Although the NFL is the only one out of the four major North American sports through which you don't have to suffer through at least 82 games a season, die-hard fanatics like myself still look forward to this time of year. While teams like the Browns, the Jaguars, the Rams, the 49ers and the Bears were long eliminated from the mix, the hard work of twelve teams has the potential to pay off as they duke it out for a month in the ultimate "let's separate the men from the boys" tournament. Unlike the NBA, the NHL or MLB, the beauty of the NFL Playoffs is you only get one shot to win or lose. However, one of the biggest downsides to NFL Wild Card Weekend is the chance for at least one or two blowouts because unless we're talking the 2005 Steelers or the 2010 Packers, the higher-seeded teams usually handle their business. Unfortunately, none of the games were competitive for longer than two-and-a-half quarters, but I'm still going to discuss them anyway...
Frankly, this week's intro to "Views from the Nosebleeds" was going to be a potential snoozer about the NFL's slight decline in ratings. However, when I saw this picture of Rashad Ross, DeSean Jackson, Niles Paul (one of five team captains) and Greg Toler with their fist raised during the National Anthem before their NFC East matchup with the Giants, I strongly considered becoming a fan of Washington's NFL team again. In a September 25 Washington Post article, head coach Jay Gruden's "haven't had that issue here" comments were reiterated along with this emphasis on the team's connection to the military: "[The team has] a ton of respect for what goes on for our country with those people. And for three minutes, for us to take our helmet off and stand up and give respect is how we treat it here with the Redskins." On the flip side, Ross insisted, "It's nothing against the National Anthem. It never was against it. It's about all these killings that's going on that aren't right." Jackson, who Ross acknowledged as spearheading the move, said this after the game:
We felt like there's a lot going on out there in our country now. We feel like we have an opportunity to be seen and be heard. We just want to support our people in a time of crisis like this where you have a lot of tragic situations, a lot of people losing their family members due to senseless killings by these police officers and things like that. We just wanted to make a stand, and I think just really putting our fists up and supporting our culture is something important.
Although this is what the NFL's most disliked player in Colin Kaepernick has been trying to communicate to the rest of America for over a month now, I am proud to see more and more brothers--who comprise nearly 69 percent of the NFL's player population--echoing the pertinence of his sentiment and standing in solidarity. I am more elated to see someone like Jackson--one of the team's most prominent players who once caught flack for his association with gang members back in his hometown of Los Angeles as a member of the Eagles--be a leader and effectively use his platform to help raise awareness of this social epidemic. I hope they keep it going and contribute in other ways like Kaepernick, but this is a fantastic beginning from a small but passionate fraction of the home team. Now that's how you introduce a spirited Week 3 in the NFL and the first two topics continue the trend...
