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Harris Interactive conducted a internet survey of over 1,300 football fans last month, asking them several questions, to include, "What are your two favorite National Football League teams?" From the answers, Harris then ranked all 32 NFL teams. based on popularity. The Miami Dolphins came in at the 13th most popular team. Despite the team's recent struggles, this is their highest ranking since before the 1-15 season in 2007 - and they had the second highest jump from last year to this year (Detroit moved up 11 spots, while Miami climbed 8).
The poll shows the Dallas Cowboys as the top ranking team, a position they have held for the last 5 years, and 8 of the last 12 years. The Pittsburgh Steelers come in second, with the Green Bay Packers, New England Patriots, and Chicago Bears rounding out the top 5.
The rest of the AFC East sees the New York Jets come in tied for ninth with the Minnesota Vikings and the Buffalo Bills tied for 28th with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
In the 12 years Harris Interactive has conducted the poll, the Dolphins have ranked as high as sixth (in 1998 and 1999 - the last two years of Dan Marino's career) and as low as tied for 21st (last season - tied with the Tennessee Titans). The rest of the time, the Dolphins have ranked 14th (2000), 9th (2001), 13th (2002), 13th (2003), 18th (2004 - tied with the Atlanta Falcons), 13th (2006 - tied with the Carolina Panthers), 14th (2007 - again tied with the Panthers), 16 (2008), and 17th (2009 - tied with the Washington Redskins).
The full results are below:
1998
1999
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
Dallas Cowboys
1
1
4
1*
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
Pittsburgh Steelers
5
5
6
10
15*
3*
1
3
4
2
4
2
Green Bay Packers
2
3
1
1*
1
1
4
4
5
6
3
3
New England Patriots
16
11
8*
19
3
3*
5
6
2
5
6
4
Chicago Bears
7
10
11
8
6*
8
6
5
6
3
9
5
23
27*
23*
23
11
9
3
2
3
4
2
6
8*
9
7
11*
4
13
9
7
7
8
7
7
Washington Redskins
10
8
10
6
10
14
16
12
9*
17*
15
8
New York Jets
17
13
12
16
6*
11*
22
17
9*
20
16
9*
Minnesota Vikings
14
7
13
7
15*
16*
21
19*
12
10
8
9*
24
19*
25
29
30
29
31
21*
17
24
5
11
12
21
16
20
5
5
7
8
8
7
13
12
Miami Dolphins
6
6
14
9
13
18*
13*
14*
16
17*
21*
13
27
25*
32
25
29
28
30
26*
28
26
19
14
Atlanta Falcons
19*
18
26
27
21*
18*
23*
28
27
13
10
15
3
2
2
5
8
6
8
9
11
11
12
16
28
23*
31
32
32
31
29
29
24
16
11
17*
4
4
8*
17
9
10
11
16
15
12
14
17*
19*
22
21
30
26
18*
17*
25
29
31
30
19
Carolina Panthers
13
30
22
24
18
16*
13*
14*
19
25
23
20
Tennessee Titans
29
31
17
14
23
25*
15
26*
25
9
21*
21
NA
12
15
15
24*
15
19
13
22*
22
26
22
NA
N/A
30
21*
19
25*
28
31
26
23
17*
23
26
23*
27*
26
31
27
23*
10
18
14*
20
24
8*
19*
3
3
12
7
10
11
13
21
17*
25
30
29
5
11*
20
21*
26
23*
30*
30
24
26
22
15
18*
21*
14
24
12
19*
14
14*
31
27
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
15
17
18*
4
17
11*
17*
21*
21
19
27*
28*
Buffalo Bills
18
14
23*
18
27
23
27
30
20
27*
29
28*
11
16
20
13
21*
21*
20
23*
22*
27*
25
30
25
25*
27*
28
24*
30
23*
18
32
29
27*
31
19*
27*
27*
31
28
32
32
32
30*
32
32
32
"*" indicates a tie
NA = not applicable for that year.
Note: Respondents provided list of teams
In 1998, 1999 the Tennessee Titans were the Houston Oilers.
Harris interactive explained the methodology behind the survey:
This Harris Poll was conducted online within the United States between September 12 to 19, 2011 among 2,462 adults (aged 18 and over), of whom 1,361 follow professional football. Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online.
All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words "margin of error" as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.
Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.
These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.