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In our last article on this subject, we covered five former Super Bowl-winning teams that fell off and have not won the Lombardi trophy since, but some teams have had to wait even longer than that.
Before the AFL-NFL merger in 1966, the Super Bowl didn't exist, and teams had to compete for the NFL/AFL championship. These five teams became champions a long time ago, but haven't replicated their previous success since then.
With that in mind, this article will look at the NFL's five longest championship droughts. All five of these franchises did win a championship pre-merger but have never won a Super Bowl.
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#5. Cleveland Browns (58 seasons)
The Browns used to be a ruthless, championship-winning machine. In the 50s, they had Otto Graham, who was one of the first-ever superstar QBs in league history. Although his numbers may look pedestrian today, we have to remember that he played in a very different era. Despite that, he was a prolific scorer around the goal line even by today's standards, as he has 44 rushing TDs (AAFC + NFL), which is second to Cam Newton among quarterbacks. Numbers aside, Graham was a winner, as he won four titles in the AAFC and three more in the NFL. Graham announced his retirement after his final championship victory in 1955, and in 1957, the Browns got another generational talent in Jim Brown, who sadly left us a few weeks ago (May 18, 2023).
Brown was a powerful rusher who was extremely tough to tackle and he scored touchdowns for fun. His unprecedented physical gifts ushered in another successful era for the Browns, as they won another championship in 1964, which would be the last time the Browns lifted a championship trophy. They enjoyed moderate success before their infamous relocation to Baltimore, but ever since the Browns returned in 1999, they have been laughingstocks. Cleveland has only had two playoff appearances, one playoff win, one winless season, and a 127-258-1 record since then, while the Ravens have won around 60% of their games since 1999, and have won two Super Bowls. Maybe the Ravens also inherited the Browns' ability to win football games.
#4. Los Angeles/San Diego Chargers (59 seasons)
The Chargers are famous for their playoff meltdowns, but they won a championship in their AFL days when they were led by AFL MVP wideout Lance Alworth. During Alworth's scintillating peak from 1963 to 1968, he caught 384 passes for 7747 yards (20.2 yards per reception) and scored 70 touchdowns. In that stretch, the Bolts made it to three AFL championship games, winning in 1963 before losing to the Bills for two years in a row in 1964 and 1965. Alworth would go on to win another championship with the Cowboys (Super Bowl VI, where he also scored a touchdown), but his former team has yet to win lift another championship trophy. They had a rough transition to the NFL, failing to make the postseason in their first nine seasons, before finally experiencing some success in the Don Coryell/Dan Fouts era.
They were dominant in the regular season, but could never make it out of the AFC, and Coryell was eventually sacked after a poor start to the 1986 season. After Fouts' retirement, the Chargers made their only Super Bowl in 1994 with a well-balanced squad but were crushed by Steve Young having arguably the greatest performance in Super Bowl history (325 yards, 6 TDs, and no picks with a stellar 134.8 passer rating). They lucked into Drew Brees in 2001 but infamously refused to pay him in 2005. Brees would go on to win a Super Bowl in New Orleans, but the Chargers were doing too bad either. They got unlucky at the height of the Phillip Rivers/LaDainian Tomlinson/Antonio Gates era and never felt like a true championship contender again until their move to Los Angeles and the arrival of Justin Herbert. They had yet another meltdown in the playoffs last year, but the future looks bright with Herbert at the helm.
Another four touchdown game from Justin Herbert.
Highlights from his first win as the Chargers starting QB!@Chargers | #BoltUp pic.twitter.com/kB1QDu2aq3
— NFL (@NFL) October 27, 2020
#3. Tennessee/Houston Oilers/Titans (61 seasons)
The Houston Oilers, who were the first-ever AFL champions managed to repeat in 1961, beating the Chargers both times. They were led by George Blanda, one of the most intriguing players ever, who played for 26 seasons, until he was 48. (take that, Tom Brady!) They would go on to make two more championship games in the AFL, losing both times. They too started off as losers in the NFL but started to turn things around when Earl Campbell came to town. Campbell had a short peak, but he did make the Oilers relevant, as he led them to two AFC championship games. They would go on to make the playoffs every year from 1987 to 1993, led by Warren Moon, but they fell off as soon as Moon was traded to Minnesota. The team then moved to Tennessee, spending two seasons as the Tennessee Oilers before becoming the Titans in 1999.
