Diehard
fans of from coast to coast have been cheering
against their favorite NFL teams this holiday
season. Out of playoff contention for the past
month or more fans of the Texans, Saints,
Packers, 49ers, and Jets, among others, have
reason to believe that there is more to gain by
losing the remainder of their games. The young
fan who held up the "bye-bye Bush" sign as he
watched the hometown Texans beat the Arizona
Cardinals for the team's second win of the
season expressed what undoubtedly many Houston
fans were thinking. Namely, why would the team
try to win another game?
It is worth noting that there are reasons for
these beleaguered franchises to play hard and
try to win the remainder of their games. First
off, non-star players are auditioning to make
the roster again in 2006. Coaches are also
attempting to prove that they should not be cut
lose, by showing they can motivate their players
and construct winning game plans. General
managers want inexperienced players to get on
the field and try to prove themselves so they
can evaluate the state of their roster and
prepare for the off season. Still other players
are playing to reach incentive clauses in their
contracts or to audition for teams as they
approach free agency. However, these are all
reasons that individuals want to win games, what
motivation should the franchise and its fans
have to win?
None, is the obvious answer. Had the Texans
lost to the Cardinals and gone on to lose their
final two games of the season they would have
been a lock to have first overall pick in the
NFL draft and the opportunity to draft Reggie
Bush. With every loss these non-contending
teams are improving their draft status. If the
goal of an NFL season is to win the Super Bowl,
than it should follow that once you can no
longer reach that goal in a given season you
should do everything you can to help your
chances for the following season. Visa
Vie, lose. Lose early and often. The Higher
you are in the draft the more value you are
building for the future of your franchise. And
this year, unlike last year when San Francisco
had the first pick, there should be a
considerable trade market for the top selection
in the 2006 draft. With Reggie Bush seen as the
clear-cut best player and Matt Leinart a
possible franchise quarterback there should be
plenty of teams willing to offer packages of
players and or picks to the team with the number
one selection. This aught to be very attractive
to teams that obviously need all the help they
can get.
That said, and with all of the benefits of
losing in mind, how does a true fan cheer
against his/her team? Can you watch another
team dismantle your heroes and be excited?
Excited might be pushing it, but you can be
optimistic when you envision Reggie Bush or a
combination of the abundant top shelf defensive
players from this draft wearing your teams
uniform come April. Take it from a "Brett Favre
is GOD" Packer fan, watching the Pack lose and
Favre struggle lately has been awful. But after
losing to the Ravens on Monday night it's easy
to imagine the Packers having only two wins if
only the refs had made the correct call on the
safety against the Lions last week. Alas,
unfortunately, the Packers have three wins and
hopefully a top 5 pick is in their future.
With two weeks left in the regular season the
Texans and 49ers are now tied for the worst
record, but fate has thrown the three-win teams
a bone. The two teams are slated to play each
other on New Year's day in what should be the
worst NFL game, possibly, ever! Not only
because the two teams are bad, and they are, but
because they should both be trying to lose the
game. The prospects for this game are so
exciting; just imagine Alex Smith managing to
lose an NFL record 12 fumbles in the game, while
David Carr gets sacked for the 1,000th time this
season and maybe if we're lucky Texan's kicker
Kris Brown will attempt a field goal that will
manage to go backwards.
Fans will watch, and cheer on the opposing team
like it was the Super Bowl!
