Quote:Lol when I played I was one of the fastest and hardest hitting players on the field regardless of who we played. I gave 110% on every play even when we were constantly getting blown out every Friday by 60+ points. The team simply wasn't that talented. There were a few bright spots but not enough. 

 

There is a reason professional football athletes only play 16 games, and dread adding more games to the regular season. It's brutal. The risk of serious injury is ever present. They get hit by the biggest, fastest, and meanest players on the planet. And if you were ask them long after their playing careers ended to provide an honest and accurate explanation of how they felt during times where they knew the season was over and there was absolutely no chance of playing in the playoffs, I bet some of their answers wouldn't deviate far from what Kurt and Marshall said. These are professional athletes. This isn't like college. These guys don't get bowl games, they get the couch albeit very expensive couches but couches nonetheless. You romanticize and uses metaphorical phrases like "gladiator", "battles", and "glory" but forget that football players are people too. That is why coaches shut certain players down during a losing season, don't play starters when they've clinched, etc etc. Of course everyone wants to win, but even those coaches know the games don't really matter. They might matter to you. You might feel better knowing the team went 4-12 as opposed to 2-14 but in the grand scheme of thing it doesn't matter. That of course is my opinion. You don't have to agree with it and I certainly don't have to agree with yours...

Snake, I've read this and your other posts about more or less conceding the season when all hope is lost, but you're missing one key ingredient:

 

A lot of these guys are competing for a job, even in week 16.  ALL of these coaches are competing for a job, especially in week 16.

 

Maybe guys like Eli get complacent, but I doubt it.  He just really really sucks right now.  And I know "complacent" isn't in Coughlin's vocabulary.  Show me a guy who doesn't think a week 16 win doesn't matter, and I'll show you a guy looking for a job in January.

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