Eagles Week: Studs, Duds, and Hat Tips

[Neophyte]

Forbes had a bad game but people are lousy. No excuse for this.



If I'm a pro athlete today, I'm off social media. 100%

 

[Boone]

Agree. Nothing to be gained by it. I don’t know if I believe that tweet though. Death threats? And most of the snark being thrown his way seemed to be from Eagles fans… big surprise there.

 

[Neophyte]

I don't know about the death threats either, Boone, but the fact that the player felt the need to deactivate his account is a bad look for fans on the whole.

 

[Boone]

Yeah some people suck. But the fact he is spending time on this kind of shit during a short week is also an issue. Especially after last Sunday.

 

[Boone]

Here’s the other thing… I guess if the coaches mentality is to start the rookie (despite him clearly struggling at times) in order to accelerate his learning and development, that’s fine. But you also don’t want to traumatize him or destroy his confidence level which seemed close to occurring last Sunday. The last thing I want to see is him continuing to spin (either about his performance or fans responses to it). He would do well to look at how Sam Howell handled a disastrous outing.

I’ll be positive and hope he’s getting off social media to remove a distraction vs. it being a co continuation of his sideline meltdown.

 

[burgold]

Here’s the other thing… I guess if the coaches mentality is to start the rookie (despite him clearly struggling at times) in order to accelerate his learning and development, that’s fine. But you also don’t want to traumatize him or destroy his confidence level which seemed close to occurring last Sunday. The last thing I want to see is him continuing to spin (either about his performance or fans responses to it). He would do well to look at how Sam Howell handled a disastrous outing.

I’ll be positive and hope he’s getting off social media to remove a distraction vs. it being a co continuation of his sideline meltdown.

Doc was saying similar about not pulling Sam during the Bills game. He said, at some point it's not learning it's just punishment.

 

[Boone]

I thought they should’ve pulled Sam at the time.

 

[burgold]

Agree. Nothing to be gained by it. I don’t know if I believe that tweet though. Death threats? And most of the snark being thrown his way seemed to be from Eagles fans… big surprise there.

Frankly, I do believe it. Hell of a lot of trolls out there who seemingly have no lines. They think it's fun to terrorize and bully.

 

[Neophyte]

Yeah some people suck. But the fact he is spending time on this kind of shit during a short week is also an issue. Especially after last Sunday.

Even during a short week, guys should have personal time. It can't be the job all day every day.

And I don't view this as a continuation of his sideline meltdown. I consider it a healthy step. Forbes identified something in his life that obviously wasn't a positive for him at this point and took steps to remove it.

My issue here isn't Forbes nor should it be. The issue is the public's treatment of pro athletes after a bad game or bad play.

 

[Boone]

I get it. But you’re probably talking a handful of jack wagons out of hundreds of thousands of fans. Social media always distorts/amplifies the most extreme sentiments.

And like I said, if he did it to remove distractions that’s a good thing.

People going way over the line on social media is inexcusable, but again that’s just one of many reasons he has to learn to control his emotions better during the game.

 

[Boone]

Frankly, I do believe it. Hell of a lot of trolls out there who seemingly have no lines. They think it's fun to terrorize and bully.

That guy is not a legitimate source. He posts a lot of clickbait. Just sayin’…

Regardless, your all’s points stand. Don’t be that fan.

 

[Henry]

Here’s the other thing… I guess if the coaches mentality is to start the rookie (despite him clearly struggling at times) in order to accelerate his learning and development, that’s fine. But you also don’t want to traumatize him or destroy his confidence level which seemed close to occurring last Sunday. The last thing I want to see is him continuing to spin (either about his performance or fans responses to it). He would do well to look at how Sam Howell handled a disastrous outing.

I’ll be positive and hope he’s getting off social media to remove a distraction vs. it being a co continuation of his sideline meltdown.

I really don't get hanging him out to dry like that for the entire game. How is that helping anyone? The team loses the game and the kid gets blamed. This is all on the coaches, if you ask me. It's unforgivable to allow a mismatch like that to happen all game long without any adjustments.

 

[Boone]

I’m with you brother.

 

[Primus Porcus]

From what I've heard, a lot of the flack was also coming form the Eagles fans... not all from Commanders fans.

Chick Hernandez tweeted that he spoke to Forbes and that Forbes is fine... it's nothing to make a big deal about.

That leads me to believe this was less about him not being able to handle it, and more about him choosing to either not waste his time, or not break down and retaliate. Either way walking away from twitter may be the healthiest option.. if it's of the latter 2.

 

[Chris]

I’m just glad that every second of my professional performance was not on display for the citizens of the world to evaluate, criticize, and make sweeping judgements about.

 

[Boone]

You might feel differently if you had their pay rate

 

[Chris]

I don’t think it has a single thing to do with pay. It’s all about emotional maturity and perspective, neither of which are in high supply on social media.

 

[Boone]

I get it of course. I'm just saying, it's hard to feel sorry for millionaire athletes (or future ones) because of meanies on social media. I'd be laughing all the way to the bank.

 

[Chris]

Under every uniform and helmet is a human that shares the same hopes, dreams, fears, disappointments, and struggles in life that everyone else does. They just don’t do it in anonymity. Being a professional athlete at the highest level is the fulfillment of an individual dream, one that defies the longest of odds. Failing to meet their own performance expectations, as well as the expectations of fans, is a tough thing to come to grips with. Add in the cesspool of the internet, especially for young 20 somethings, and that tough thing gets multiplied. If Forbes stepped away from social media in order to protect his mental wellbeing…I applaud him. Everyone can’t just develop thicker skin, regardless of their bank account balance.

The video below is not an easy watch, and is not exactly germane to this topic, but it does provide a glimpse of the humans beneath the uniform and the helmet.

 

[Boone]

Good stuff Chris. My original point (beyond the snarky dumb pay comment) was:

1. The coaching staff did Forbes a disservice keeping him out there. There is ‘learning’ and there is ‘getting publicly brutalized’.

2. It saddened me to see Forbes in distress on the sidelines. He needs to learn/embrace that there will be days like last Sunday and find ways to keep the situation in perspective (both for his personal mental health, and because he will be more likely to succeed if he can).

3. In terms of the social media cesspool, my only comment is that the kinds of people who will make a savage or personal public post (even going so far as to tag the object of their anger/scorn) are a very small minority. One of the things I dislike about our modern world is that we take the absolute worst behavior and ascribe it to all of humanity. The vast majority of fans are rooting like hell for these guys and are often more wed to players they worship than they are to their team winning on a given Sunday.

So I am arguing that a decent beginning strategy to maintain good mental health would be for coaches to try and safeguard players from being humiliated in the first place, reminding oneself that 99% of social media brutality is coming from a select handful of idiots who are probably unemployed and living with their parents, and that I am making a great living doing something I love and that there will be good, great, and bad days and that is part of being an NFL player. I would hope vets like Kendall Fuller are helping him on this front.