For the second straight year, the New England Patriots are the most disliked team in the NFL.
This according to a new poll taken last week and released Monday by Public Policy Polling.
In the poll, taken of 378 NFL fans representative of the US population, 21 percent of people disliked the Patriots — once again edging the Dallas Cowboys (19 percent).
Of those polled, 42 percent said they feel negatively about the Patriots, compared to only 19 percent who said they think of their Super Bowl LI opponent Atlanta Falcons negatively. As far as who those polled are rooting for to win the Super Bowl, 53 percent are pulling for the Falcons, 27 percent for the Patriots.
Patriots QB Tom Brady is both the most popular QB among fans, and the least popular, and coach Bill Belichick is also seen negatively by 34 percent of those polled by Public Policy Polling. Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports
Tom Brady is the most popular quarterback among fans (22 percent), but he’s also the least popular (24 percent). Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan was the seventh-most-liked quarterback behind Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Eli Manning, Dak Prescott, Ben Roethlisberger and Russell Wilson.
Patriots coach Bill Belichick is also viewed negatively by 34 percent of those polled, while only 8 percent of those polled said they didn’t like Falcons coach Dan Quinn.
Belichick isn’t as disliked as NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, as 37 percent said they thought of him unfavorably and 42 percent disapproved of the job he was doing.
Former Detroit Lions running back Mel Farr, who once also headed the nation’s largest black-owned business, had Stage 3 chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) at the time of his death in 2015, Outside The Lines has learned.
Farr died suddenly on Aug. 3, 2015, at his home in Detroit from a massive heart attack due to undiagnosed hypertension. He was 70.
After his death, Farr’s family donated his brain and spinal cord to Boston University School of Medicine where, since 2008, researchers have been testing the brains of deceased athletes for the presence of CTE, the progressive degenerative brain disease associated with repeated blows to the head.
CTE can only be confirmed with certainty after someone dies. Symptoms include memory loss, confusion, impaired judgment, impulse control problems, aggression, depression and, eventually, progressive dementia.
“Mr. Farr had Stage 3 CTE, which is consistent with other football players of similar age and exposure,” said Dr. Ann McKee, the director of Boston University’s CTE Center. “At Stage 3, the disease is widespread, but most severe in the frontal lobes as well as the medial temporal lobes, specifically the hippocampus, which plays a critical role in forming new memories, and the amygdala, which governs emotion.
“Mr. Farr had symptoms consistent with other Stage 3 cases, including memory problems, significant personality change, and behavioral symptoms,” added Dr. McKee, who is also a professor of neurology and pathology at the Boston University School of Medicine and the Chief of Neuropathology for the VA Boston Healthcare System. “His family noted that Mr. Farr was aware of, and frustrated by, his decline.”
Said Farr’s daughter, Monet Bartell: “My dad for some time had been suffering. He was losing his memory. Things he should remember, he couldn’t remember.”
Farr, who was a 1967 first-round draft pick and NFL rookie of the year, played for the Lions from 1967 to 1973. He played college football at UCLA and high school football in his hometown of Beaumont, Texas. In total, he played the game for 18 years. His family’s story will be part of an Outside The Lines special, “Football Forever” (Saturday, 10 p.m. ET, ESPN).
According to Dr. McKee, the latest research from Boston University finds that “CTE risk, both the presence and severity, is associated with number of years playing football.”
Before his death, Farr suspected he had CTE. He, along with his brother, Miller Farr, his cousin Jerry LeVias and two sons, Mel Farr Jr. and Mike Farr — all former NFL players — joined a still pending class-action lawsuit against the league claiming the NFL hid known concussion risks from players.
“We were never told the lifelong effects of the multiple jarring and hits in the NFL,” Mike Farr said.
“What we called it back then was ‘getting your bell rung’. What they may call it now may be a mild concussion,” Mel Farr Jr. said. “If you took a hard hit, you got up, you were a little woozy, ‘Oh, he just got his bell rung’ — you were able to go back to the huddle.”
While his family was not surprised by the CTE diagnosis, they were surprised that Farr had Stage 3, which is usually marked with aggressive behavior and more cognitive impairment than what Farr seemed to display. At Stage 4, there’s usually a clinical diagnosis of dementia.
