FORT BENNING, Ga., (Sept. 13, 2013) -- For years now I have had to calm football fans from middle school to high school, college to pro's and for the last few years, fantasy team owners.
Every once in a while, you have to remind football fans the season is not a sprint, it's a marathon.
Two games does not a season make.
Sometimes, I even have to remind myself as I watch my fantasy football team occasionally not perform up to par.
At this point in professional football, who would have expected the Washington Redskins, New York Giants, Minnesota Vikings, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Carolina Panthers, Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland Browns and Jacksonville Jaguars to be 0-2 -- well, maybe I would have expected Cleveland and Jacksonville.
From those, Washington and Minnesota made the playoffs last year. New York and Pittsburgh are perennial playoff teams, and Carolina and Tampa Bay have managed to stay in the running.
So, why are teams losing against opponents everyone expects them to beat -- it's called parity in scheduling.
Teams that make the playoffs normally have a tougher schedule following a playoff year due to the formula the National Football League uses for the best out of each division.
If a team wins the division, it can expect to play mostly top-tier teams from other divisions and the other conference.
It is the NFL's attempt to even out the playing field. Long gone are the types of dynasties of the 60s and 70s.
When I say dynasty, I am talking about teams that made runs at the Super Bowl for 10 consecutive years or so.
Very few players spend their entire career with one team, which apparently makes it easier for a poor or marginal team to be competitive if it can pick up a free agent here and there -- that is, for any team not named Jacksonville.
But, for Jacksonville fans, remember, miracles happen everywhere. I hear there are crowds gathering outside your stadium chanting, "Te-bow, Te-bow, Te-bow."
All kidding aside, it is a marathon, and for all the fans who weather the storm, your time will come.
As a die-hard Vikings fan, I, above all, know this to be true.
I still wear my Alan Page jersey and refuse to retire it until Minnesota wins a Super Bowl.
Yes, the Vikings are one of those 0-2 teams -- note to self -- it's a marathon, it's a marathon, it's a marathon.
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