Clearly Dan has forgotten what it's like to be a fan. A real fan. A stand in the cold for nine hours till you can't feel your feet fan. Maybe he never was that kind of fan. Maybe he's always seen sports from the perspective of the sportswriter. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Some of my best friends are sportswriters. But you are either a fan. Or a Dan. If you are a fan I offer that there's no way in hell you are rooting for the Jets.
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JETS IN DALLAS? I can't stomach that.
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The first reason the Dans put forth is that if the Jets win the Super Bowl then that will force the Patriots to do a better job drafting and signing players, spend more money, and just plain ol' trying harder to win. Hmmmm. The Pats -- with the youngest defense in the league -- went 14-2. Sure, they fell on their face in the playoffs. That happens. But try harder? Really? Kraft and Belichick aren't doing all they can to win? I don't see much evidence of that. I've been tailgating at Pats games since the late '80s. I've seen 1-15. Believe me, the Pats are trying to win. And win it all. It just doesn't happen every year. Fans get that. Dans don't.
The Dans say maybe the Pats would make smarter picks. Maybe they'll draft the defensive rookie of the year and a couple of candidates for offensive rookie of the year. Oh, right. They just did that in McCourty, Gronkowski, and Hernandez. Maybe they will do better in the upcoming draft. Belichick and his crew have more picks in the first four rounds than any team. They can use 'em, trade 'em, collect 'em. They have just had two very good drafts. A third good one and the team is loaded to continue its run at the top of the league for another decade regardless of who is the QB. But maybe a Jets Super Bowl title will somehow make that #17 pick turn into the next Julius Peppers.
As funny as the "the better the Jets are the harder the Pats will work" theory is, the second one is even richer. Pats fans should root against Roethlisberger and the Steelers because if they get to a third Super Bowl then people will start comparing Big Ben to Brady. I think Roethlisberger is already on that level. Maybe the Dans don't watch a lot of non-Patriot football, but for fans that have it's clear the Steeler QB is a true champ. As are the Steelers. The franchise already has six titles. What difference does a seventh make?
Any discussion of the best franchises in the history of the NFL -- rightfully so -- starts with the black and gold. Pittsburgh is the team against which all other teams measure themselves. At least since the beginning of the Super Bowl era. The Patriots -- along with the Niners, the Cowboys, and the Packers -- are next in that discussion. The Jets? Uh, ya. They are nowhere to be found. In fact, in the AFC East it's the Patriots, Dolphins, Bills, and Jets in that order when it comes to discussing overall success. The Jets -- as good as they are and as much as they have accomplished under the foot doctor -- are still a franchise that can't win it all. I want it to stay that way. Because I'm a Pats fan.
The Jets were doing quite a lot of celebrating last Sunday for winning a divisional playoff game. Even if it was against their nemesis. Fact is, you don't get parades and banners for divisional round victories. (Unless you are in Indy). A Jets loss today means they will have once again accomplished nothing. It means they will have advanced to the AFC title game two years in a row with nothing -- nothing -- to show for it.
A loss today by the Jets and it means come next season the Patriots are defending AFC East champs again. And the Jets and Rex Ryan are -- once again -- just a team that does a lot of talking. That's something I can root for.
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