R-E-S-P-E-C-T

[Goatface Killah]

You know I have always enjoyed getting online and talking sports with like minded people. I have had the privilege to meet many great fans over the years because of my involvement in the online sports world, and it overall has always been a very enjoyable part of my fandom. But there has been a type of fan that has always really rubbed me the wrong way. I am talking about all of  the "that guy sucks" fans out there. You know him, every time you bring up a guy who isn't a favorite of theirs, the response is "that guy sucks". It doesn't so much bother me when they are speaking about a rival, that's natural to me to trash talk a rival. It bothers me when we speak about our own players in that light, every single time I hear it.

 

These guys go out there and put their bodies on the line FOR US. Yes they get rewarded monetarily, but we also get a reward for all of this or we wouldn't pay to witness it. We have become the fat king throwing apples at the jester who is merely trying to entertain us. We as fans have responsibility to the sport, because we also have an impact on the sport. We have a role to play, and we should want to play it well. After all, thats exactly what we demand from our athletes. Its about time we focused more on our own actions than their every move.

 

A wise man once said "We often forget that we are the atmosphere surrounding all of this", which in my experience with sports, has most definitely deteriorated. Believe it or not These athletes aren't treated with nearly the respect they used to be. As the money has increased for them, so has the criticism and lack of privacy. And while I agree that the bad ones don't deserve all the glory they receive, the good ones absolutely do, and they are being treated with the same lack of tact.

 

I am sick of hearing someone feel compelled to chime in every time a former Colts players name comes up with criticism of their time here. As far as I am concerned, if you played here and were a good citizen and you represented us out on the football field, then you deserve respect and honor in return from Colts fans. 

 

Something to think about.

 

 

[aaron11]

I can see why this bothers people, but it happens to pretty much every profession

 

I think i'll keep posting my opinions as I see fit

 

 

[Goatface Killah]

Yes it does. Doesn't make it any better. 

 

 

[throwing BBZ]

Some people suck at their Profession. Boooo!
 Yes, let`s all thank them for their service. 
 Now get dem  outta here. Next! 

[Goatface Killah]

Well to be fair your job isn't likely as hard as blocking JJ Watt or covering Antonio Brown.

[Jason_]

51 minutes ago, aaron11 said:

I can see why this bothers people, but it happens to pretty much every profession

 

I think i'll keep posting my opinions as I see fit

 

 

 

Well the thing is theres a difference between "this guy isnt good enough because..." and "this guy sucks. Hes garbage."

 

No one is trying to keep people from sharing their opinions, but you dont have to share your opinion as if youre a petulant 14 year old who thinks every player ia either great or trash.

[Smonroe]

OP, it's human nature.  Everyone knows the odds of someone becoming a pro in just about any sport are infinitesimal.  So when they say a player sucks they mean in comparison to others.  Colt or otherwise.  

 

Plus us it's easy to do it when there's no repercussions.   Chill.  

[Goatface Killah]

I agree with that.

 

But language is important. 

 

I am just hoping people read this and take the opportunity to challenge themselves to be more thoughtful in the rhetoric they put out there.

[Jason_]

19 minutes ago, Smonroe said:

OP, it's human nature.  Everyone knows the odds of someone becoming a pro in just about any sport are infinitesimal.  So when they say a player sucks they mean in comparison to others.  Colt or otherwise.  

 

Plus us it's easy to do it when there's no repercussions.   Chill.  

 

Did he seem unchill?  I agree with OP. Though I admit I'm guilty of it myself. Yeah I'm looking at YOU Gilbert Gardner!

[aaron11]

18 minutes ago, J@son said:

 

Well the thing is theres a difference between "this guy isnt good enough because..." and "this guy sucks. Hes garbage."

 

No one is trying to keep people from sharing their opinions, but you dont have to share your opinion as if youre a petulant 14 year old who thinks every player ia either great or trash.

im never that black and white about it, plus im a 35 year old adult.

