The NFL Needs More Villains

I talk to Philly Sports Writer Roy Burton about lessons from professional wrestling and who could be the NFL’s next great heel in 2026

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I have this theory that every sport is better when it resembles professional wrestling. And that’s not just because I grew up on a healthy diet of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and the Undertaker. Or because my buddies and I used to drag a twin mattress into the backyard and practice suplexes. Or because you can probably find me at an Eagles tailgate doing my best Stone Cold Steve Austin impression, slamming two Miller High Lifes together which everyone me gets very upset about.

It’s because sports at their best are mythology. Age-old narratives of heroes versus villains. Good versus evil. Rocky versus the Russian. Conquering unbeatable odds and seeing a bad guy get what’s coming to them. It’s the essence of the stories we retell about our favorite teams and our favorite moments.

No one understands this better than professional wrestling. Character development is woven around babyfaces (heroes) and heels (villains). The storylines are captivating even when they’re outlandish (anyone remember that time The Rock threw Stone Cold off of a bridge). But lately in professional sports, especially in professional football, we’re seeing more heroes and fewer heels.

I first thought about this in 2024. Early in the NBA season, the national narrative centered on the decline of NBA viewership. Adam Silver and his billionaire overlords lost their grip on the game. The season felt boring and uninspired, and the NBA lost 30,000 viewers per game that season, according to Sportico. Then Luka Doncic was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in the dead of night.

Viewership jumped 16% after the trade, according to Sportico. Aside from the shock and awe of one of basketball's premier players being sent to one of the NBA’s premier teams in a lopsided deal, the Luka trade gave us something else. A singular heel to unite against: Nico Harrison, the ex-general manager of the Dallas Mavericks. Nico was someone to root against. Someone to make memes about. The league took off and never looked back.

As a football fan, I’d argue that the NFL could use the same juice. Gone are the days of Brady and Belichick’s dominance or Ndamukong Suh stomping on people (ok maybe don’t bring that back). The NFL is already an engaging product. But to take it to the next level, it needs its next great heel.

So I hit up my friend Roy Burton, a diehard wrestling and sports fan who covers Philly sports for The Broad Street Line and PHLY Sports. Roy and I talk about what makes a great heel, why we’re seeing fewer of them, and who could be the next great villain for the 2026 NFL season.

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To kick it off, could you explain what a heel is and what role a heel traditionally plays in wrestling?

ROY: So a heel in wrestling is the general definition of a “bad guy.” But more importantly, they’re a foil to the babyface, or the “good guy.” You could theoretically have two good guys fight each other, but that’s not the drama. The drama is when you have the villain versus your clean-cut, All-American good guy. It’s the story of time, right? Protagonists and antagonists, good versus evil. There are always opposite sides of the spectrum. The heel plays that role.

It’s like David versus Goliath or me versus Costco on a Sunday morning. Mortal enemies.

ROY: Yeah, it’s like anybody versus the Wawa parking lot, right? There are certain battles you can’t win.

What makes a good heel in wrestling?

ROY: Obviously, they were the ones who break the rules and cheat and things like that. But more than that, great heels really lean into it. A great heel will beat you up and then get on the microphone and say, “You know what? I just beat you up because I saw you standing here.” Like it’s onsight, they’ll show up backstage and stomp you out.

I feel like you bring up a good point about the charismatic nature of a heel, right? Do you feel like all heels are kind of magnetic in a weird way?

ROY: I think my favorite heels are the ones who had the mic skills. Like Ric Flair right? You know, jet-flying, limousine-riding guy shows up with the Rolex in a fur coat. You could put a microphone in front of him, and my man would just go off for minutes and just go crazy. “Dusty Rhodes, you’re a piece of trash, you know, son of a plumber,” like he’ll just go off. It’s like, well, I’m not supposed to like this guy, but he’s so charismatic.

It’s like, well, I kind of wish I could get this off in real life. I wish I could kind of say this to the authority figures in my life, because that seems cool.

When you threw this topic at me, I was thinking about Dillon Brooks (Phoenix Suns player), right? I’m not the biggest Dillon Brooks fan in the world. But him showing up at a Lakers game just to see LeBron lose...that’s an insane level of hate. That’s the epitome of being a heel.

Yeah, Dillon Brooks is such a good example because one of the main benefits that he brings to a team is his ability to pick somebody out of a lineup and just be like, “I hate that dude.”

ROY: Right, exactly. He’s a good shooter, he’s a good defender. He does a bunch of other things well. He’s not exceptional, but most importantly, he just hates, right? And then his hate just gets under that opponent’s skin. Some guys can deal with it, but some guys, they get thrown off.

