Image: Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Antonio Dixon moves towards the ball carrier during the NFL Game between the Tennessee Titans and the Philadelphia Eagles. The Titans won 37-19 at LP Field in Nashville, Tennessee on Sunday October 24th 2010. (Photo By /Brian Garfinkel) via Wikipedia.
Perhaps the truest proof of a football fan’s devotion comes not when they’re with a large group of people screaming in celebration of a touchdown, but when they’re alone and creating a new password.
In honor of this coming weekend’s annual ultimate football showdown, we here at Siber Systems have combed through a third party list of 10 million passwords to determine which NFL franchises have inspired such passion in fans that when it comes time to create a memorable password for their apps and various accounts, they turn to their favorite team, rather than their daughter’s birthday or the names of their pets.
That means that while the world’s anxiously awaiting the results of the Patriots and Falcons battle on Sunday, the battle for password supremacy has already been decided across the NFL.
Source: Researcher Mark Burnett’s list of 10 million passwords and usernames.
Rank was determined by counting how often a team’s name appeared in passwords, excluding appearances of the team that were clearly unrelated to the NFL team (i.e. the “lions” in “millions,” the “jets” and “jetson,” etc.).
Game Highlights
- Patriots Win Again:
Our apologies to all those who are tired of watching Brady, Belichick and company repeatedly emerge victorious, but at least when it comes to a head-to-head matchup with the Falcons, the Patriots are the clear winners when it comes to users expressing their fandom through their passwords.
- Steelers vs. Cowboys Would Have Been the True Password Championship: However, overall both teams only rank in the middle of the pack. Coincidentally, the two teams the Patriots and Falcons defeated to advance to the Super Bowl, the Steelers and Cowboys, respectively, are both top five teams. Turns out we were robbed of the chance to watch two password titans clash.
- Philly Fans Really Are The Most Intense:
Interestingly, this password study also seems to lend quantitative credence to the widespread belief that the Eagles, Cowboys, Steelers, Raiders, Giants, Bears and Packers are some of the most ravenous, passionate fan bases in the country. The numbers don’t lie.
As for the teams who appear least frequently, we would never disparage Houston fans. The alternate explanation is simply that Texans fans are exceedingly savvy when it comes to password protection. Speaking of which……
Learning From Game Film
Passwords can be very personal and everyone has their own reason for picking their favorite. Case in point, if a lot of people are using a team name as their password, that indicates a strong level of affinity and connection. Maybe that’s why some of the most popular NFL teams are in the top positions.
However, it’s also generally best to not incorporate any common word, even as only part of a password. So it may also be the case that teams at the bottom of the list just have fans that place a higher priority on password security.
So by all means, express your undying love for your favorite team through face paint and jerseys and epic tailgates, but we think it’s best to put your team spirit aside when it comes time to enter the password field.
To avoid any fellow fans from easily cracking your password, here are a few recommendations on how to bolster your defensive game:
- Don’t use the same password on more than one site.
- Create passwords that are random gibberish and as long as each site allows.
- Use a password manager to keep your logins safe.
To accomplish all these things and more, get RoboForm today!
