The Jets are press conference champions after landing former Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow and cashing in on Tebow-Mania.

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The Giants are reigning NFL champions and owners of the Lombardi Trophy after winning the Super Bowl. The two teams do share some things in common. They both play in the New Jersey Meadowlands and they both call themselves New York teams. A new FDU-Public Mind poll shows the majority of New Jerseyans actually reject the notion that the teams should give up their New York monikers.

Garden State voters were asked whether they consider the Giants a New York team that happens to play in New Jersey, or a New Jersey team that happens to have a New York name. 49% say the Giants happen to play in New Jersey, and, when asked if the Giants should change their name to the New Jersey Giants, the same percentage said no. A little more than a third (36%) endorsed the name change, and another 15% were unsure, or didn't care.

The numbers are almost identical when it comes to the Jets. 50% say the Jets are a New York team that happens to play in New Jersey, and almost the same percentage (47%) reject the idea of a name change to the New Jersey Jets while 36% say it should change and 17% are unsure or have no opinion.

"It is crazy," says pollster Krista Jenkins. "It was not at all what we expected. We really thought there would be some major differences between the teams and there just aren't (and) there was a lot of chatter after the Giants' Super Bowl victory about changing their name to reflect their New Jersey turf. Apparently these feelings are not widely shared by New Jerseyans."

When die-hard Giants and Jets fans are asked the same questions, things change a bit. Two-thirds of Jets fanatics say theirs is really a New Jersey team, but only 45% of Giants fans say theirs is really a New Jersey team. Enthusiasm for a name change runs deepest among Jets fans. Almost two-thirds (60%) say "yes" to a name change, compared with only 41% among Giants fans who support a name change.

Jenkins says, "Bottom line, Jersey pride may run deep in some things, but when it comes to the Jets and Giants, many Garden Staters are cool sharing their Sunday stars with New York."

By a margin of two to one, Philadelphia Eagles fans see the Giants and Jets as New York teams that just happen to play in New Jersey.

"Darn those Eagles fans," says Jenkins. "Wonder if they would change their minds if the Eagles played on the other side of the Delaware."

The poll of 800 registered voters statewide was conducted by telephone using both landlines and cell phones from Mar. 5 through Mar. 11, 2012, and has a margin of error of +/-3.5 percentage points.

 

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