If we were playing 2K, his hate rating would be at a 99.

ROY: 99 on hate. Exactly.

For sports in general, do you feel like there are fewer heels than there used to be?

ROY: Yeah, there’s not that many heels, at least NFL-wise. I think, to be honest, a lot of guys just don’t wanna mess up the money, right? I think people wanna be likable. And I think if you’re the angry guy, if you’re the villain or perceived as the villain, you know people say, “Oh, well that means people won’t follow me on social media, and if they don’t follow me on social media then they won’t listen to my podcast or buy my gear” or whatever.

You’re right. Every player is a brand now. I also wonder when you’re Dennis Rodman doing what you’re doing on the Pistons in the ‘90s, the only public pressure you’re getting is from fans of the game or the media at large. You’re not really going on Twitter and seeing everybody laying into you for what you did that night. The public pressure is more omnipresent now than it used to be.

ROY: Yeah, we’ve seen it with athletes even when they don’t do bad things. They might just miss a shot, and then they’ll go on Twitter and see so much vitriol. They’re like, “All right, I gotta deactivate this. I gotta step away. I can’t be on social media.” Dennis Rodman, perfect example. The Pistons were super villains. Those are guys who just knock you in the front row. If you fouled Anthony Edwards into the first row now, it’s on First Take. That pressure is everywhere. And maybe it’s not worth the effort to kind of sully my brand in any way to be a villain.

That’s real. Also speaking of First Take, Stephen A. Smith is the ultimate heel.

ROY: Oh, absolutely.

Who do you feel like are some of the greatest heels throughout sports history that you’ve witnessed? We talked about the Bad Boy Pistons.

ROY: Yeah, Bad Boy Pistons are there. In college football, those Dennis Erickson, Jimmy Johnson, Miami Hurricanes teams. Basically they would come and say, “yeah, we’re gonna stomp you out.” And then they come and stomp you out. Like Jerome Brown rolling up in the fatigues before the Fiesta Bowl against Penn State, like that kind of crazy. Just elite heels. And they were better than you. I’d probably say Bill Belichick and those Patriots teams. But I don’t think they, like, talked it. They were a little bit different than most heels. The Spygate stuff came out, and then Deflategate came out. It became like, well, I already hated them dudes because they won the division like 15 years in a row. But now I really hate them dudes.

Alright. I’m going to read you this list of NFL heels and let me know what you think. I have Jerry Jones.

ROY: Yeah, I mean, like there’s no denying that. And again, like they haven’t won. We really are supposed to hate the Cowboys, but they haven’t won in literally three decades. But every year Jerry Jones comes out and is like, “Alright, well, I’m going to make sure you’re talking about my team.” That’s probably his most enduring legacy.

Also I hate to say this because I really dislike Jerry Jones. He’s kind of charismatic. He has a Southern drawl, he’s not afraid to beef with his own players. Like, he’s kind of charismatic.

ROY: Like I couldn’t say I wouldn’t be Jerry Jones if I was 80 years old. I couldn’t say that I wouldn’t be doing the exact same thing that he’s doing. So I get it. I’d be on the sidelines. I’d be the GM, the Player Personnel Director, Lead Scout. I’d definitely be calling plays. He’s probably a toned-down version of what I would be, so I’m like, alright, I get it.

Oh definitely.

ROY: I was saying, part of the appeal of a heel is they kind of do the things you want to do, right? And if I was in Jerry Jones’ position, I’d bring up the Madden playbook. I’m like, this is what we’re calling in the first quarter bro. This is my team. And so we’re going to call some single back ace plays, and we’re going to march down this field.

What about George McCaskey, the owner of the Bears, who is threatening to move them to Indiana?

ROY: So I think this is more like a local thing. Because I don’t think most people care. But I mean, like the Chicago people care, right? Like the Bears have been at Soldier Field for like a hundred years. And you’re moving them out of it. Like, he can’t show his face in Chicago within the city limits if that happens. That’s super heelish behavior.

He’s a little bit more of a Disney villain than a heel. He’s literally like from a Disney Channel movie trying to move the team, and the team has to win in order to stay. Ok, what about Aaron Rodgers?

ROY: I thought about him when you brought this up. But yeah, let me hear your argument.

He played for the most historic franchise in the NFL. He made jaw-dropping plays game after game. And he was just seen as a good old American boy, very much in line with Tom Brady. You know, drafted later than he should have been. He carried that spite, which us as sports fans, we love people who are very spiteful and use that power for good.

