The 25 best, worst and most regrettable sports tattoos

Championship tattoos are a show of both loyalty and a lack of decision making skills. Here are some of the best/worst championship tattoos along with some of the worst sports tattoos that we’ve ever seen.

It’s easy to get caught up in the hype surrounding your favorite team before a season starts. People are paid to market and promote every team to portray the best possible season. More often than not, these promotions are all hype and no substance.

What else would you expect, though? The closest thing we’ve seen to honesty in a pre-season is the Philadelphia 76ers telling everyone to “trust the process,” which was a nice way of saying they were going to tank until they had enough young talent to build a super-team.

Teams aren’t going to kick off their seasons with the message of “Hey, just stick with us for a while and we’ll be good in four years or so” because that doesn’t sell tickets. Championships sell tickets. The articles, blog posts, videos, etc. proclaiming the team is ready to win now are the reason that a certain FanSided contributor keeps putting money on the Baltimore Ravens every season. (They’re going to win the Super Bowl in the 2018-19 season – count on it.)

When you are all-in on your team, it’s hard to pay attention to anything else around the league. Everyone carries a certain bias towards their own teams and it leads them to fight for the team, learn key phrases as to why they’ll win and in some cases, brand themselves for life with a premature championship tattoo.

While extreme, the championship tattoo is something that is fairly common. Here are some of the best (and worst) examples of sports fans taking things a small step too far.

Don’t worry, honorees, tattoo removal can’t hurt that much… right?

#BillsMafia member Jon Rinaldo, every year

You know we had to start here. Look. Before we dive into this one, let’s all remember that this man is a Buffalo Bills fan. He willingly tortures himself each season by spending his weekends diving off vehicles through folding tables for a team that rarely wins games. This isn’t exactly the type to shock the world with a bold tattoo.

To be honest, this tattoo doesn’t even really register on the Buffalo Bills scale of crazy. If you’ve never been to a Buffalo tailgate, do yourself a favor and head up there next season. It’s an experience unlike anything else. It’s a tailgate meets a war zone. People are set on fire every Sunday in Buffalo. Willingly.

Sure, this fan may have been a few years off when he got the tattoo. He may have missed the mark in 2016 with the Bills coming off of an 8-8 season and having not made the playoffs in nearly 20 years. He may also have to alter the year of this tattoo several times to get it right. But none of this is a concern, this is just Buffalo. This is a lifestyle disguised as a sports fandom.

Rinaldo himself doesn’t regret the tattoo. He said he got it to inspire the team and the wild fans in Buffalo. “I did it because I love the team,” he said. He still gets love for it at the tailgates.

Given that this guy is going to go through countless more fiery tables in his lifetime, he’ll be lucky if this tattoo is still in tact when if the Bills win a Super Bowl.

Never change, Jon. We’ll see you at the tailgate next season.