NFL Fan Behavior: Cheer When the JumboTron Says So, and Not Before

Growing up on the outskirts of Cincinnati, I have long considered myself to be a Bengals fan, despite the fact that the franchise hasn’t won a playoff game since I hit puberty. Despite a new stadium, an influx of talent in high draft picks, and a ridiculous level of support from the city, the team still sucks badly enough to pull the chrome off a trailer hitch.

The Bengals pulled off an improbable come-from-behind win against archrival Cleveland Sunday. With their backup quarterback, no less. But I didn’t enjoy it. I couldn’t.

The fact that Bengals owner Mike Brown was being rewarded for operating his franchise like a lemonade stand bothered me, as it did during the team’s playoff runs in 2005 and 2009. Since Brown began running the team into the ground in the mid-1990s, my personal feelings of team allegiance have been in direct conflict with my rational opposition to supporting a crusty, incompetent business owner.

No more. I am done with the Bengals. I’m done financing failure, dumping money into the pockets of an owner that has no desire to re-invest into his product on the field.

But Mike Brown is not the only one at fault here. Nearly every NFL owner takes their fanbase for granted. Consider this video that the St. Louis Rams released this week as a somewhat benign but equally painful example of fan marginalization.

So what cheer do you guys want from us when the Eagles stomp you by three touchdowns?

So much wrong happening here. Rules for fans? Nobody’s paying sixty dollars a ticket to be directed when to "MAKE SOME NOISE" or get "ON YOUR FEET." We will cheer when we want to cheer, thank you very much. Unless you can’t put a competent team on the field, in which case we’ll stay home and watch the RedZone channel.

Rules for fans? I’ll do you one better. How about “Rules For Owners”?

How about not laying lawsuits against independent media, and then playing dumb when pressed about it in The New York Times? How about not threatening to move your business to L.A. or Toronto whenever you’re looking for stadium financing? And if you have the choice between letting your franchise quarterback retire or trading him to add value to your organization, consider not being a stubborn ass for five minutes and do what best serves your team.

The owners can behave as foolishly as they want. Because we let them. Even in These Trying Economic Times, we continue to spend time and money on the NFL, and we expect so little in return. Even with financial parity to ensure “fairness,” the same teams—Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit and the like—continue to struggle year after year.

I’ve said before that the best NFL fans are not the sheep that renew their season tickets without question. Those people are actually more harmful to the progress of their team than they realize. The best fans are the ones that understand the game and can share their thoughts with other fans without breaking out into a gang war, without acting like their allegiance is some of badge of honor. That sort of braggadocio is best left to Mac owners and Arcade Fire fans. Save your list of fan expenditures for the IRS.

Hey, I’m not trying to shame you or anyone else out of buying jerseys, caps, DirecTV packages or even game tickets. If you’re one of those people that can still afford those things and enjoy them, then you should. Even I still will, on occasion, but it won't be Bengals gear. I just wish everyone would realize that doing so doesn’t make us part of the team. It doesn’t give us a seat at the proverbial table.

It’s hard to be heard from the third deck of the stadium, so maybe it’s time to stop yelling altogether. I know it is for me.

Should I adopt a new favorite team? Send me an email at TheGORoute-at-bleacherreport-dot-com and let me know.