Let's check in with those Redskins fans who were rooting against their team - WP Sports Bog

[BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/dc-sports-bog/wp/2016/01/04/lets-check-back-in-with-those-redskins-fans-who-were-rooting-against-their-team/?postshare=7171451925173262&tid=ss_tw-bottom

 

Ayodele Okeowo wanted his favorite team to fail.

 

You remember those Redskins fans, right? As this season kicked off amid quarterback controversy, lamentations over quarterback Robert Griffin III’s broken career and the whiff of dysfunction, there was a segment of Washington’s fanbase that had had enough. For a jumble of reasons — to improve the team’s draft position, to hasten Coach Jay Gruden’s departure, to teach the organization a lesson, to prove their delusional friends wrong about Kirk Cousins — they were embracing the prospect of failure, an odd thing to wish upon your team.

By December, the Redskins were competing for a division title. Cousins was threatening all sorts of franchise passing marks. Griffin had become a fixture on the inactive list, more a fleeting memory than a contributor on this team. And so when Okeowo found himself surrounded by cheering FedEx Field throngs roaring “You Like That!” in unison, why wouldn’t he add his voice to the chorus?

“I had no choice,” he said with a laugh Sunday afternoon. “I mean, I felt like I didn’t want to be that outlier. The fans were behind it, we were winning games — I should at least be able to enjoy this and appreciate it. … This season has made no sense. It just has made no sense. It’s been a strange trip.”

Not just for him, either. This fanbase, so noisily divided over the summer, now finds itself staring at three shattered division rivals, a statistically brilliant quarterback and an upcoming home playoff game. Calling this “a surprise” hardly conveys the wonderment; it’s like shoving your way onto a Metro train at rush hour and discovering a gleaming kitchen passing out free bowls of chili, plus cheese samples. And so several of the skeptical fans who told me in September they would be fine with failure are in the same position as Okeowo: chanting for a player, and a team, they had so publicly doubted.

 

"It’s been painful in a way to not watch them the way I used to even last year, but I just can’t,” he said. “I’ve been watching the results come in and seeing the wins rack up and been baffled by it, and I kind of realized that I’d be hearing from you again when they clinched. It’s good for the town; I just can’t get behind it. I don’t feel any emotion about it. If they win it all, that’s fine. I just won’t feel the same happiness I would have felt last year or two years ago.”

There’s no easy way to summarize or explain all of this. Many of these folks still have fond feelings for Griffin, whose playoff run in 2012 seemed to cause more unrestrained joy than this year’s surprise dash. Many of them said they will continue to wish Griffin well after he leaves Washington, and none of them thought Cousins deserved to be caught in this crossfire. Many said they will be hesitant to embrace any player in the future the way they fell for Griffin. And yes, many of them have received months of ribbing and grief from family and friends.

Okeowo’s friends have been “crushing me all year,” he said. They sent him texts and tweets every time Cousins played well. They mocked his conviction that it would be better for the Redskins to implode than to finish in the middle of the pack. He still isn’t looking into Super Bowl tickets — after 2012, he favors caution — but he was happy to take the abuse.

“I don’t like to make definitive statements about anything, and I made a lot of definitive statements about Kirk and the Redskins,” he said. “And everything’s been flipped on its head.”

 

 

 

This isn't a call out thread but it's interesting how ****ing weird sports fans are. 

[Boss_Hogg]

Sounds like they weren't fans to begin with. 

 

I think Steinberg got fleeced by these fake fans. 

[s0crates]

This is nicely written. We have a few of those characters around here, and I think he's portrayed them well.

[Voice_of_Reason]

At least Steinberg said he was sorry.  

 

You gotta like that, right?

[REDSKYNYRD]

I stopped at WP and Ayodele Okeowo, then went back and read the piece. OK, that's his and possibly some others opinion.

I'm happy we made it this far and hope we go further. I blame the never ending "rebuilding" years for "some" feeling that way.

[Warhead36]

Some people were just RG3 fans, not real Redskins fans.

 

No matter your opinion on the QBs, if you can't get behind the team now, then you were never a real fan to begin with.

[Darth Tater]

Never wanted the Redskins to fail. I will admit that until the Tampa game, I did not think Kirk was the right choice if Gruden wanted to stay as HC of the Redskins. Of course, when Gruden made the decision to go with KC back in September, I thought it was a great one for us fans because Gruden was either going to clearly fail or clearly succeed,

[blueskin]

i'm not going to lie.  Over the past few years I've been at wits end with this team.  I still can't fully relax and believe, but I'm coming around.  But beyond tongue-in-cheek proclamations, I've never seriously contemplated abandoning the team.  If I, as an irascible Redskins fan, can get through Norv Turner, the Spurrier disaster, the Zorn odyssey, the Shanahan implosion, the Griffin controversy, and defending against the name controversy, I think my 'fandom' is strong enough.  I complain and rant and rave because I care too much, not too little.

 

If you abandon the team, and are seen rooting or wearing the colors of, say, the Patriots, well, we don't need you.  Stay with your new team.

[Baughlin']

I love this and loathe this.This guy was AT FED EX and struggled to get into Kirk's and the teams success? Screw that guy. Toughest part of being a huge RG3 fan and Kirk fan is having to listen to the whinny minority lob personal attacks, and generally be grumpy when we have success with 'not his guy'. If you can't get behind two division titles in four years, then maybe those people shouldn't be sports fans in the first place.  

