Angriest fans in the NFL? Vikings fans, obviously
As the dust settles from the flurry of activity that greeted the start of free agency, it's Minnesota Vikings fans who are apparently the most disgruntled.
That's according to Gambling.com, which has scoured social media to determine which is the angriest fanbase since the start of free agency, and found the Vikings to be No. 1.
Hey, a win's a win, right?
Not shocking is the result showing that most anger is unleashed on Twitter, which is social media hell compared to Reddit and Facebook.
- 9% of Vikings posts on Facebook were negative
- 37.2% of Vikings posts on Twitter were negative
- 14.7% of Vikings posts on Reddit were negative
That all adds up to a 20% negativity rate. We're No. 1! We're No. 1!
According to https://t.co/EeMDfUfU6p, the Baltimore Ravens fanbase is the third-angriest online NFL fanbase since free agency began. pic.twitter.com/FX7sXze0zd
— Kyle Phoenix (@KylePBarber) March 21, 2023
The Vikings are following up a 13-4 season – albeit one with a disappointing first round playoff exit – with much to do in the offseason, and have made a flurry of moves as they sought to become cap compliant while remaining competitive in 2023-24.
But in terms of anger and recriminations, anyone whose spent a hot minute surveying Vikings social media will know that the future of and, indeed, the qualities of Kirk Cousins is the subject that is guaranteed to spark rage and recriminations.
On one side you have Kirk zealots who will happily ignore his inadequacies while salivating over 4,000-yard passing seasons and six-pack abs. On the other side you have the contradictions-in-terms fans who fist-pump a Cousins TD only to flip a table when the QB can't escape the 330-pound nose tackle lined up across from Garrett Bradbury.
In the middle are most Vikings fans, just kinda hoping for the best, but expecting the worst.
Excited about the Lamar Jackson rumors? Surely something Vikings fans can rally around and enjoy speculating about in an orderly manner? You'd be wrong when you encounter the fans attempting to convince you the 26-year-old former MVP isn't an accurate passer.
Applauding the front office for releasing Adam Thielen to avoid a huge cap hit? There's a whole group of fans waiting to launch you off the banned playground equipment for not staying loyal to one of Minnesota's own.
At the same time, let's all cut ourselves some slack. Being a Vikings fan – or a Minnesota sports fan in general – is historically no picnic. Last season was as good as it's been for many-a-year and with Aaron Rodgers seemingly off to New York, suddenly the NFC North is paved with gold, right?
Wrong.
No, instead the Vikings find themselves amidst a "competitive rebuild" facing an incredibly tough schedule, meanwhile the Chicago Bears have found a potentially quality long-term rookie quarterback while having oodles of draft picks and cap space.
The Detroit Lions seem to be on the rise as well after enjoying a resurgent second-half of last season. And the Packers? Well it would be just the Vikings' luck if Jordan Love is Favre and Rodgers Mk. III.
Yet hope remains while the company is true. We're only in Year 2 of the Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Kevin O'Connell takeover, the defensive rebuild is now underway, and the Vikings have Justin Jefferson.
In any case, the new season is more than five months away. At least put your anger on simmer until then.
Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen. His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011. Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play. Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers. Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.