Don't panic and other wandering thoughts

As I was looking around social media this weekend in the young football season, we’re only a few weeks into college and professional, I began to notice somewhat of a trend. People hitting the panic button after three weeks. People are jumping off a bandwagon, looking for another one to hitch onto, and will probably not be satisfied with that one either.

I am reminded of the Aaron Rodger’s “RELAX” speech from a couple of seasons ago when everyone was panicking on the Packers for being 1-2 or some record close to, and he was as calm as he could be telling everyone to relax.

The panic button as a sports fan is real. I know fans who think their season is over and doomed after the first half of the first game of the season. We, as fans of our team, usually come to expect the worst in my experience.

Keep in mind I am an Iowa State and Tampa Bay fan so losing is expected and it’s always a welcome surprise to win a few games every season.

I understand the panic, I do, but it’s a little silly. It’s early season for a reason. In the case of the Minnesota Vikings, yes you lost to the lowly Buffalo Bills, but you also have a Thursday night game against the Los Angeles Rams to worry about. The win would have been good, yes, but again it’s only three weeks into the season so there is plenty of time to rebound from the loss.

The same can be said for the Packers loss to Washington, or the New England Patriots sitting at 1-2. Just breathe, relax and know there are still 13 more games to be played in the regular season.

This also applies to college football. Iowa lost to a good Wisconsin team that may have gotten caught in a trap game against BYU. Iowa State’s two losses were two good teams in the Hawks and Oklahoma. Don’t panic about these losses. If they’re 5-5 in a few weeks, it’d be a good time to panic about missing a bottom tier bowl, but until then, chill.

Most of these sports seasons are long and aren’t five weeks. Freaking out this early in the season for football, basketball when the time comes, volleyball, or anything else is just not worth it. Just take Rodger’s advice and… relax.

Also got to thinking over the new NFL rules concerning roughing the passer. It seems like the NFL is beginning to just let quarterbacks take over everything because great QB play leads to high scores which leads to highlights and so forth.

I’m far from a Packers or Clay Matthews fan, but he’s been the victim of some pretty awful calls these first couple of weeks. I remember catching some of the Packers and Vikings game a couple of weeks back and was baffled by both roughing the passer calls I saw in the game. The one on the Vikings’ player was a basic form tackle that gets taught at the lowest level of the game.

Instead, here came the flags and a free 15 yards. I’m all for player safety. No football player should have to suffer later in life like some do, but it’s also hurting the game more than the anthem protests which have become a bit of a non-issue again, thankfully.

The NFL is ruining the NFL. College football seems to have none of these issues that plague the big leagues. It’s partly why college football is superior to the NFL anymore. Bring back the NCAA Football games while we’re at it.

Those were some great football games. As a gamer, I loved being able to play college football and take some bad teams to make them national champions. Just a lot of good memories of playing that game for hours on end back in the day.

Back to what actually matters here. The NFL is just having so many issue problems it’s becoming a joke of a league. It feels like every game gets bogged down with flags on flags on flags. The players are becoming bigger and bigger prima donnas who hold out for more money despite claiming love of the game.

The shelf life of a football player is short. A running back is usually three to four years in the NFL. They are just cogs in the machine, but holding out while the season is going on is rather unfair to your teammates and the people who support your team.

I know a handful of Pittsburgh Steelers fans who are beyond frustrated with LeVeon Bell’s holdout for more money. They offered him a pretty fair contract for his age and injury history, but it wasn’t enough and now one of the best running backs is going to get traded because of nothing more than greed.

Or what appears to be greed anyways, I don’t know all the behind the scenes, but I’ve paid attention to the situation as it has been going. There are those that are supporting Bell because they know the shelf life of a back is short and he should earn what he think he’s worth, but when it starts cutting into a season and affects the team on the field? That’s when it becomes a problem.

What has pleased me with the NFL this season is seeing the rookie quarterbacks getting a shot at starting. All of them playing are on teams that really have no playoff hopes this year, though most would be quick to point out how Cleveland has a better record than New England which ties into the whole don’t panic idea.

Baker Mayfield looked like the real deal on Thursday night and shredded the Jets defense. The argument can be made that the Jets weren’t ready for him and that took them by surprise. Mayfield my favorite quarterback in the draft so I know he’s ready to be a great player for the next decade or so.

And before anyone says I jumped on the Mayfield wagon, go back to April 6 and see my first mock draft blog on our website to see my words clear as day about him being the best signal caller in the draft.

Teams don’t want to wait on quarterbacks like they used to, at least the lower rung teams who want to see what they have. The benefits for sitting a guy for a year come in the form of Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City who is playing some lights out football. Should be interesting to see how Mahomes plays in the later weeks of the season, but right now? He’d be the MVP of the league.