I think that everybody should be entitled to follow a team for whatever reason. And to leave a team if they don't feel they are identified with them anymore. I follow the team since I was 4, and have suffered every defeat and enjoyed every victory (much more sparsely). I convinced one of my best friends to root for us when his Houston Oilers disappeared and now we watch the games together despite living very far from NY and he's is very much a Jet fan as I am. I definitely want more Jet fans, and I definitely want more Jet fans like PuddnHead and less Jet fans like Long Time Jet Fan. This forum is full of trash sometimes but it's always good to read the post of somebody clear minded and intelligent and not stupid ramblings about how this player is a god and then an asshole or why shouldn't we sign JP Losman or asking Woody to sell the team. I don't care if they arrived yesterday or 30 years ago, every guy who roots for the Jets, whatever their reasons is part of my tribe even if I don't share lots of things with them. But yeah, if the Jets partnered with a Nazi company or if G.W. Bush becomes the owner I would stop following them immediately. There are some values more important that football fandom.
I don't believe I would ever jump the Jets Titanic just because a player traded teams... but then again, we haven't exactly had a player the caliber of Favre since Namath, that had brought us to the championship and spent years worshiping either. I think a lot of you are being a bit hard on the migrated Packer fans... some of you are being downright asses. Granted that Determination character likely has it coming, but these folks all love football the same as us. If they want to stick around and be a fan of the Jets as well after (although the way some are treated I don't know why they would) Favre moves on, I don't know why they can't be accepted. This whole argument of not being a "true fan" is ridiculous. Being a fan is going to be different to different people. I know when the Packer fans came they were welcomed with open arms and everyone was foaming at the mouth thinking Favre was the guy with the rocket arm to lead us to more wins than Pennington (which conversely did not happen lol). So things didn't work out... did you expect exPacker fans to stop loving Brett Favre? Of course they are still in his corner.
I think there is a difference between a team making a personnel decision or some kind of good faith effort to improve the team that fails (a move that turns out to be "stupid") or doing something so insulting that you simply lose respect for the people in charge. I'd put bribing a player to get him to stay retired into the latter category. I understand rooting for laundry, but if you lose respect for the decision-makers -- not because they make decisions that don't work out but because they make decisions that are insulting and embarrassing to the franchise and its fans -- I don't begrudge people who turn their back on that organization. And yes, I'm one of them. I'll continue to be a Jets fan; it doesn't really matter to me if some of you don't think I should be or believe I'll stop.
I've been a Jet fan since I was in high school, but my fandom for other teams, even other sports, has ebbed and flowed. I don't agree fandom is immutable. Even for the Jets I had become totally sickened watching Chad play in 07. I really couldn't take it anymore. Lucky for me he left. The point about an organization pissing on their fans too much to be able to take it has a resonance. I remain concerned this team is saddled with a mediocre owner, but I could be wrong and in any event can outlast him. On the other hand I used to be a Yankee fan, and am no longer. In other words, being a fan does not fit a single model, particularly over time. As far as I am concerned, any Favre fans who wish to stay here as newbie Jet fans have my welcome, fwiw.
I respect the sentiment however much of the Jets fan base, even the base today which consists of mostly first and second generation fans was built on the signing of one flamboyant player when the cross town team didn't even put names on the laundry. This team?s fan base is and was built on one team that really took shape back in the mid 60's with the signing of Joe Namath. No doubt I have continued to root for the laundry through thick and thin and mostly thin and thinner. I did prefer the days when having great players in the laundry was more important to the organization than having lots of different laundry to sell to the fans. Nothing wrong with a young fan falling in love with a player and loving him until the bitter end regardless of the uniform. Usually what sustains us as fans through the years is a moment in our youth when we fell in love with a player, a moment, the arena, the game, etc., etc., etc. and it sustains our love for the team after that player has broken our hearts and gone away. It takes time to get over your first love and realize you?re in it for better or worse. I understand Favre fans needing Favre to get out like a femme fatale breaking your heart for the first time. Once they get over it they can become fans of the Green Bay laundry in perpetuity.
Would it make you feel better if I told you that the Jets get the Packers 7th round pick since Favre retired after only 1 year. I saw this info on the ESPN ticker yesterday. If it doesn't, then well, sorry. I tried.
fellas, as long as your name is not determination#4 (a.k.a the man who would relish in the opportunity to spread his cheeks for favre's manood after a week in a treestand), stay. join in the constant misery of jets football. the dizzying highs of offseason moves and backpage positives. the unfathomable lows of mid season collapses and moves that turn to busts. and of course the comedy that is draft day. if you can feel comfortable throwing your love for the game behind this mess, then god bless you all. stick around and join the whining, complaining, incredibly unrealisticly high expectations and even more incredibly devastating disappointments that are jets football. J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS!!!!!!!
I wonder how many Jets fans got pissed and followed Namath to the Rams...only to come crawling back at a later date...
Not many because Namath was pretty much done and missed a lot of playing time well before the traded him. You couldn't help want to see him do well but he was done by the time we traded him. If Namath had a year like Favre prior to his departure you might have had a backlash but he didn't.
I don't think you read very carefully. Read this sentence of mine (the one you even went and highlighted in your quote of me) again: I had just finished talking about the Jets, and I had turned to talking about this board. That's why I wrote "plus" and that's why I chose the words that I just highlighted. I was saying I'm probably a lot more likely to remain a Jets fan than I am to keep coming here. At least during the offseason. During the season it was not so bad, but during the offseason -- I guess because there's not as much to talk about otherwise -- it looks like this place (theganggreen.com) may be dominated primarily by punks goijng out of their way to look for excuses to insult other people. I'm saying I'm seriously questioning why I am spending time subjecting myself to that. And that I doubt it will never go away, because I'll always be a Packer fan first, and there will always be pricks that will take every chance to insult me because I'm not bothering to pretend otherwise. By the way, the posters who think that by following Favre here, that I (and many others I'm guessing) have abandoned the Packers -- you are seriously misunderstanding. If nothing else, I am deeply, deeply aware and appreciative that we have here something that everyone else can only dream of -- the oldest professional football team in the league (along with the Bears), one which never has and never will move, and most importantly of all, the only team that is owned by thousands of fans themselves, not some single rich dude who could sell at any time. And on top of all that, it's sucha small place that you literally see the players at the grocery store or mall, so they really are your neighbors. I watched every minute of every game this year, and even went to one. Heck I went to watch practice scrimmages.
it looks like this place (theganggreen.com) may be dominated primarily by punks goijng out of their way to look for excuses to insult other people I could not agree more
I can't return to being a Packer fan till Thompson and Mr. Bag of Dirty Money, Murphy, are gone. That would be like being a self-respecting, genuine Republican and pretending George Bush was a good president. It's not just about a color scheme and foam cheese. That team has lost its integrity, and I can't condone what they've done. Besides, the Jets are good folks. Can't think of a better team to support.
are you allergic to punctuation? or just stupid wait wait...i know.....you're at work and you don't have time for the proper use of the english language....we get it Sincere regards, An internet punk
My suggestion to the "Pack fans" who started rooting for the Jets when they signed Favre is the following: Go back to rooting for Green Bay. If you don't, you will soon find that rooting for the Jets is the painful equivalent of having teeth pulled without sleeping gas. Nothing malicious here - just looking out for your sanity.
