Stop Using Preseason for your Trash Talk!

You got to stop this preseason trash talk. It’s getting ridiculous.

For the record, I understand why the hall of fame game was the highest rated preseason game in six years. Nobody was tuning in to see a great product on the field, people tuned in because it was football. Period. It didn’t matter who was on the field, people were going to tune in regardless.

Other than that, the preseason doesn’t make any sense to me. I’m not stupid, I understand that coaches need it to try out new schemes, players are trying to get back in rhythm, and some are fighting for jobs. I understand that part. What I don’t understand is you, the fan, taking away anything from the preseason.

Colin Cowherd of ESPN radio put it best when he said that the NFL preseason is like parenting. Hear me out on this one; you as the fan and even most media outlets won’t give any or much credit when the team does well, but you will criticize and critique anything that doesn’t look good. Think of parenting, and many of you are parents or old enough to have a decent outlook on how your parents raised you. As a parent, you don’t get nearly enough credit for doing something good, you pack lunch, you instill morals, and not until years later will your kid ever thank you. However, if you’re not around, you don’t buy that birthday gift, you don’t spend enough time with your kid, and you two will be in therapy sessions by the time the child is 14. You’ll be confused on how you got their, your kid dressed in all black proclaiming you’re a crappy father.

Now this doesn’t describe your own team, you’re going to praise your own team by far. The Giants and the Skins looked good in their preseason debuts, and of course their fans are jovial when talking about their teams. I’m talking about everyone else. You go to a random Titan fan on the street about the Skins’ win over Buffalo and they’ll give the skins zero credit. You’ll hear stuff like, “It’s preseason, it doesn’t count.” “They faced Buffalo, who cares?”. And so on and so on…and maybe rightfully so.

You ask a random Eagle fan about Dallas’ performance, and they’ll be happy to bash them. “They can’t get into the end zone” “Romo is looking sloppy” etc. Again, no credit for doing good, criticism for doing bad. Its stuff like this that makes my head hurt. Why are we trying to use preseason games to make our teams look good? Stop it. It’s preseason, it’s not a true measuring stick of how your team will perform!

I’ll get a text or a response after this that will say something like, “But Rob, the preseason shows you how good your overall team is. Good, competitive teams always compete!”

You’re wrong.

Think the preseason matters? Here’s a stat for you. In the past three preseasons, the Colts are 4-9. Yet the Detroit Lions are 9-4. Who’s the better team? I’ll just let you think about that for a second. …

So go ahead, root for your team, watch the players on the bubble of making the roster, but understand that nothing should be taken away from the preseason at all, not the good plays, not the bad plays. Come September though, that’s when real football will begin.