Steve2222":1z0kwkou said:
I mean if we're following the "Richard Sherman who you should like and dislike" model the only players we would probably be able to dislike are Michael Crabtree and possibly Darrell Revis seeing as those are likely the only players he has beef with.
Sherman is way off on this. He's not looking at it through the lens of a Seahawks fan but as a peer to Newton. Any sane Seahawks fan realizes writing a nasty letter to Cam or signing a petition to ban him from CentLink is unacceptable and cheesy. But disliking him because he's a cocky rival to our team is healthy and what makes being a fan great. Jets fans hate Tom Brady because he's cocky and a rival to the Jets. I'm sure Tom Brady is a great guy off the field.
It's very true that players and fans have totally different perspectives on how they view other players. NFL is a business and they are all employees of that business. They may go after each other on the field but off the field they are part of the fraternity of NFL players. They hang out, support each others' charities, and have respect for one another. Competition on the field; cooperation off it.
As fans we dislike opposing players because they play on opposing teams. Often the better the player, the more we dislike him. We'll interpret anything we see in a negative light if it comes from a rival and in a positive light if it comes from one of our guys.
In the same way, we are huge fans of a player while he is with us, but often turn on him the moment he departs. We resent players for making business decisions that their peers completely understand and support.
If Kearse goes on to a big contract for another team, our guys will be happy for him for making some money. Sure, they will miss him, but they also see a friend being well paid. The fans, however, will burn him in effigy.