 

we had a thread the other day predicting pro bowl, bust or neither for the first round draft picks and i gave out 18 neither grades

 

players that truly suck dont usually last long or see the field very much.   if you are brought in as a project player then id prefer to see at least some flashes to remind us all that you're worth the investment

[Smonroe]

46 minutes ago, GoatBeard said:

I agree with that.

 

But language is important. 

 

I am just hoping people read this and take the opportunity to challenge themselves to be more thoughtful in the rhetoric they put out there.

 

Yeah, I'm not disagreeing with you. I cringe when I read someone calling a player garbage, or worse.  Some just want to sound big, some just don't have the vocabulary.  

 

Not just players.  I don't want to think about all the ways Pagano has been described!

[VaAllDay757]

Watch some film of josh mcnary and tell me what good you see out of him

[Hoosiernsavga]

These guys are making millions of dollars to do what they love and what God blessed them with. Most will be retired by the time they are 30-35 if not earlier. And most will go on to live a fabulous and luxurious Iife. I think i could take a lot of criticism from a few fans especially from a message forum that i may never read or even know about.  As far as respect i try to respect every person i come across. Everyone in my mind deserves respect rather you are a pro football player for the Colts or someone i run into at the grocery store. 

The upmost respect from me goes out to the military, police officers, fireman, first responders, etc. who keeps my family safe. So i can also enjoy watching and being entertained by this sport of football that i love so much! So i can jump on a player for a bad play and praise him the next for an awesome one. Because at the end of the day it's just a football game regardless of how much we get into it! 

[Goatface Killah]

I'm more talking about after they stop playing.

 

I think it's one thing to evaluate their game to voice an opinion on a roster move, it's another to trash them after they are gone.

 

 

[Goatface Killah]

35 minutes ago, VaAllDay757 said:

Watch some film of josh mcnary and tell me what good you see out of him

He was a pretty good special teams player who never should've been expected to play defensive snaps in the nfl.

[bananabucket]

Lol you're acting like these are heroes.  They're paid millions to play football for a living, we can say whatever we want about them.  There's a difference between harassing the guy in person and criticizing him on an internet forum.

[BOTT]

Zzzzzzzz

[21isSuperman]

With all due respect, I strongly disagree with you, OP.  I agree that there are more mature ways to criticize a player than simply "he sucks, he's garbage" and the like, but these players are getting paid big money to play on the big stage.  Criticism is simply part of the job - as it is for any big name in the public eye.  That's why there are sports talk shows and sports columnists and sports commentators and analysts.  Nowadays, with things like Twitter, fans can instantly put their thoughts and stats out to prove a point.  If the players don't want to be criticized, then they have no obligation to try to make it to the pros.  They can get a job in another field and live outside of the public eye.  Criticism, whether warranted or not, is simply part of the job and something they'll have to deal with.  They're compensated very handsomely, so I have no problem with someone being critical.

 

I'm sure Trent Richardson is a great person, but he was an awful football player.  I never heard of Bjoern Werner getting into trouble off of the field or acting disrespectfully towards anyone, but that doesn't mean he was a good football player.  A lot of the comments you see on here aren't comments on personal lives (with a few exceptions, like Greg Hardy).  As far as I'm concerned, these guys made an active decision to try and make it to the pros and they'll have to deal with the positives and negatives that come with that.  No sympathy from me.  Respect, as a football player, is not given; it is earned.

[OffensivelyPC]

It's a performance-based game. I agree that people should be more articulate with why they don't like a certain player ( and it should at least make sense and would be even better if it was based on actual field play), but that doesn't mean we have to accept all players as equal or even good.

[Goatface Killah]

I'm not sure how anyone could disagree that former players should be treated with respect. 

 

You don't have to be a hero to deserve respect. I didn't ask anyone to worship anyone. I didn't ask anyone to give them more money.

 

All I did was suggest people learn a few new words and put some thought in to what they say.

 

It's child like behavior and needs to be called out. It's just being a disrespectful *.

[LockeDown]

My pet peeve is calling someone garbage....nobody needs to be called garbage.  It's more indicative of your personality than it is the players value.   

[OffensivelyPC]

1 hour ago, GoatBeard said:

I'm not sure how anyone could disagree that former players should be treated with respect. 