Powered by Eddie George, the team made it all the way to the Super Bowl thanks to getting lucky in the "Music City Miracle", but luck wasn't on their side in the big game, as they were just one yard short from beating Kurt Warner's "Greatest Show on Turf" Rams. Their QB, the late great Steve McNair, broke out in the coming years, winning Co-MVP alongside fellow AFC South QB Peyton Manning in 2003, but he would only play 22 more games for the team after that. They had some solid years with players like Chris Johnson but didn't look dangerous again until the arrival of HC Mike Vrabel, Derrick Henry, and Ryan Tannehill. They had a few good years of contention, but now it looks like those days are coming to an end, as they are banking on either Malik Willis or Will Levis to lead them into the next era.
#2. Detriot Lions (65 seasons)
The Lions used to be good, believe it or not. They won their first championship in 1935 and won three rings from 1952 to 1957. But that was so long ago that no one remembers those days, so let's talk about what matters for the Lions and their fans, the Barry Sanders era. In ten seasons, Sanders averaged 1526 yards, 5.0 yards per attempt, and 10 TDs per season, while the Lions only managed to make the postseason five times, winning just one playoff game in their best season (1991). Their front office was so inept that Barry Sanders retired at his peak, just one season after winning Co-MVP alongside Brett Favre.
HC Bobby Ross actually managed to keep the team afloat for a while, even making the playoffs once without Sanders, but he resigned in the middle of the 2000 season, despite having a winning record. Most people think that the Lions fell off a cliff immediately after Sanders left, but Ross leaving was what really broke them. They didn't have a winning season (and didn't make the playoffs) until 2011, and infamously went winless in 2008. The Matthew Stafford era was fun, and they had some real talent like Calvin Johnson and Ndamukong Suh, but they only made the postseason three times, never advancing past the Wild Card round. It also didn't help that Stafford and Suh won championships after leaving Detroit. They have a bright future now, led by fan-favorite head coach Dan Campbell and veteran quarterback Jared Goff.
Happy birthday to the ultimate hands-on coach, Dan Campbell 🥳️ @Lions pic.twitter.com/JkFj48sbiW
— NFL Films (@NFLFilms) April 13, 2023
#1. Arizona/Chicago/St. Louis/Phoenix Cardinals (75 seasons)
It must feel pretty bad being an Arizona sports fan, as the Suns also have a 55-season NBA championship drought. The Cardinals won two championships, one in 1925 and the other in 1947, as the Chicago Cardinals. They relocated to St. Louis, Missouri in 1960, never winning a playoff game (though they did win the "Playoff Bowl" in 1964, which was a game for third place). They moved to their current home in 1988 but were named the Phoenix Cardinals. The Phoenix Cardinals never made the postseason in six seasons before finally getting their current name in 1994. In 1998, they won their first playoff game since the 1947 NFL Championship game (discounting the Playoff Bowl) as they beat the Cowboys before falling to the Vikings who were led by a rookie Randy Moss. After they saw how Moss turned the Vikings around, the Cardinals went after some receivers and drafted two great wideouts in back-to-back seasons, Anquan Boldin and the legendary Larry Fitzgerald, who would go on to become the face of their franchise.
They just needed a good signal-caller, and they overlooked their veteran backup, the aforementioned former NFL MVP and champion Kurt Warner, as they went ahead with Matt Leinart as their QB1. However, Warner refused to go down that easily, as he took advantage of Leinart's ineptitude and became the team's starter while producing elite numbers. Despite a very weak running game, Warner led his team to the Super Bowl against all odds, thanks to some great performances by Fitzgerald. In Super Bowl XLIII, the Cardinals lost a heartbreaker, and Warner retired in 2009, but they did have some more solid years with Carson Palmer. Now, they have Kyler Murray at the helm, who is a supremely talented player, but has some commitment issues. With Murray bound to miss a large chunk of 2023, the Cardinals have to wait a little longer until they can be competitive again.
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