Fans Show Impatience and Short-term Memory Loss in NFL

I go to at least one Redskins game a year. It is one of my greatest pleasures in life.

For all of you "fans" who are calling for Jason Campbell's head (despite playing in only one full season in his career), let me relay to you a true story from a Redskins game I witnessed.

The year 2004 was a year of change for the Redskins. They had a new coach in Joe Gibbs and a new QB in Mark Brunell (although calling either of these men new is laughable).

The offense started out very cold. Brunell was playing very safe, throwing every third pass into the stands. The 'Skins didn't turn the ball over much, but they didn't make a play much either.

About halfway through the season the Redskins played the Bengals (I think, the team they played is fuzzy, but the circumstances surrounding the game are etched in my memory) at home and I had tickets.

Brunell started out ice cold. His first eight passes went incomplete, and every miss was followed by louder and louder chants of "Ramsey, Ramsey, Ramsey."

Finally Gibbs had seen enough. He relented to the fans (probably against his better judgement) and trotted out Patrick Ramsey for the next series.

As Ramsey entered the field he received the longest, loudest standing ovation I have ever witnessed at Fed-Ex Field. Redskin Nation had his back.

On his first play from scrimmage, he badly overthrew Laverneus Coles and was intercepted. Immediately a rousing chant of "Hasslebeck, Hasslebeck, Hasslebeck" (third stringer Tim Hasslebeck) could be heard reverberating throughout the stadium.

If this doesn't illustrate the attention span of the average NFL fan I don't know what does.

PS. Mark Brunell came back the following year to lead the Redskins to a 10-6 record and it's first playoff win in six years. Patrick Ramsey went on to be a backup for Denver and Tennessee. Tim Hasslebeck went on to impregnate Elizabeth Hasslebeck three times and live the good life of a wealthy stay at home dad.

The point of this story is to be patient and be carefull what you wish for.