 

You don't have to be a hero to deserve respect. I didn't ask anyone to worship anyone. I didn't ask anyone to give them more money.

 

All I did was suggest people learn a few new words and put some thought in to what they say.

 

It's child like behavior and needs to be called out. It's just being a disrespectful *.

Thats the problem, you are telling everyone to be respectful (and assuming their contrary view is disrespectful) instead of simply calling out whomever got you to post in the first place - its basically an open letter to the jerks and open letters are stupid at worst, passive aggressive at best.

 

I can say someone sucks because their play on the field was no good. Bjoern ran through 2 teams before his 4th year and hes currently not on a team. Thats a drastic fall for a 1st rounder and the definition of terrible. Doesnt mean I disrespect them as a person, but i can call a performance terrible in a performance-based game - especially when a 1st round pick cant even stay on a team through his rookie deal.

[Goatface Killah]

Personal attacks are counter productive. 

[OffensivelyPC]

1 minute ago, GoatBeard said:

Personal attacks are counter productive. 

If you are talking to me, I cant fathom how anything I said was a personal attack - against you or Bjoern for that matter - but if you construed it that way, the internet is not a place you should visit often. Id sure like to know what I said that was a personal attack.

 

[BOTT]

1 hour ago, LockeDown said:

My pet peeve is calling someone garbage....nobody needs to be called garbage.  It's more indicative of your personality than it is the players value.   

Nobody?

[NorthernBlue]

I am like half and half in this. On one hand, you have to realize these athletes, even the bottom of the roster guys, are like in the top 1% of the world in their respective sport. Nobody in the NFL or the NBA or whatever sport is bad. Some are better than others, some are WAY better than others, but they're all, in general, really good at playing their sport (hence, why they're even in the league). 

 

But on the biggest stage, where you get paid the highest amount of cash, more than most other professions, you should absolutely be open to even the harshest criticisms. These guys also have all the resources to succeed, in terms of facilities and financial support. It's not like I expect every player to dedicate all their life to their respective sport (far from it, these guys have lives, I get that), but when you have the opportunity to succeed, and you don't, then you're gonna get flamed. That's just part of the job. 

 

And I know a lot of people are gonna hate this, but sports players get paid millions of dollars. Kind of hard to feel bad for someone that's getting flamed by some internet trolls when their bank accounts look like phone numbers...

[Jason_]

2 hours ago, 21isSuperman said:

  I agree that there are more mature ways to criticize a player than simply "he sucks, he's garbage" and the like,

 

But, I'm pretty sure that was the crux of the OPs point

[Colts1324]

3 hours ago, Hoosiernsavga said:

These guys are making millions of dollars to do what they love and what God blessed them with. Most will be retired by the time they are 30-35 if not earlier. And most will go on to live a fabulous and luxurious Iife. I think i could take a lot of criticism from a few fans especially from a message forum that i may never read or even know about.  As far as respect i try to respect every person i come across. Everyone in my mind deserves respect rather you are a pro football player for the Colts or someone i run into at the grocery store. 

The upmost respect from me goes out to the military, police officers, fireman, first responders, etc. who keeps my family safe. So i can also enjoy watching and being entertained by this sport of football that i love so much! So i can jump on a player for a bad play and praise him the next for an awesome one. Because at the end of the day it's just a football game regardless of how much we get into it! 

Nice post.

But man, it's not just a football game. It's a burning passion. This "game" is what we true Colts fans look forward to every week.  Our passion that we post crazy posts on here every 10 minutes to kill a little extra time until football starts up again. A "game" that makes us upset when it's week 10 because we only have 6 or 7 more games left in the season. This "football game" is a passion. It's one of the most important things in my life. Yes, in a literal sense, it's just a football game. But in reality, no.... it's not.  

[Goatface Killah]

1 hour ago, OffensivelyPC said:

If you are talking to me, I cant fathom how anything I said was a personal attack - against you or Bjoern for that matter - but if you construed it that way, the internet is not a place you should visit often. Id sure like to know what I said that was a personal attack.

