also think the magic number of 32 teams and 8 divisions in 2 conference has finally meshed perfectly. 2002 was a big year for the NFL, and one that I think has brought even more parity then people realize just because of how everything flows perfectly with scheduling. Where im sure we'll change again, we found a real sweet spot in sports in general when it comes to fair scheduling and equal divisional fights.

Did you mean to quote someone else? I never mentioned the 32 team format. Which I agree, it would be silly to change that number.

 

[TheRealDTM]

I just want the rams to move, NFC West should be you know a Western league not southern central/east

 

[Cartire]

Thats true, but I also think the magic number of 32 teams and 8 divisions in 2 conference has finally meshed perfectly. 2002 was a big year for the NFL, and one that I think has brought even more parity then people realize just because of how everything flows perfectly with scheduling. Where im sure we'll change again, we found a real sweet spot in sports in general when it comes to fair scheduling and equal divisional fights.

Did you mean to quote someone else? I never mentioned the 32 team format. Which I agree, it would be silly to change that number.

No, I was commenting on your Roger loves to change style and past changes of old regimes. I was stating that now that were in this 32 team, 8 division format, I feel like its less likely change will occur anywhere in the near future.

I agree with mostly with what you said, was adding on to it.

 

[BocciHawk]

If there's a team in London any time soon, it'll be the Jaguars. I think the PP is correct, the 32 team format has been working quite well and I think it's unlikely that they'd award two expansion teams and end up with some divisions that had five teams.

I have a hard time believing that So Cal can support three teams (Rams and Raiders in LA, with San Diego staying put) but who knows...

I do think that the scenarios they've been tossing out for LA have been one stadium if there are two teams, which really only works if they are in different conferences so they only play against each other once every few years... otherwise it would be too weird with tickets, you'd have one "home" game for one set of season ticket holders, and then the other "home" game for the other set of season ticket holders... it causes a lot of stress when the Jets and Giants play.

I would be pretty surprised if they broke up the AFC West.

 

[CANHawk]

No chance in hell do any of the original AFL or NFL teams swap conferences. If anyone changes, it'll be one of the post merger expansion teams (aka: red headed step children) to move.

NFL doesn't care about history? Lol. Sure that's why Dallas plays in the NFC East and the Dolphins aren’t in the AFC South where they belong. Don't kid yourself, they care a HUGE deal about that kind of shit...