A Jacksonville Jaguar Fan: Random Thoughts (02/12/14)

Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

This has to be the longest offseason I can remember since the one before our inaugural season. My impatience is palpable. This is like reading a long sometimes boring novel that you just know is going to get exciting soon…but when! Here are some of the things rattling through my brain…Some not Jags related.

• What I’m really enjoying about this Jags offseason is we seem to be implementing a system that works very well for other franchises. The art of the misdirect. Dave Caldwell will give his periodical presser about the state of the Jags and what direction we are leaning towards, holding his cards very close to his chest. Then Shahid Khan will be somewhere and get stopped by a reporter and throws out statements that we will definitely take a QB in the draft…possibly two. It’s like the poker player who flips his cards over to show he just bluffed you out of a big pot. Then Gus Bradley will talk passionately about the players he spent a week coaching at the Senior Bowl and you start studying the rosters to see who they may select. Meanwhile, nobody knows what we are going to do. Everybody knows the person you pay closest attention to is the unpredictable wildcard. As Pee Wee Herman famously stated “You don’t wanna get mixed up with a guy like me. I’m a loner, Dottie.”

• I have liked that over the course of our history, the Jags have steered towards players without character issues. Oh some of them hid them well (Jimmy Smith), some we possibly didn’t investigate fully (Matt Jones, Reggie Williams), and some we just ignored the signs (R. Jay Soward, Justin Blackmon). Overall though, we have steered away from “Bad Guys” and it has done well for our community. It has also made us a very boring franchise. We are truly not on anyone’s radar. It’s like the early success this team had has been completely wiped away. Now I’m not saying we should bring in criminals or guys that still have white residue on their nostrils. Let’s just not be afraid of the guy who plays angry. Let’s not discount the player who got into trouble in his youth but appears to have learned from his mistake. I want a lineman who shoves down a sacker who stays on our QB too long. Who will perform a “legal” chop block to a lineman who’s cheating the QB’s cadence. I want a SNOT-KNOCKER…Someone who plays with an edge. It will do our vanilla team some good.

• Thanks you Michael Sam. What you have done is brave and I’m sorry we still live in a society where you felt you had to allow us to pry into your personal life. Also…THANKS A LOT for hijacking sportstalk in general. Between you and the college player who shoved the fan, I can barely get a friggin’ score of a sporting event. I was always led to believe that was the purpose of a sports show, but in this TMZ influenced world we live in now, if it bleeds it leads.

• One more thing Michael Sam. Whether it is fair or not, you need to be prepared. Not of unwelcoming locker rooms or immature fans of opposing teams. Because of the circumstances, you are now the new Tim Tebow. The minute you made your announcement you were probably taken off the board of certain teams. Either for homophobic reasons or teams that just don’t want the media circus that will follow you. You will have teammates that will never like you. Some will never accept you. Some will fear you. Some will be jealous of all the attention you get. A TON will HATE you because you are all reporters want to ask them about. If the media and his supporters want a blueprint of how to crush someone’s career, look no further than Tebow. If they truly want Sam to have a successful run in the NFL then some concessions will have to be made. Celebrate his being drafted, but don’t question WHEN he was drafted. Focus on his interactions with his new city, team, and fan base. But just in the beginning, then back off a little. Don’t create paralysis by over-analysis! Remember…In the end he will defined as a NFL football player, NOT a “gay” football player. Looking at him like he is different just perpetuates the existing problem, Michael Sam…I truly mean this…Good luck.

OK…back to wondering what player I will be ordering a jersey for to wear on opening day!! See ya!!

Kitty litter of my mind…presented by Michael McDonald

Twitter – @gumbussy