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Andy G · 02-07-2020, 07:12 AM

I know this has been causing a bit of controversy, so I thought I'd transcribe Brian Sexton's "mistake" comments from the other day.

I took them to mean the NFL's interests could have been better served back in 1993 by waiting and putting a franchise in a bigger market. And that Jacksonville got lucky when it won the right to have a franchise.

BUT I didn't take that to mean the franchise itself is viewed as a "mistake" and his point is that Jacksonville needs to be flexible and do whatever it can to take advantage of that decision and make sure it keeps the team in Jacksonville.

I think he's going to come in for some stick for saying it. And I think it's going to be a hard one to explain. But I think I can see where he's coming from.
Here's what he said...

"The NFL made a mistake in 1993 when they gave the franchise to Jacksonville, Florida. Because it set in motion a chain of dominoes that moved teams out of bigger markets, right. Do you want to make the mistake and give it back? Right? I mean St Louis and Baltimore didn't have all of their pieces, all of their ducks in a row. And Jacksonville was opportunistic and got something that by all rights it probably shouldn't have had. And they knew that by the year 2000. They knew, Ok, LA is vacant. If we hadn't given a team here, here and here, they were able to piece things together... Don't make that mistake. The Jaguars are HERE. And we are fortunate that the NFL put a franchise here. Don't compound the mistake and be so rigid in your way of understanding how this league works that you don't see that they're working to do it in a way that puts this team and this town together long term."