I've been watching the NFL more than 50 years, been a Patriots season ticket holder the last 22 years. I recall a time when there was no such thing as "haters," when rival teams beat the hell out of each other but after the final gun mutual respect and good-natured sportsmanship prevailed. The higher ideals of athletic competition were something we aspired to, valued and learned from in hopes of becoming people of stronger character. It was "fun" that we took seriously as a way of measuring ourselves, physically, mentally and emotionally.
I remember as a young fan feeling bad when my team lost but also admiring the skill of the victor and genuinely congratulating rival fans. We all had our favorite teams but at the end of the day were united in love for the sport. These days it's all so cutthroat that win or lose, you have to guard against someone else trying to tear you down, get in your face, or otherwise cause harm. It's not just at the pro level but all levels of sport.
I stated in another thread that the mental stress "deflategate" (and similar contentious nonsense) brings to a hobby/diversion I've relied upon all these years to escape stress ruins whatever joy is left. I'm not sure it's worth hearing and reading "Cheaters!" "Liars!" at every turn, especially when I know it's not true. You need a thick skin and most of it I can tune out, but real life and death is grim enough without putting football on the same level.
I wonder if R. Stokoe Goodell had any compunction over the sadness and anger he has caused so many thousands of fans with his outrageously punitive approach to legislating what should be a source of enjoyment. "Integrity of the game" never meant less than when processed through the hollow brain of that overstuffed sock puppet.
What a sad state of affairs.
Good thread. I considered starting a similar thread last night, albeit in a different style, but didn't, so I'm glad you did.
The short answer is, the viciousness no doubt coincides with the rise of the internet. In eras previous, if you were a Patriot fan and lost a big game, you watched the loss from your living room, and groaned about it with your neighbors. Maybe a friend was a fan of a rival team, and you would have to hear some trash talking from them, but that was about it.
Now when you win or lose a game, it's an online battle between fan bases that get brought right to your living room. Now Patsfans.com is in every hardcore Jet fans living room, just like Jets Insider was in ours.
With that environment, things just get progressively more nasty. This is probably why politics is also so partisan now (not to say it hasn't always been, but now it's so much more personal). When the Democrats or Republicans lose an election, one has to hear the gloating from the other, and it's usually as vicious as possible.
Not that I have any regrets for our fan base, but Patriot fans honestly helped fuel this environment online in the 2000s. It's not because we are any particular way that is unique to football fandom, but because our dynasty and reign of football terror coincided with the rise of the internet.
If the internet had been a thing in the 80's, that honor would have no doubt gone to 49'er fans.
A lot of the reason so many fan bases despise the Patriots is because the Patriots have been so good, for so long, it's allowed Patriot fans online to really lay into people hard, with our football team backing up our trash talking on game day with epic blow out wins, epic comeback wins, etc etc etc.
It's lead to a lot of hate and a lot of jealousy. It's also lead to other fan bases wanting to model themselves after Patriot fans of 8 years ago whenever they get a brief moment in the sun. This was most transparent with the Denver fans who pitifully tried to do their best Pats-fan impersonation in 2013, which failed miserably.
Anyway, to answer your question in a nutshell: The internet.
