What's the saddest you've ever been after a football game?

Reading all these comments, makes me realize that being a sports fan is at first glance, truly a peculiar passion to have. Every year we invest so much of our emotions, money and time into fully supporting our team on as they battle for success. And yet at the end of the day with there only being one winner, the chances are overwhelming against us that we're setting ourselves up for failure. The higher the stakes, the heavier the melancholy.

I remember my own grief during those '07 and '11 runs. And despite the 18-1 mark and the un-fucking-believable absurdity of that catch that shall not be named, the '11 Superbowl hit me harder. Why? Because I let myself get way too emotionally invested by all the rematch chatter: how we were going to better prepared, how this would be revenge, how Eli would not be able to pull off another miracle to grab the win...

And then he did. We were close again, so very close. And that's what hit the hardest, how victory and success were within reach, that I could almost taste the euphoria before it was washed away by a sea of devastation. Most of this year's NFC teams can probably relate - it's a harsher feeling to be denied success once you're caught a whiff of it.

So why do we put ourselves through all this stress when we know that more likely than not, our team is not gonna win it and we're left to brood in our all too familiar dejected emotions ? Because we remember the good times. The sudden rush of euphoria from that last minute interception or touchdown to grab the win, the bragging rights we gain from defeating the rival team, the pure joy and ecstasy that courses through our body as the game ends to declare us Champions.

Infrequent these euphoric feelings may be compared to all the losses, but it's what keeps us coming back the next year to go again. Because we know no matter how small the odds, that there's a good enough chance we'll end up being the victors. That this season will be different, that the team has learned from its mistake and that the success is going to be vindictive of all the failures and losses we've put ourselves through over the years.

So what this elaborate post is trying to say is fuck the past. Cause next season is a new season, and with a year of growth your promising youngsters are ready to challenge the established elite for the title. That this could be very well be the year your team hoists the Lombardi trophy as champions of the world. Unless that is you're a Jets fans, in that case just throw in the towel, your fate has long been decided.

/r/nfl Thread