My Favorite Team is Ruining Football for Me

“Are you ready for some football?!” the theme song for Monday Night Football asks.

And those of us who love the game respond with enthusiastic variations of “Yes, I am, in fact, ready for some football!”

However, as much as I love football, especially on Monday Night, I’m dreading tonight’s game.

As I write this, it’s Monday morning. Tonight, my beloved San Francisco 49ers are playing the L.A. Rams. It’s a must-win division game for the Niners to have any chance at a Wild Card playoff spot.

Only, the Rams, coming in at 7–2, are one of the best teams in the league. Matt Stafford has given them a much-needed offensive boost, and they just picked up deep threat and future Hall of Fame receiver, Odell Beckham Jr. And their defense, led by monster-among-men Aaron Donald, who many analysists consider the best player in the game, just acquired All-Pro linebacker, Von Miller.

Tonight’s game could be a bloodbath.

I’ve been a San Francisco 49ers fan my whole life.

Don’t be alarmed. That loud series of clicks was just all the Cowboys, Raiders, Rams, Seahawks, and Cardinals fans closing their browsers in disgust.

I grew up watching football on Sundays with my dad. We’d eat snacks, scream at the TV, and run around the living room whooping and high-fiving like drunken monkeys when the Niners scored. More so whenever they beat Dallas.

Those are some of my favorite childhood memories.

Those were also during San Francisco’s hay-day. The era of “Montana to Rice.” Of Ronnie Lott flattening people like a human sledgehammer. Of Steve Young shredding defenses through the air and on the ground. Mobile quarterbacks are commonplace now, but in the late 80's/early 90’s, no one scrambled like Steve.

That was well over twenty years ago, however.

Since then, the 49ers have fluctuated between playoff contenders and being one of the worst teams in the league (mostly the latter).

Most teams rise, fall, and rebuild. This is a constant for all professional sports.

What has me so wound up is how the Niners have performed this season.

Currently, they are 3–5.

You don’t have to follow football to know that’s bad.

The frustrating thing is, this is a talented team. They could easily be 6–2, if not undefeated, as many of their losses have been within a single score.

Sure, they’ve had some injury issues this season. But they’ve found good back-ups and free agents to fill in, thanks in large part to general manager John Lynch.

Head Coach Kyle Shanahan is an offensive wizard who knows how to best use the talent he has available. And he has some potent offensive weapons in WR Deebo Samuels, TE George Kittle (happy National Tight End Day!), rookie RB Elijah Mitchel who’s currently filling in for the injured speedster, Raheem Mostert, and the league’s best Swiss-Army knife and true fullback, Kyle Juszczyk (pronounced “Yooz-check”).

New Defensive Coordinator DeMeco Ryans had big shoes to fill after former coordinator and all-around badass, Robert Saleh, accepted the head coaching job with the New York Jets. Ryans’ defense has performed remarkably well, despite a heavily depleted secondary. Having Fred Warner, arguably the best middle-linebacker in the game, and pass-rush monsters like Arik Armstead and Nick Bosa helps.

The 49ers have the pieces in place to be a Super Bowl-caliber team.

Yet…somehow, they’re less than the sum of their parts.

It would be one thing if the Niners were a bad team. Knowing your team is overmatched by almost everyone else in the league creates low expectations. All my friends who are Detroit Lions fans sadly know what that’s like this season.

For example, the Niners were plagued with injuries last season. 17 of their 22 starters missed games due to injury. A few key players, such as Nick Bosa, sustained season-ending injuries within the first two games of the season. Without their best players, it became clear early on that last season was going to be a shit year.

When you expect your team to lose, the stakes are very low. It’s a pleasant surprise when they win.

Unless you’re the 1972 Miami Dolphins (the only team to ever go undefeated AND win a Super Bowl), losses are an inevitable part of the game. Even good teams lose a few each season. If your team is good, they play well, but they lose a hard fought game because the other team was just slightly better that week, sure, it’s a tough pill to swallow, but at least you can take pride in your team’s performance.

What has me red-faced and screaming obscenities at my TV every Sunday is that, the 49ers are a good team. They have the talent to win games, their division, and make the playoffs.

