Well. This is something a little bit different. I am used to seeing football teams trash talk about each other. And obviously I am used to seeing fans trade some smack talk back and forth. But I don't ever recall seeing an NFL football player get all worked up about the other team's fans quite like this.
In case you don't know, Brandon Jacobs has made it very clear that he does not like us Dallas fans very much.
I had always thought that we, as fans, tended to over-identify with our teams. I mean, these are professional athletes, making some pretty big bucks, and I kinda thought our only role in life as fans was to, you know, serve as an audience and provide the revenue stream that gives rise to those big bucks. I know a lot of the players feed off the crowd during the game, and they mostly do a good job of relating to us with the autographs and personal appearances and such, but I didn't think we really affected them that much. These guys all earned their big boy panties a long time ago. However, it appears that we have gotten under Mr. Jacobs' skin just a tad.
I am honored.
Find out what he had to say about us after the jump.
I am not a trained psychologist. But I still am going to read between the lines and make some guesses about why we seem to arouse such vitriol from BJ.
Brandon Jacobs doesn’t hate the Dallas Cowboys, but he sure does hate their fans.
They are what really irks him about "America’s Team". Leave the hate for the opposing players and Cowboys star to Justin Tuck. Jacobs is much more bothered by the fans cheering them on.
I would have thought you would have more hostility for someone who was hitting you, throwing you to the ground, and generally trying to cause you pain and suffering, like Tuck does. But apparently it is much more insulting to Brandon to see people in a retro Staubach jersey than to have Jay Ratliff trying to rip his arms off.
But you see that there? "America's Team". It just won't die. Makes you wonder just how much of the anger comes from the fact that there is such a nationwide base of Cowboys fans. After all, what is so special about Dallas? I'm sure Brandon thinks the nation should be following a team from a much cooler, more sophisticated place. Like New York.
Perhaps there is some psychology here. When he sees a banner for the Cowboys waving in MetLife Stadium, does he suffer pennant envy?
"You know what it is? You’ve got a lot of people on other teams hating the Cowboys. It’s their fans," Jacobs said. "Some of their fans are loud, obnoxious and just bad.
"Just everywhere you go you’ve got them Dallas fans, running their mouth about Dallas. They keep going. It’s not really the team and the star and all that. They’re just like any other team in the National Football League if you ask me. But their fans are the ones that have me really just feeling the way I feel."
Apparently, there are other players who share his hatred of us. I can't imagine who? Around here, we are always very respectful of all the players for other teams. Well, outside of Michael Vick. Oh, and Eli Manning. And Ben Roethlisberger. And Tom Brady. And . . .
Well, OK. But are we any different from any other bunch of fans out there? Don't we all love to lay insults on the players for other teams, and don't we all tend to change our tune if those same players suddenly wind up on the Dallas roster? And how many players get slandered more than Tony Romo?
No, obviously, it is really all about "everywhere you go". The Cowboys just have fans in every NFL city. Good seasons, bad seasons, it doesn't matter. Whenever Dallas goes to another stadium, they show up in the blue and white jerseys. And never, ever do they accept mediocrity from the Cowboys. No, every single season they expect to see the Star contending for another Lombardi. But I don't see that as being obnoxious. Just having high standards.
In fact, Jacobs hates them so much that he considers them worse than the fans in Philadelphia, who are generally considered to be among the toughest in the entire league.
"Yeah, they are (worse)," Jacobs said. "I’m not talking about being actually at the game and doing the type of stuff they do in Philly. I’m just talking about in every day life. Cowboys fans get on my nerves."
OK, now that is just cold. You can say a lot of things about me and my fellow Dallas fans, but WORSE THAN PHILLY FANS? Now, them's some fightin' words. What, do we throw batteries at you on the street? Blindside department store Santas? Cheer for people getting hurt in car accidents? Just what is it in every day life we do that is so bad?
Just because we take pride in our team and its history, we are hated?
Unfortunately, Jacobs knows that there will be plenty of Cowboys fans at MetLife Stadium on Sunday night when the Giants (8-7) battle the Cowboys (8-7) for the NFC East title. Cowboys fans have a long, rich history of travelling well.
You got that right. And I hope there are a bunch at the game. Getting on your nerves, BJ. (By the way, you do know that BJ can refer to something else, hmm?) Getting in your head.
"Oh there's going to be a lot of them in, no question about it," Jacobs said. "There's going to be a bunch of them here. They're going to have a lot of support here. We've just got to go out there and do what we've got to do. It's still our home field."
And I hope everyone that makes it sees your comments, Brandon. Get them extra fired up. I never knew that we could have this kind of effect on the opposition. I kind of like the idea.
Worse than Philly fans? I'm ticked. I hope the 'boys lay some extra wood on that 27 jersey.
GO COWBOYS!!!!