 

No, i wasnt suggesting you attacked me......I was talking about the suggestion that I am being passive aggressive. Not at all. Just don't want to make a broad issue into a personal one.

 

I am honestly not talking about any one person.

[Smoke317]

I'm a little confused here. Can an example be given as to what exactly the OP is referring???  I don't go out of my way to demean or personally trash anybody but I know that I have said bad things about the play or coaching of Trent, Werner, Chuck, Chud, Grigs, Pep, McNary, Cribbs, Ferguson and many others on here.  So are we suggesting that I was wrong for criticizing their performances or is it the manner in which I/we criticize them???

 

As a diehard Colts fan, who's invested my hard earned time and money into the organization, I feel that I have a right to criticize them. Now I'm not gonna go onto their personal twitter accounts and belittle them or stalk them to put them down. But I should be able to say their performance was terrible. As was the case for many of the names I mentioned last paragraph. 

 

And just because they were a former Colt I shouldn't have to praise them. I appreciate them for playing for my favorite team and I cheered for and believed (even though that was a lost cause in the case of some) in them when they wore the horseshoe. But am I wrong when I say Trent sucked as running back for us?  Or Werner may have been the worst first round pick we've had since the team's moved to Indy?  Are we not allowed to criticize or is it the ones who appear to criticize just to be hateful and don't attach reasoning to their statements?  

 

Somebody help me get a better understanding on what exactly we're discussing in this topic.  I sure typed a lot not to know huh?  

[LockeDown]

3 hours ago, BOTT said:

Nobody?

Surely, there is something redeemable about the player.

  

 

[Chucklez]

11 hours ago, GoatBeard said:

 

These guys go out there and put their bodies on the line FOR US. 

 

I'll be straight up honest, this one line jumped out to me immediately, and i havent read any other part of the post, so I could be totally out of line here.... but this is ridiculous...

I would wager that AT LEAST 90% of NFL players would not be playing football as a career right now if they did not get paid like they do.... Put it this way, if all NFL players were to be given the salaries of High School teachers, do you really think that they would keep playing?... No, that 90% would have chosen basketball or baseball or some other career where they could make the money...

Their first and foremost priority is the money... without a shadow of a doubt... Then you get some players who are genuine about the game and competitive and want to WIN, but they want to win for themselves... not for you. Yes I am sure they appreciate the fans and it is nice to be cheered on etc... but I will not buy that Frank Gore is still playing the game and putting in the levels of effort and dedication because he wants to win a lombardi for us.... he wants it for him... and rightly so....

[jimmy g]

10 hours ago, GoatBeard said:

I'm more talking about after they stop playing.

 

I think it's one thing to evaluate their game to voice an opinion on a roster move, it's another to trash them after they are gone.

 

 

The Internet/social media has produced more snobbish/rude hate mobs than ever in our history. Welcome to 2017, where it's more in vogue to be rude, than correct.  The only choices are to read them, ignore them, or leave, unfortunately.

 

This board is far nicer than most opinion boards, due to nice people and good moderators.  

[Goatface Killah]

4 hours ago, Chucklez said:

I'll be straight up honest, this one line jumped out to me immediately, and i havent read any other part of the post, so I could be totally out of line here.... but this is ridiculous...

I would wager that AT LEAST 90% of NFL players would not be playing football as a career right now if they did not get paid like they do.... Put it this way, if all NFL players were to be given the salaries of High School teachers, do you really think that they would keep playing?... No, that 90% would have chosen basketball or baseball or some other career where they could make the money...

Their first and foremost priority is the money... without a shadow of a doubt... Then you get some players who are genuine about the game and competitive and want to WIN, but they want to win for themselves... not for you. Yes I am sure they appreciate the fans and it is nice to be cheered on etc... but I will not buy that Frank Gore is still playing the game and putting in the levels of effort and dedication because he wants to win a lombardi for us.... he wants it for him... and rightly so....

I think that's silly.

 

Guys played these sports for a long time for almost zero money. I would play for free.

 

Its about the glory. Which only can come from the fans.

