The National Football League, despite all of its excitement and popularity, is often cruel to its fans. This cruelty is extremely harsh to the league’s most optimistic fans. Fans of the Baltimore Ravens, New York Jets, and Philadelphia Eagles know all about this brutality. Ray Lewis, the Ravens’ star middle linebacker, played in the first six games this season before being sidelined by a bum hamstring. After keeping Lewis’ right thigh under a microscope for over a month, doctors thought surgery was the best course of action for the unstable hamstring thus ending the seven-time Pro Bowler’s season. Okay, so the Ravens’ season was already over by that time. That may be true, but a big reason for the team’s 2-4 start (as sad as it may sound) was another injury, the absence of starting quarterback Kyle Boller. Boller hyper extended his right big toe in the season opener and did not return until week 10. The Ravens have tons of problems (Boller being one of them). Their underperforming former first round pick is by no means a savior of the organization, but the team will end the 2005 season with him and the team’s defensive captain playing in only one game together. Since Boller’s return the Ravens are playing .500 ball and they did go a respectable 9-7 with him starting every game last season.
Adding to the unexpected was Jamal Lewis’ off the field troubles. The workhorse running back spent most of this past off-season in a federal prison camp. His sub par stats this season maybe linked to his lack of an off-season workout program. This type of misfortune is not out of the norm for the league’s lower franchises, but the 2000 Ravens won a Super Bowl. Then Raven fans saw one of the most dominant defenses in the league’s history, which was young in critical spots, poised to contend for more hardware. Their combination of superior talent on one side of the ball and outstanding coaching on the other side could have made them an inverted version of the Indianapolis Colts. That is wishful thinking and unfortunately wishful thinking does not work in the NFL. Injuries one year, losing Defensive Coordinator Marvin Lewis another, and an offensive minded head coach struggling to execute his blueprint for success all doomed the Ravens. Oh yeah, there were also those other two staples of the NFL, free agency and salary cap.
Nothing is guaranteed in the NFL. There is no such thing as building for the future. Win now because no one knows what next season will bring. As soon as Chad Pennington stepped into the New York Jets starting lineup, it was reasonable for Jet fans to expect a playoff caliber team throughout the prime of his career. Little did they know they were witnessing the prime of Pennington’s career. Injuries have bothered him in each of the three seasons since he first burst on the scene. Two of those years, Pennington’s injuries contributed to the Jets missing the playoffs. Now a surgically repaired right shoulder has many of the Jets’ faithful wondering whether or not Pennington has a future in the NFL let alone with the Jets. At least Eagle fans got good mileage out of their franchise quarterback, though a world title still eludes them. Donovan McNabb’s sports hernia was the straw that broke the back of the Eagles’ hopes of a fifth straight conference title game appearance and back-to-back Super Bowl appearance. McNabb’s injury was preceded by years of losing key personnel to free agency and of course the T.O. saga.
Those are only a few examples of how the NFL can be brutally cruel. Today’s expectations can easily turn into tomorrow’s frustrations. Coaches like Miami’s Nick Saban may sound realistic when stating their desire to focus on the future, but who knows, the future may be even worse. Cincinnati is looked at by many as the next Indianapolis. With Carson Palmer playing the role of Peyton Manning and Rudi and Chad Johnson rounding out the newest version of the triplets, they very well may be the Colts in waiting.
Then again Palmer might run into problems with injuries (see Ben Roethlisberger) and Marvin Lewis’ effort to get a bunch of young players to mesh on defense may pale in comparison to the job performed by Tony Dungy. Unlike any other league, the NFL teases fans. Next year is the year. The next several years will be the years. Injuries, free agency, and luck caused these proclamations to be written in sand and not stone. Whether rooting for Kyle Boller or Michael Vick, no fan is immune from facing this disappointment.