It’s Time to Hashtag #Riseup
First off, congrats to the Atlanta Falcons! Pretty much everyone ignored you this season and you’ve proven us all wrong. May you now succeed in the highest of games. For Atlanta, for a long suffering fanbase, and for the 80% of remaining football fans in the nation (That 20% is Pats fans and other NFC South fans). I’m on that bandwagon now, baby. Do us proud and redeem 2016 football by giving us an end result that people can look back on fondly instead of “just another” Patriots win. This Falcons team is incredibly fun to watch. Julio is a beast, Ryan is (or at least should be) MVP. Dan Quinn seems like a rad dude, Kyle Shanahan seems like a smart guy, I love the Freeman and Coleman tandem, and I love Vic Beastly (intentional misspelling back off you grammar vultures. I also know I spelled Canoe wrong). Hashtag RiseUp!
I don’t like your hashtag. Don’t take it personally. I hate the Patriots hashtag #OneMore too. I hated the Panthers #KeepPounding, I hated the Indians #RallyTogether and the Cavs #Allin and whatever team uses #WeTheNorth (It’s the Raptors, right?). I hate pretty much every team hashtag. I hate hashtags in general. I think the only team hashtag I was ever fond of was #We’reOntoCincinnati or ____ that the Pats used in 2014 because that was more of a meme that came about organically instead of feeling like a marketing slogan. I hate hashtags. Probably because I’m a bitter husk of a person who has always despised being “sold” and “hype” culture annoys the shit out of me (Really? We have 2 second Trailers for TRAILERS now? Go fuck yourself, Hollywood). If you like it I don’t hold it against you, buy all that Rise up gear you want. I’ve just always seen it as very fake and that’s a personal taste. I want to keep re-iterating that it’s a personal opinion because I don’t want any Falcons fan thinking I’m not 100% behind the Falcons right now. Totes am. Go Dirty Birds.
I think the main reason why I hate the #TeamHashtag trend is because the hashtags are usually just generic phrases. Rise up? Okay, I guess that could sort of relate to Falcons in that they occasionally fly upwards. Loosely. I guess it also refers to the fans, and that they should rise up in support? There might be a phoenix reference in there because Atlanta burned once? #RiseUp sounds like the result of a bunch of media marketing team members trying to figure out what generic inspirational sports phrase goes well on a T-Shirt. There’s nothing truly Falcons about it. If you removed #RiseUp and replaced it with #KeepFighting or #ComeTogether or #NeverStop or, well, #AllIn or #RallyTogether, it really wouldn’t mean anything new, would it? Also, why can’t the Cardinals Rise Up? They are birds too. So are the Hawks and the Ravens. The Saints could use it too, Saints have wings and whatnot and rise to heaven. What about the Jets? Jets rise. Roger Goodell could use Rise Up for himself, because he’s a bunch of hot air.
Some team phrases I do like:
BEAR DOWN – The team is literally named the Bears
FlyEaglesFly – The team is named The Eagles, and Eagles fly
Hail To The Redskins -I mean if you want to questionably appropriate native culture for a sports team, might as well go whole hog with it
PhinsUp – DOLPHINS HAVE FINS IT’S RIGHT THERE IN THE NAME
GoPackGo – actually no I hate this one and everyone who says it
#FireGus – Jags fans could really rally on that one
Are you sensing a theme? Include your team in the phrase in some way, and suddenly it feels personal instead of some generic phrase that someone else could borrow. I think Rise Up makes a better Viagra slogan than anything else.
But again, this comes from a place of personal taste and if you love that stuff, by all means rock that shirt and be proud of your team. If you are the type who goes to Disneyworld as an adult and are still “swayed by the magic” then you probably enjoy life more than I do. I still think the #AllAboardTheSanuCanu is a better slogan.
Still, go Falcons. Dear god Go Falcons. As a final offering, here is a cool picture I made to celebrate the NFCCG victory.
I didn’t make one for the Pats victory because at this point it feels redundant to congratulate a team that has gone to 6 straight AFC Championships and won 3 of them.
Can’t say I really agree with the hashtag hate. A lot of them have legitimate history behind them – Keep Pounding for Carolina is a reference to Sam Mills’ speech in the 03-04 playoff run, for instance. We’ve kept using it ever since and probably always will.
On that note, fuck the falcons
hashtag fuck you too
Why was Frank in the room? Or am I missing something
It’s just a cartoon. It didn’t actually happen.
wait what
As a Pats fan, this is one of those Super Bowls that, if we win, I’ll look back on and feel really bad about. Under literally every other circumstance, I’d be cheering for Atlanta. They deserve it. There isn’t a single player on that team you can hate. They haven’t won one yet. I live in Georgia. Hell, I kinda want to cheer for them now.
