All of Ravens Flock is ablaze following the announcement of the NFL Top 100 list, but does it really even matter? Here’s a hint… it doesn’t.
Well, the Baltimore Ravens Twitterverse was on fire Wednesday night when word got out that Lamar Jackson was voted the top player in the league in the NFL Top 100 rankings.
On the flip side, the Ravens Twitterverse was similarly lathered up earlier in the week with lower-than-desired rankings for Ronnie Stanley, Marlon Humphrey, and — I did lose interest for a while, so I want to say… Bart Scott? Kim Herring? Jeff Blackshear? Sorry. It seems that Ravens fans have considered their beloved organization to be slighted at every turn since Art Modell first rolled into town.
And, guess what? It is every fan base that feels this way. Kansas City fans — notoriously defensive as of late, despite being the defending Super Bowl champions — nearly combusted into a red and gold inferno when their beloved quarterback came in as the fourth-best player in the league. Cowboys fans cried into their perennially-tear-soaked hankies over Zeke Elliott being lower than they wanted. Chargers fans… are there still Chargers fans?
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Regardless, a significant number of fans of “America’s Game” sweat, agonize and bemoan all rankings of their favorite teams or players unless, well, unless they are overly-flattering. Remember when the Madden ratings started coming out recently? People stood on metaphorical soapboxes to complain that their favorite player was rated 83 when he should have easily been a 97. People complained vigorously about “Awareness” ratings.
Awareness ratings. On a video game. This is what grown people complain about in a year featuring a pandemic, presidential elections, murder hornets, and a new Taylor Swift album?
This happens with power rating articles, as well. A writer of opinions offers his or her opinion over how the teams stack up in that opinion writer’s opinion and people lose their ever-loving minds. Look, it doesn’t matter if a writer believes the Ravens are the best team in the league during any random week of the season, the fourth-best team, or the 32nd team in the league. This isn’t the NCAA, where rankings can determine who makes the playoffs or a bowl game.
Repeat after me: This is the NFL. The teams play a schedule that is based on its division, rotating divisions, and two “wild card teams” determined by the previous season’s finish. The teams who qualify for the playoffs due to their records and/or tiebreakers make it to the playoffs. There they play each other until a champion is determined. On the field of play.
Not in my power rankings. Or a Madden tournament. Or a listing of the top 100 players in the league determined by a group of players who are often so busy during the season they only watch the film of the teams they are playing.
These lists are fun, and a good way to instigate conversation as fans are getting ready for training camps to presumably pick up shortly. They’re good as far as knowing what other people might think about your team or its players.
But we have to stop getting our feelings hurt or establishing our self-identity by what other people might think. Watch the games. Enjoy the amazing players who are on each and every roster in the league. Take a breath.
It’s supposed to be fun. Remember?