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“This is a very thoughtful article. I read it first thing this a.m., but couldn’t really respond or comment. You gave me too much to think about.”

This is very often the case for me. Some days I just cannot think of an adequate response (as opposed to the days when I THINK I have found an adequate response).

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For now, I’ll leave it at this. The comment by Josh Gordon really got to me. We really don’t know him, nor do those who have hammered him. Now it just may be that, although Josh expresses himself very well, he may be a doofus. Somehow though, he’s probably not. One thing is abundantly clear to me – he is correct that those who slammed him don’t know him and are in no position to judge him.

Yet, we all do it. I’m going to leave this here and ruminate more. Elpalito could not be more correct that we want to like the players we root for. It is important to me. The hate thing is visceral, but I’ll grab onto any reason to hate a division rival player. It’s fun. It’s part of sports.

There’s just so much more to this topic though. Thanks Rebecca. This is the type of article we are all here for. You nailed it.

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My favorite all time Steeler has been and I hope will always be #86 Hines Ward. Do I know him? Well he played for my favorite NFL team, not the fastest or biggest WR – but fought with every ounce of his being, blocked his tail off for our RB’s and last but not the least always came up smiling after getting rocked by an opposing DB or LB on a catch over the middle of the field. Did I follow him on Dancing with the Stars? You bet, never missed a show that season and celebrated in his well deserved victory in the competition! From what I’ve seen and read about him, he appears to be genuine “Good Guy”. Should he stumble in the future? I would probably be a bit disappointed, but in real life no one is perfect.

My most disliked opponent? Vontze Bufict – Talented? Yes. He happens to play for the “Bungles” and therefore easier. I can’t stand listening to him talk or watch his dirty play on the field. I have no interest in anything about him except the hope that Goodell will someday kick him out of the league!

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I think that a lot of the perceptions that we have about these players allude to what I said in another thread about being told who these players are, and believing it. We’re told by all of the media outlets that Peyton is a saint, so we believe it (I don’t/haven’t). We all think that Josh Gordon is a loser idiot that can’t get his life together as a paid athlete “why can’t he just call a can like everyone else in the world to avoid a DUI. Certainly, no sane person would ever put themselves in a position to get a DUI”. I’ve said the same thing before.

The trick is to watch/evaluate these guys for what they show us on the field. That’s the only side of them we are ever going to know (aside from the media). If the guy plays like a bum, then he’s a football bum not a life bum. When I was in the military, I never went home with my Sgt. attitude expecting my wife to obey everything I said (she wears the pants anyhow). I had a work personality and a home personality, we all do. I was mostly the same in both cases, but there were differences. Civilian life has allowed me to balance it out, and I’m pretty much the same at home and work. Still, there are some differences though.

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I suppose that’s the fanatic aspect of fanhood.

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in re Vontze Burfict, I wasn’t really willing to go there, but I had the same thought. Which just goes to show how unwilling we can be to view certain people as more than an archetype of villainy, or whatever narrative suits us the best…

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