But, then again, if they win, I’ll have to leave Georgia for good, and I kind of like it here.
Yeah, as a Pats fan all I got for the non-affiliated football watchers out there is seeing Goodell have to fake a smile as he hands over the trophy.
The Falcons would go 16-0 every season if they had Captain Falcon on the roster
Also, here are some other video game characters on nfl teams
Sonic to the Raiders (Al Davis era only)
Pac-Man to the Packers
Pichu to the Chargers (would have been pikachu, but he didn’t want to leave San Diego)
Mario to the Giants
Luigi to the Jets
Ecco to the Dolphins
Guile ro the Cowboys.
Falco to the Ravens.
What y’all got?
Link plays for the Eagles
Wario plays for the Browns
Toros plays for the Rams
Blanca plays for the Jags
Peach plays in San Fran
Big Daddy from Bioshock is Jake Long
Ash Ketchum is Philip Rivers (he wants to be the very best like no one ever was, but he’s not)
James Harrison is Donkey Kong
J.J. Watt is Turok:Dinosaur Hunter
Tevin Coleman and Devonta Freeman are the Ice Climbers
Jigglypuff is the commissioner
Jabrill peppers is Kirby
Also, Tampaian (Tampa) rooting for Falcons (even though I hate them more than New England as a Fins fan)
I’d be nice to see a new champion for once
I personally like Rise up because when it first started being used with the fans it was true we had slight success under Coach Smith and Ryan but the City hadn’t fully embraced the team like they did during the Vick years. Involving Samuel Jackson with the campaign and using Rise up to involve the city. As a lifelong falcons fan and as much as i like Rise Up for the next two weeks I am fine with #Dontspendthenightbeforewithhookers
Insensitive history? Atlanta once had a hockey team called the Flames… though that may have been why they moved to Calgary. They had a great logo.
Hashtags typically aren’t any worse than slogans teams used to push in the pre-hashtag era, except for the fact that now they expect you to regurgitate them and can track how often you do. It’s as if wearing our Brian Hartline jerseys to the Dollar General isn’t enough free advertising for them…
I believe it’s referencing Sherman’s March to the sea during the Civil War
RiseUp has been around for a bit, probably since 2013. It’s not the best but I still like it.
As a Saints fan, I can’t bring myself to root for the Falcons. I strongly dislike the Steelers, and the Patriots are….well the Patriots. That being said, football season, for the most part, ended for me this past weekend. So in the interest of making things as entertaining as possible, Go Patriots. Why? Because I’d love to see Rog-ah hand that trophy to Bill and Tom.
As another Saints fan, I am really undecided so far. ATL is bad, NE is bad. But I think I will even go Falcons here. Because Brady. I mean, Goodell having to suck it up would be great, but I don’t think that Brady would be tolerable after that.
Awe I was actually looking forward to an AFCCG picture….but I guess success has it’s downsides. If the patriots win all I ask is for Darth Hoodie to take on the Goodell (emperor) with Tom Brady (Luke) in a lightsaber duel. At the end forcing ROGAH to give the lombardi over. Also sidenote-Darth Hoodie is imo the greatest way of describing Bill Belichick and I thank you for it.
Skoll Vikings is my favourite. Also the official slogan of the Dolphins is Fins Up (not Phins, although that doesn’t stop some people from using phins), but there was a period after Bullygate where #StrongerTogether was a thing. Then the Clinton campaign stole it and it worked out for them about as well as it did for us. There’s a moral in there somewhere but I’m too lazy to figure it out. Also I agree with Max. As much as I hate the Patriots, this time if they win there’s the silver lining of Where Is Roger having to hand Brady a trophy.
I still like you, Dave. #GoPackGo
#ChiefsKingdom isn’t really a slogan. It’s just what they call the fanbase. I think that’s acceptable.
I actually dont like #BearDown. Sounds like something you do when you’re about to get prison raped.
Since everyone in 44½ states will be rooting for the Falcons in this one, I’ll try to come up with reasons to root for the Pats if you’re not already a fan.
1. To watch Goodell have to hand over the Lombardi Trophy to the player he spent a full year fighting in court to suspend.
2. Bob Kraft’s blood alcohol level at these victory celebrations just keeps rising and rising. Maybe this time it’ll get to the point where he vomits on Goodell and/or Joe Buck.
3. Martellus Bennett. How can you not like Martellus Bennett?
4. They did the world a favor by eliminating the Steelers who are, objectively speaking, a more unlikable team.
5. Both starting OTs are cancer survivors, which gets them a get-out-of-being-evil-free card.
6. Kyle Shanahan has a reputation as being kind of a douche. Root against him.
7. Chris Long. He’s cool.
8. Arthur Blank and his wife look like father and daughter, which is creepy.
Honestly all of these feel more like small consolation prizes in case of Patriots victory instead of good reasons to root for them.