But then things started to change. I think things started to change culturally, as we got more access to our athletes in terms of what they think, what they feel. Aaron Rodgers started to kind of slide out of favor a little bit in Green Bay after they drafted Jordan Love. We saw him become this sort of a crotchety old man. Unfortunately, that also coincided with the rise of conspiracy theories. He became this guy who thinks he’s uber intelligent, knows everything about the world, and kind of treats the people around him not well. Played for the Jets, had that iconic shot of him running out with the flag, only to get injured.

ROY: That’s 100% spot on. The only reason why I wasn’t all the way bought in is that I think we kind of know this is his last year. But you’re right. In terms of heelish guys, he’s absolutely top three on the list. Early years in Green Bay, fantastic quarterback. I’ll still say to this day, I’ve never seen anybody throw a football better than Aaron Rodgers. But then he, you know, graduated from YouTube University at some point over the last six or seven years. And I was like, all right, bro.

The last one that I have is somebody that we both are close with, not physically but spiritually…Nick Sirianni

ROY: Oh that’s a good one!

He’s a very outrageous character, which is authentically like who he is, right? He’s making crazy gestures on the sidelines. He’s screaming at Chiefs fans after a last-minute win in 2023. He’s yelling at Robert Saleh in a preseason game against the Jets. He’s just like this very naturally aggressive character, which I think the team rallies around. But it rubs a lot of people outside of Philadelphia the wrong way…and inside of Philadelphia.

ROY: For sure.

And I feel like the sneaky thing about Nick Sirianni, too, is that he is a dominant coach.

ROY: Yeah, his winning percentage of all time is unbelievable. He’s unbelievably successful. Two Super Bowl appearances, one Super Bowl title. Like, this is a franchise that did not have a Super Bowl title for the longest time. Nick Sirianni’s been to two. And it’s still like, “Hey, man, is he going to be here next year?” I don’t know. Like maybe? It’s the weirdest thing bro.

If I were the head coach of the Eagles, I’d probably act just like Sirianni. Celebrating on the sidelines, screaming at opposing fans. You know, why not? This could be this dude’s one chance to be an NFL head coach. Like, why not go out your way?

ROY: Listen man, if I’m in the Super Bowl and I dial up the dagger, I might throw a crotch chop or two out there. I might talk a little something.

Alright, I’m going to give you a few narratives for characters who I think could be heels in the 2026 NFL season. I want you to rate them on a scale of 1 to 10. 1 being a babyface. 10 being like the most heel of heels. Let’s say 10 is like Ric Flair.

ROY: 10 is Ric Flair. Okay, alright.

So the first one. It’s a head coach who’s known to be a little bit saucy from time to time and is a little bit newer to the head coaching game, but is just like beloved by the media. Recently, he’s gotten into a little bit of a beef with Jaguars coach Liam Coen. He took off his shirt in the locker room after beating the Cowboys last year and was yelling. He said, “F the Packers” in the locker room last year and didn’t back down from it. What if his team, the Chicago Bears, keeps rolling and they don’t regress like most people think they will? They’re not only winning, but they’re beating up the competition. Do you think that Ben Johnson could be a 2026 heel?

ROY: I like that. I like that a lot. I don’t know if he’s Ric Flair level, but I mean, he’s probably like an 8. Like you said, he’s a very sharp offensive mind, and he isn’t scared to tell you about it. He’ll say things like, “You know, if Caleb Williams played better, we’d be even better.” He doesn’t shy away from hating the Packers. And we don’t have too many good rivalries in sports anymore, but that seems like it could be one. I can see if the Bears kind of go like 12-5 and make a deep run, maybe an NFC title game. And Ben Johnson’s the honest Ben Johnson that he’s been these last couple of years. I can see them being one of the more hateable teams in the NFL for sure.

I think it has good entertainment value. He’s somebody who’s so loved by the NFL community. But part of that is because we just haven’t really heard from him until now. I think there’s potential for him to lean into his freak a little bit, you know.

ROY: Yeah, there’s something there. Because again, last year they won a bunch of their games with less than two minutes to go. People are like, alright, you know, it’s kind of luck. Now if they have like, “legitimate wins,” he’ll absolutely make it known, like “hey man, like a lot of people doubted us, and look at us now.” So yeah, I don’t know who else is on your list, but Ben Johnson might be number one.

Number two. What do you think about 2026 Micah Parsons as a heel?

ROY: That’s a very good one. He is much like Draymond Green in that he is quick to run to that podcast and speak his mind about certain things. He really talks about the NFC East more than anybody in America.

The Eagles especially.

