Back when Jacksonville was competing with several other cities to receive the 29th and 30th NFL franchises back in the early 1990s, Jacksonville's efforts were popular to mock or ignore by the national media and other cities. But perhaps of all of the other cities vying for the two franchises during that time, Charlotte was the one with whom Jacksonville had the most antipathy. Sports columnists would snipe at each other. Radio stations would take digs at the other. There were media personalities that made bets involving kissing pigs and feet over who would get the NFL franchise.
When both cities were awarded the franchises, the competition continued. Budding fanbases went back and forth over which team would be the most successful. The race was on to see who would reach and win the Super Bowl first. Initially, Carolina was the media darlings. Signing a bunch of blue hairs, Carolina microwaved themselves a record setting franchise, that won 7 games their first year and reached the conference championship their second year.
Jacksonville took a longer term approach. We went younger, and took more lumps early. the Jaguars went 4-12 the first year, and struggled for much of the second year. But despite the early struggles, by the second year, this was a team with talent and potential. Two noteworthy wins during the first part of that second year were over then rivals Pittsburgh and a cathartic win over Carolina. By the end of the year, we, too, reached the conference title game.
Carolina fell off quickly, while Jacksonville remained contenders for three more years. Our year was supposed to be 1999. We finished the regular season 14-2. The way things were going, it seemed the sun would never set on the budding Jaguars empire. Sadly though, it seems the sun never fully rose. The team never reached the Super Bowl, then fell off in 2000 due to injuries and salary cap issues that lingered through the 2003 season.
However, Carolina bounced back from the ashes of being the worst team in football and, in 2003, reached the Super Bowl, losing in the last minute to New England. While that was a setback for the Jaguars, there was some solace to be had. Carlina was the first to a Super Bowl, but they still did not have that ring or Lombardi trophy. They had fallen off again. Old time Jaguars fans could believe Carolina just got hot at the right time and made it in, but they didn't go back. They didn't sustain the winning.
But now, Carolina has culminated a dominating 15-1 season by reaching their second Super Bowl. They capitalized on the first time they had home field advantage, reaching their second Super Bowl in their 21 year history. They have a good chance to actually win this time.
Right now, looking back, it's clear they have been more successful than we have been. Hopefully, this will motivate this franchise anew to reach those heights of success. But seeing Carolina do this is sickening to me.
Worst to 1st. Curse Reversed!
