Heroball

For the first time in the history of the internet someone made an argument that changed my mind. Last night, my friend Nathan Adams posted a meme on the TBTL No Point Conversion fan page. It’s of a fisherman jerking a football away from the Green Bay player just as he is about to recover the onside kick and cinch the game for the Packers. This was shortly after the game and in my aggressive emotional state it made me laugh. Then my other friend Edward Madson commented that this meme was obnoxious, uncool fan behavior. After giving Ed a Wet Blanket Award I went back to watching post game coverage.

Ex-coach Brian Billick was on the NFL Network explaining what happened on that pivotal play. Brandon Bostick, a backup tight end for Green Bay, is a member of the “hands team” tasked with recovering onside kicks. His assignment was to make contact with one or more Seahawk defenders to stall them just for a moment while Jordy Nelson caught the arcing kick. Well, the ball bounced up so perfectly toward Bostick that, even though had ONE JOB (to block) he couldn’t help himself from trying to snatch the ball out of the air and win the game, even though Nelson was perfectly poised to come down with it as planned by the Packers.

Bostick whiffed on the ball, it bounced off his facemask and the Seahawks recovered the kick. Without knowledge that this was more than just a physical error it seemed the Packers coach was being a complete jerk to Bostick as he berated him coming off the field. Now, with this new information I was siding with the coach. Just do your one little job and they go to the Super Bowl! Now the kid has to live with the implications.

Last week Luke was talking about the “replacement ref” who made the questionable call in the Fail Mary game a few years ago. He is still haunted and harassed over a play with much less clear implications. Bostick has a bigger burden. Because he couldn’t resist trying to play heroball on one play his team is done for the season. Aaron Rodgers’ legacy shines a little less brightly, and Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy’s name starts to appear in sentences that contain words like “embattled.”

But imagine if Bostick had made the play. High fives all around and a trip to the Super Bowl but do the Green Bay coaches reprimand the kid? Whether or not he caught the ball, going after it was the wrong move. Does he get benched and cut after the season? Would the media have noticed or cared about any of this?

Then I saw Brandon Bostick in tears during an interview after the game the fisherman meme came back to me. Here is a kid who made a mistake, admitted it, is sorry about it, but because of the nature of some sports fans will live in infamy and shame forever. I’m sorry I laughed, guys. For every near impossible comeback there is a seemingly inconceivable mistake. Brandon Bostick reached for heroism and came down with an armload of derision. That should be enough punishment. He doesn’t need the sTens piling on.

My “government” is Mike Frizzell. Friend me on Facebook where I embarrassed myself by giving up on the Seahawks 25 times during the game. Follow me @drewmcfrizz on Twitter. Check out Takedown Podcast’s FB page where we just posted a show with Monica Hamburg from the Dazed and Convicted Podcast.