9. History. It will be history in the making. It’s already an historic moment with Brady and Belichik in their 7th Super Bowl. But a win, making them both 5 time Super Bowl winners, will end all discussions of “GOAT” for either of them, if it isn’t over already. Also, can we make number 1 like 1-10? I want to see the uncomfortable look all over Goodell’s face as he hands the Lombardi over…
Honestly, I think the Pats winning makes Brady look like the bigger dick than Goodell because it shows that it did not even matter ever…he should have take the suspension because he did something wrong.
I agree though…I think Brady is just missing out on the GOAT cause of the two cheating scandals…if he wins…we just have a fucking shitty asshole scumbag GOAT .
And the GOAT draft pick (obvious story is obvious)
#wethenorth is even more annoying when the raptors make the playoffs or go on a winning streak. Its the only thing people say. Either that or “were the 6”
Do they have to pay the Texas A&M basketball team for the right to use it?
Seattle gave them 140k for the rights for five years.
Yet they still cant make the colors our current jerseys.
All you’re missing is a dog fight pun, you got every other extremely painful falcons/Atlanta memory.
low blow brah
The dog fighting happened in Virginia, has nothing to do with Atlanta except that guy was on the team.
It feels weird to say, but even as a Panthers fan I’m pulling for the Falcons. In a year the nfl was filled with 4 yard passes and field goals on fourth and inches it’s hard not to root for that offense.
Yeah us Pats fans hate #OneMore, even when our hilariously drunk owner is prodding us to say it. Like half of all Pats merchandise already says #DoYourJob, just go with that, weirdos.
I’ve started calling Sanu ‘Sanu Canoe’ thanks to you and I’ll never go back.
Breaking news – Atlanta has decided to wear their red jerseys as the home team, which means the Patriots will be wearing white.
The white team has won 11 of the last 12 Super Bowls…
#DriveForFive
#OneForTheThumb
#GoodellSucksDonkeyDicks
Disneyworld owns, haters vacate.
I feel like you should be drawing Taylor Gabriel the same way you draw Russell Wilson.
Speaking of those Twitter hashtags what claim do the Steelers have on the #herewego a term so generic the Mike Goldberg used to start every fight with that phrase
Well, it’s more of a reference to their “Here we go Steelers” thing.
one could argue for the phoenix metaphor given the falcons 2007 season as both a metaphorical and literal burning to the ground
2006 Dolphins and 2007 Falcons:
Why college coaches without nfl experience (player or coach)is a bad idea
huh, going theory seems to be samuel l jackson’s promoting the hashtag on twitter way back when twitter was still becoming a thing
i mean who doesn’t love listening to him yelling and swearing https://twitter.com/samuelljackson
So Dave, since the Browns did something competent, will they get a mention on Thursday?
Al Davis ahead of his time with Just Win Baby
I agree with # being a crap thing on todays society. The only # that is acceptable are the old mIRC chat rooms from the 90’s.
Also, love the falcon pawnch!
I think Devonta Freeman wears number 24
Please please please please PLEASE “rise up” Falcons!
I’m stuck going to Boston on business the week after the Super Bowl, and the f-wad fans out there are already obnoxious enough. I don’t think I can take a week of Freshly Minted Patriots Smugness without killing someone….
#notMySuperBowl
Hey Dave,
The Rise Up campaign began a few years back with Samuel Jackson delivering it. Say it with his voice in your internal monologue when you see the hashtag and it will make it forgivable (coming from a Saints fan living in Atlanta hearing the campaign everyday).
I hate the Pats 1 more than the Falcons. Sad really.
That is all
you’re definitely selling the Browns’ slogan short, #GPODAWUND really captures the essence of the team
As a pure marketing gimmick, #KeepPounding would be annoying as all hell without context. However, the story behind the phrase is actually pretty cool. From the team website:
Keep Pounding has become a team mantra in honor of late Carolina Panthers player and coach Sam Mills. Mills first used the phrase “Keep Pounding” as a coach in an emotional speech to the team prior to the Panthers’ playoff game versus the Dallas Cowboys on Jan. 2, 2004. He spoke about commitment, dedication to teammates, team effort, and never giving up. Mills asked the players to “Keep Pounding.”
Mills died of intestinal cancer in 2005. He is currently the only player in the Panthers’ Ring of Honor and with a statue outside the stadium. By the way, the Panthers beat the snot out of the Cowboys in that game. YOU’RE WELCOME, WORLD.
…so it WASN’T inspired by Skip Bayless dreaming of Tebow?
(Damn you, Dave…)
I was actually hoping that the Rise Up guy was going to be Heimskr from Skyrim.