[TimmySmith]

Okeowo is one of many who are Griffin fans more than Skins fans.  Most appear to be younger, who weren't around during the glory days.   I think it's due to the fact that he gave them great moments in a long stretch of really bad ones.  When Griff leaves, I hope they go with him and they all have a great ride somewhere else because they have done nothing but divide true Skins fans during a really great season.

[ExoDus84]

Okeowo is one of many who are Griffin fans more than Skins fans.  Most appear to be younger, who weren't around during the glory days.   I think it's due to the fact that he gave them great moments in a long stretch of really bad ones.  When Griff leaves, I hope they go with him and they all have a great ride somewhere else because they have done nothing but divide true Skins fans during a really great season.

 

I don't buy it. I'm 31, and was too young during the glory years to remember any of it. My teens/20's/early 30's have been filled with disappointment and disarray. However, I still get up and root for this team every game. I was a huge RG3 fan, and I'm a huge Cousins fan, because they are Redskins. I root for this team rain or shine, no matter who's playing.

 

Real fans bleed B&G.

 

The fair weather fans who don't really care about the team can all go **** themselves.

[TimmySmith]

I don't buy it. I'm 31, and was too young during the glory years to remember any of it. My teens/20's/early 30's have been filled with disappointment and disarray. However, I still get up and root for this team every game. I was a huge RG3 fan, and I'm a huge Cousins fan, because they are Redskins. I root for this team rain or shine, no matter who's playing.

 

Real fans bleed B&G.

 

The fair weather fans who don't really care about the team can all go **** themselves.

I didn't mean to imply that all young fans a fairweather.  A majority of fairweather fans are young, because they have no foundation of greatness to keep them in the fold.  NOW is the time to jump on.

 

For the record, I think MOST true Redskin fans would admit that 2012 was a far more exciting season and RG3 had just about everything to do with it.  That does not mean we won't savor 2015.  Sad that some can't. 

[WilberMarshall]

I am a Skins fan.  Loved that it worked out.  It did not look like it was going to work out.  Glad it did.  Happy for Kirk Cousins.  Happy for Robert as well.  He got to heal up.  Happy for Dan Snyder.  He, more than most fans wants to win so badly.  Grateful for the good fortune. Hope we build on it.

[zoony]

I've been saying it all season, the RGIII fanboys need to find a new team. **** off you are not a Redskins fan. We know who you are

[MattFancy]

I can't say I had high expectations coming into the season. Was never rooting against them though.

[WilberMarshall]

I've been saying it all season, the RGIII fanboys need to find a new team. **** off you are not a Redskins fan. We know who you are

 

That's an unfortunate statement.  Some fans me inclusive appreciate him for the fond memories of 2012.  I can never get to root against folks that gave me fond memories as a Skins fan.  Can't hate on RGIII or on LaVar as it seems to be the in thing. 

 

You can be happy for Cousins and the team yet wish Robert good luck with his next team.

[zoony]

That's an unfortunate statement. Some fans me inclusive appreciate him for the fond memories of 2012.

You can be happy for Cousins and the team yet wish Robert good luck with his next team.

point

You

[clskinsfan]

This is nicely written. We have a few of those characters around here, and I think he's portrayed them well.

 

You read my mind. This article perfectly explains A LOT of the garbage on this board.

[BatteredFanSyndrome]

There was so much glee by fans of our rivals in relation to Griffin's ACL.  I can't quite recall any athlete ever having an injury so celebrated, mocked, etc.

 

All that did was fuel the fire of guys like the one described in the article.  I'm sure they spent hours on message boards, radio call-ins, at water coolers, etc. loudly professing why no injury could ever stop RG3 and that he would return all of the glory back to Old DC.  That those who relished in his injury would have to eat their words and face him 2x a year for the next decade as he ran and threw us to multiple Super Bowls.

 

The hype machine led us to believe that.

 

Some of us got over it, some never will.

 

I still find it absolutely crazy that anyone who was a fan of the team prior to acquiring Griffin could actually turn their back on the team due to his situation.  I could see it early on, as Kirks prior showings and early season performances, gave you nothing to believe we'd get what we have now.  But to watch the last several weeks and not enjoy it - just odd.

[DC9]

Sounds like they weren't fans to begin with. 

 

I think Steinberg got fleeced by these fake fans. 

 

Nah, they're fans.

 

Three of them were twitter friends with me and had been for a while.

 

I had to unfollow them like a couple weeks in the season because they were unbearable!

 

What's funny is one of these cats is in that "in the know" crew, or at least portrayed that he was.

 

Can't do it... lol

 

I do respect Steinberg for being good about it.

[skinfan2k]

I'm quoted in that article.  Guess who i am lol

[NewCliche21]

Meh.  When we were down 24-0 against Tampa Bay, I thought, "Well, at least it's going to get Gruden and Cousins gone faster."  Then we scored that touchdown and I thought, "Ugh, and now they're just teasing us."

 

And then I was wrong.  And I love it.

[TK]

I'm quoted in that article. Guess who i am lol

You got pointed out on Facebook for it too

[DJHJR86]

Good article.  And, despite being a minority of the fanbase, there are still many people out there who feel similar to the guy who said he couldn't get into the team the same way he did for the prior 2 or 3 years.  And that's pathetic.  It's just proof that you value one guy higher than the entire team.  

 

I've actually had a friend from high school (Ravens fan) message me on Facebook asking why many of her friends (Skins fans) distanced themselves from the team this year due to the perceived slight in the treatment of Griffin, and I honestly had no real answer or reason why other than they are a fan of the player and not the team.

[Warhead36]

Hero worship is hard to break. In a way RG3 of 2012 brainwashed many fans. Its almost like stockholm syndrome how so many fans refused to see how bad he was the last two years.