It’s that time of year where hope springs eternal across all 32 NFL clubs. That star player who tore their ACL last year? He will be back to prior form. Rookies are ‘wowing’ teammates and coaches in gym shorts at OTA’s. Rex Ryan will guarantee a Super Bowl for his Bills.
We are in an NFL dark period. That terrible part of the year where we are oh-so-close to training camp but oh-so-far. A news starved fan-base will cling on to any coach’s quote, or a player predicting success for his team.
Go on to NFL.com right now. Headlines like ‘Cushing sees more ‘determined’ Clowney this season’, or “Harbaugh says Ravens’ offense in ‘much better shape’” pass for news, and they should be taken with a grain of salt. It’s no fault of the NFL.com writers, they’re paid to produce content, and that’s what they have to do. The problem is that they have to produce content when there is no content available, so to the fans I say…
BE CAREFUL!
Until training camp opens, read nothing. Note nothing. These stories mean nothing, nothing, nothing.
Remember when Joique Bell’s knee was going to be fully healed and he would be ‘surprised’ if he rushed for under 1,200 yards?
What about when Glover Quin predicted a 7-1 start for the Lions?
Or when Matthew Stafford was ‘more comfortable’ in Joe Lombardi’s offense?
Well I remember, and the exact opposite of each headline happened. Joique Bell ran for 311 yards. The Lions started 1-7. Joe Lombardi didn’t even get on the plane to London before he was fired after a 1-6 start and Matthew Stafford had one of his worst statistical stretches in his NFL career.
So in just under a month from now, Lions camp opens up. July 28th to be exact, and from now to then, I suggest you find yourself a new hobby. Maybe start a Madden franchise. Take up knitting, or do some puzzles. Get into formula one racing, it really doesn’t matter. The fact is that if you believe and repeat what is said now, you’ll find that a much different outcome awaits in January.
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