[Goatface Killah]

9 hours ago, Smoke317 said:

I'm a little confused here. Can an example be given as to what exactly the OP is referring???  I don't go out of my way to demean or personally trash anybody but I know that I have said bad things about the play or coaching of Trent, Werner, Chuck, Chud, Grigs, Pep, McNary, Cribbs, Ferguson and many others on here.  So are we suggesting that I was wrong for criticizing their performances or is it the manner in which I/we criticize them???

 

As a diehard Colts fan, who's invested my hard earned time and money into the organization, I feel that I have a right to criticize them. Now I'm not gonna go onto their personal twitter accounts and belittle them or stalk them to put them down. But I should be able to say their performance was terrible. As was the case for many of the names I mentioned last paragraph. 

 

And just because they were a former Colt I shouldn't have to praise them. I appreciate them for playing for my favorite team and I cheered for and believed (even though that was a lost cause in the case of some) in them when they wore the horseshoe. But am I wrong when I say Trent sucked as running back for us?  Or Werner may have been the worst first round pick we've had since the team's moved to Indy?  Are we not allowed to criticize or is it the ones who appear to criticize just to be hateful and don't attach reasoning to their statements?  

 

Somebody help me get a better understanding on what exactly we're discussing in this topic.  I sure typed a lot not to know huh?  

What is the point in continuously hammering home that point?

 

Yes Werner was a failed draft pick, five or six years ago. He has since retired. He is having no affect on the team or their goals now.

 

I think it's obvious, being a first round pick who only played a few short years, that he wasn't a successful pick.

 

I guess I'm just frustrated because hearing something repeated that is so obvious seems like a complete waste of time, thoughts and words.

 

People just enjoy being critical. But I promise you there isn't one of us who would appreciate receiving the treatment we hand out. And that's a problem.

[jskinnz]

15 hours ago, GoatBeard said:

Well to be fair your job isn't likely as hard as blocking JJ Watt or covering Antonio Brown.

 

You have created a reasonably interesting and thought provoking thread but a word of advice.  You should stay away from comparisons like the above.  You have no idea what he or anyone else on here does for a living or how hard those jobs may be.  Maybe they are not as physically demanding as what NFL players go through but they most certainly could be more mentally taxing.  There is one guy who posts here that is neurosurgeon.  Or maybe they could be roofers or guys who work with asphalt in the summer.  Or they could be stay at home moms who have jobs infinitely more taxing than NFL players.

 

I just think you can make your point without using what really is a bad comparison.

[jet1968]

They are entertainers and just like any other entertainer they can be criticized.

[Chucklez]

20 minutes ago, GoatBeard said:

I think that's silly.

 

Guys played these sports for a long time for almost zero money. I would play for free.

 

Its about the glory. Which only can come from the fans.

They played for zero money through university because they knew that's what leads to the NFL.....

Anyone who doesnt make it to the NFL, but still loves the game, either plays in arena football, goes to canadam or just play with their friends whenever because they love it...

[Goatface Killah]

19 minutes ago, Chucklez said:

They played for zero money through university because they knew that's what leads to the NFL.....

Anyone who doesnt make it to the NFL, but still loves the game, either plays in arena football, goes to canadam or just play with their friends whenever because they love it...

I'm not talking about college.

 

Professional sports has a long history and guys getting rich doing this is a pretty new thing.

[Goatface Killah]

30 minutes ago, jskinnz said:

 

You have created a reasonably interesting and thought provoking thread but a word of advice.  You should stay away from comparisons like the above.  You have no idea what he or anyone else on here does for a living or how hard those jobs may be.  Maybe they are not as physically demanding as what NFL players go through but they most certainly could be more mentally taxing.  There is one guy who posts here that is neurosurgeon.  Or maybe they could be roofers or guys who work with asphalt in the summer.  Or they could be stay at home moms who have jobs infinitely more taxing than NFL players.

 

I just think you can make your point without using what really is a bad comparison.

C'mon. It's a true statement. 

 

I didn't insult anybody. I'm just stating a fact.

 

You're job is likely not as tough as blocking JJ Watt in front of the entire world.

 

Yes there are exceptions. But I'll be the first to admit my job isn't that tough.