ROY: It’s like bro, you know you want to be an Eagle, like you want to be an Eagle, man. I don’t know what it was in the water up at Happy Valley or something, but obviously you got a whiff of something that we were cooking in Philadelphia. He never stops talking about the Cowboys. I think it’s more just Cowboy hate than anything else. So to me, he’s probably a 5-ish heel. I don’t know if it’s going to be league-wide hate. He’s just a guy who's mad about his situation.

Number three. This player is in a contract year. He’s sort of like a mid-tier quarterback. He’s been known to openly beef with his general manager and ownership for not really giving him the contract that he wants. What do you think about 2026 Baker Mayfield as a heel?

ROY: The blueprint’s there. He’s kind of been disrespected, and if I’m Baker Mayfield, I slide over the list of guys who are making $50 million, and I’m like, “Look, I’m better than at least like four or five of these guys.”

That’s real.

ROY: And if I’m Tampa Bay and I’m like bro, I’m not paying you $50 million just because those teams made mistakes. If they’re like 5-12, I would absolutely see him air out ownership or air out the GM. Because of the quarterbacks in this league in this era, he’s one of the more outspoken ones. A lot of these guys don’t really talk that much. Baker talks. Baker will not be scared to share a piece of his mind. I’d probably put it at like a 7.

Alright, next one. Do you think Jaguars head coach Liam Coen could be a 2026 heel?

ROY: Liam Coen? Hmm. I think it’s more so the team itself. I think they’re perennially underdogs. He kinda has that chip on his shoulder. I think Ben Johnson’s more heel-ish. I think Baker’s more heel-ish. I think Liam Coen would drop a little snarky comment or something like that, but he’s not going to lean all the way into it like a Sirianni. He’s probably closer to a 5 or a 6.

6 makes perfect sense for him. I think he has all the great makings of a great heel other than the fact that he is coaching in Jacksonville. Because the Jags could literally go undefeated, and I feel like not a lot of people care.

ROY: No one would care. I was surprised you didn’t bring up a possible heel with a local tie. I was thinking A.J. Brown.

So my thing about A.J. Brown is… actually, give me your case and then I’ll give him a rating.

ROY: Do I need a case for A.J. Brown? The man who won a Super Bowl title and came out like days later on Instagram saying, “Man you know I thought the Super Bowl would be great I thought it would fill all my needs I don’t really care about all that stuff all I care about is scoring touchdowns over dudes like Emmanuel Forbes and like other little cornerbacks.” It’s like “yeah I know we’re winning but…” There shouldn’t be a “but,” man. We should all be on the same page. Like, sometimes you’re going to have three catches. Sometimes you have 11 catches. Winning is the second most important thing to me. To me, that’s heelish behavior.

I have to come clean as somewhat of an A.J. Brown apologist. But I think you convinced me that A.J. Brown is like a classic heel. He fits the diva wide receiver mold that we’ve seen in the past, like a Terrell Owens or Antonio Brown before he truly went crazy and froze his foot off. You know, Twitter’s a hell of a drug. My man was all over that, posting like Art of War quotes.

ROY: He went on Twitch with his buddy Janky Rondo and said “If you have me in fantasy football, cut me.” Like during the season.

Wasn’t it after a win?

ROY: Yeah, I think it was after they won. He read a book on the sideline during a game. On the sideline? Like, we’ve seen wide receivers yell at quarterbacks, yell at coordinators, yell at coaches. My man just said, you know what, I’m going to put on this big puffer jacket and pull out my book and my highlighter and just calm myself down. When have you ever seen such passive-aggressive behavior on the sideline in an NFL game? It’s unbelievable.

I would give A.J. Brown an 8 that you could bump up to possibly a 10. If New England starts the season hot and he’s playing really well. He and Drake Maye have a connection. And every press conference, he’s talking to reporters in the locker room, he’s comparing what it’s like to be in Boston to what it’s like to be in Philly. He’s sub-tweeting.

ROY: I like that. During the season, I think we’ll get a better handle. If there’s some veiled shots at Jalen, some veiled shots at Sirianni during the season. I can definitely see that 8 becoming a 10 for sure.

Oh, totally. Especially if the Eagles play well and the national narrative around them is that they got rid of a toxic piece. He’s going to see that and respond to it.

ROY: The IG post, the cryptic Bible verse, is up there.

Well, Roy, listen, man. Thanks for taking the time. Thanks for breaking this down. Ben Johnson, the official heel of 2026.

ROY: I would like to see some kind of natural rivalry or some natural heels kind of emerge from the NFL this season, for sure.

Yeah, we need it.