Bartell said a doctor told her that perhaps because her father “had such a great mind, he was able to mask it a lot better than some [others].”
After retiring from the NFL in 1973, Farr owned about a dozen car dealerships in several states. He starred in memorable TV commercials wearing a red cape, like Superman, pretending to fly around fighting high car prices. His persona was “Mel Farr Superstar.”
With revenue topping $568.4 million, according to a 2002 report by Automotive News, at one point, Farr had the largest black-owned company in the country.
“He was an amazing man with a larger-than-life personality,” said his wife, Jasmine Farr, whom he married in 2013. “He was a great athlete, a great businessman, a great family man and a great person. One of a kind. He would light up a room with his presence.”
Bartell told Outside The Lines she is thankful Farr’s symptoms weren’t worse.
“We didn’t have to see his health deteriorate to a point where the Mel Farr that everyone knew and loved was unrecognizable,” she said.
“Football allowed us to live out the American dream, and it’s so crazy that the game that we love so much can also contribute to the death of my dad,” she added. “That’s a tough pill to swallow.”
Now his widow is working to keep his legacy alive recently starting the “Mel Farr Superstar Scholars program” at a Cornerstone charter school in Detroit.
Four months after he died, Jasmine Farr gave birth two weeks early to a baby girl named Melia who, incredibly, was born on Farr’s birthday, November 3. Melia is now 1.
“It’s divine intervention. She is a blessing and a gift from him,” Jasmine Farr said. “We will now celebrate both of them on that day.”
HOUSTON — Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner says demonstrations during Super Bowl week won’t prevent fans from having a good time.
Turner said Monday that demonstrations like the one Sunday outside Super Bowl headquarters with protesters opposing President Donald Trump’s travel restrictions from some majority-Muslim countries are “about people exercising their constitutional right to voice their opinion.”
Calling Houston “the most diverse city in the country,” Turner noted, “We can do that and have good football at the same time.”
Turner stressed that security would not be an issue and that the city has worked for four years preparing to host the game for the first time since 2004.
FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Cornerback Josh Norman wore a wrestling mask and got into a heated debate with Hall-of-Fame-player-turned-television-analyst Deion Sanders about a regular-season incident with New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham.
Quarterback Cam Newton turned a towel into a bandanna. And when asked if he was the LeBron James of the NFL, Newton said, “Why can’t LeBron be the Cam Newton of power forwards?”
He also defended a comment made the previous week about his success as an African-American quarterback because it “may scare a lot of people because they haven’t seen nothing they can compare me to.”
This was the NFC champion Carolina Panthers at Super Bowl 50 media night a year ago.
Don’t expect the same type of colorful comments from New England and Atlanta at Super Bowl LI’s media night on Monday, particularly from the Falcons.
Second-year Atlanta coach Dan Quinn tried last week to get ahead of the media circus his players will face in Houston by simulating some of the crazy questions they may get.
As he reminded them, “the media can only jam you up if you allow it too.”
“We want to make sure our responsibility is to each other, and that’s one of the fun parts of our team,” Quinn said on Wednesday.
In other words, he wanted no bulletin board material and no quotes that will take the focus off the team’s preparation for the game.
Judging by the comments players made at the practice facility, Quinn’s message came in loud and clear. You couldn’t have found a more polite — or boring — group.
“You don’t want to be that guy [who] gives bullets and bulletin board material,” Atlanta defensive end Tyson Jackson said. “You’ve got to understand the question that’s asked, and if there’s anything you don’t feel comfortable answering, you can pass.”
“You just want to keep it as even-keeled as possible.”
Jackson doesn’t think the Falcons intentionally were boring last week as much as they were careful. He still believes players can show their personality without saying outrageous things or dealing with outrageous topics.
“Everybody will have their own way to approach the media,” Jackson said. “But looking back at past Super Bowls, there are some insane questions being asked out there. You’ve got to be prepared.”
Jackson admitted it was fun coming up with questions to anticipate, although there were none he wanted to share.
“The questions that have been asked in previous Super Bowls you are [thinking], ‘Wow! Why would they ask that? It has nothing to do with the Super Bowl,'” he said. “I’m pretty sure all 63 guys in the locker room are prepared for what’s out there for us. I know I trust them.
“The Super Bowl is a media circus, so you’ve just got to get ready for it.”