They got my hopes up, decisively winning their first two games this season.

Since then, they just keep finding ways to lose games.

They lead the league in defensive pass interference calls. They’re the third-most penalized team in the league. Often, these penalties occur on crucial third down plays. Instead of getting off the field, the defense commits a penalty, and gives the opposing offense a fresh set of downs. And too frequently, these penalties move opponents into scoring position.

That, and in this league, it’s extremely difficult to win games when you give quarterbacks like Aaron Rogers, Kyler Murray, and Russel Wilson second chances.

Its reached the point where I get so upset watching them lose, I’m not sure I can stomach it anymore. It’s bad for my blood pressure.

And I’m not alone.

Many of my friends are also die-hard Niners fans. And they’re just as frustrated as I am.

One of them even texted me, “Hard to believe I’m choosing to watch the Seahawks-Packers game for fun. It’s kinda nice not to be in agony while watching football.”

If you’re still reading, you may be thinking, “It’s just a game. Why do you care so much?”

That’s a larger question than you might realize.

According to Eric Simmons of the Columbia Journalism Review, “There is no single answer to why people watch sports, because the answer doesn’t lie in the game, it lies inside the individual[1].”

Simmons cites sports psychologist Daniel Wann who posits, “People like sports because they get self-esteem benefits from it. People like sports because they have money on it. People like sports because their boyfriend or girlfriend or family member likes sports. People like sports because it’s exciting. People like sports because it’s aesthetically pleasing. People like sports because, like the theater, it is a venue for emotional expression. People like sports because they need an escape from real-world troubles. People like sports because it provides a sense of belonging, a connection to a wider world [1].”

I’m not a gambler, but the rest of Wann’s reasons resonate with me.

Football is exciting to watch. It gives me a break from all the bullshit of everyday life. And, to some degree, it provides a sense of belonging.

If I see someone wearing a 49ers shirt, hat, jersey, etc., I know we already have something in common. They seem less a stranger, and more a member of a shared community who I haven’t met yet.

This is amplified when attending Niners’ home game. It’s an experience made all the better because I’m surrounded by tens of thousands of other people who want the same thing I do: for our team to win.

Also, and I’m sure I speak for many football fans here, seeing your significant other wearing the jersey of your favorite team…and nothing else…is a massive turn on.

First and ten, let’s move those chains!

Um…what was I saying?

Oh, right. Sports.

Watching sports can also be an emotionally engaging experience. In fact, any competition can evoke an emotional response. As Wide World of Sports broadcaster Jim McKay famously said, “It’s the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat.”

Think about it. How many people get wrapped up in things like reality competition shows? They latch onto one contestant they like, and they root for them, vote for them, and root against and shit-talk other contestants.

Case in point, more people voted in American Idol polls than in presidential elections during the show’s 15-season run.

In my case, being a 49ers fan, and a fan of the game of football, is rooted in those childhood memories of watching football with my dad.

It’s rooted in the times I got to watch the Niners win Super Bowls.

It comes from bonding with the friends I made during 8 years of playing football. I loved every second of it, despite a broken arm, three concussions, and the dozens of times I broke or dislocated fingers (a common injury with linemen).

When the Niners win, it brings forth all those good memories.

When they lose, it’s like they’re taking a steaming dump on those memories.

Is any of this rational?

Shit no.

Emotions and nostalgia rarely are.

Kickoff is in a few hours, and I’m still on the fence as to whether or not I’ll watch the game tonight. With half a season still left to play, this game already has playoff implications.

If the Niners lose this one, they lose all hopes of a post-season. I’m not sure I want to watch a series of perfunctory games the rest of this season.

But who knows?

Maybe San Francisco will turn things around. A win tonight could be the momentum shift they need to turn this season around, to “make chicken soup out of chicken poop” as my old line coach used to say.

And I’d regret not seeing them play well and win tonight.

Maybe I am ready for some football…

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Reference:

[1] Simmons, Eric. “What Science Can Tell Sportswriters about Why We Like Sports.” Columbia Journalism Review (cjr.org). Sept/Oct. 2014. https://archives.cjr.org/full_court_press/science_sportswriting.php Nov. 16, 2021.