Lighten up, Francis

Are you not entertained?

Well here we are. Firmly situated between the Super Bowl and the 2019 NFL Draft. Actively reviewing every mock draft, begging to see the picks that will change the fate of the 2019/20 Jaguars. Reading every tweet from our trusted (and untrusted) sources with the sole purpose of becoming more educated on those entering the draft, along with gather a lay of the free agent landscape.

It is a serious time for the passionate football fan. The analytic mind is at full throttle. There is no time for anything but tapping the tree of knowledge.

And then Josh Allen gave us diamonds.

If you have just returned from a year long hiking trek, in a GQ article before this past season began, Jalen Ramsey referred to Josh Allen as “trash”. Further adding:

He never beat a big school. If you look at his games against big schools, it was always hella interceptions, hella turnovers. It’s like: Yo, if you’re this good, why couldn’t you do better? He fits that mold, he’s a big, tall quarterback. Big arm, supposedly. I don’t see it, personally.

Allen, to his credit, responded in a very Stoic way.

He’s not on my team, he’s not my teammate. It doesn’t bother me. … I don’t care one bit. I care about my teammates, what my teammates think about me.

Thankfully, for the fan, these two were scheduled to meet in the regular season. Unfortunately the Jaguars imploded, allowing Allen to lead his team to victory in a tightly contested match. Josh Allen got the last word, and recently he offered his reply to Jalen, asking if he was still “trash”.

Or did he? More on that later.

Of course social media lit up. Here are a few bits from Twitter.

My TL right now is Josh Allen and Jalen Ramsey fighting over the right number of bath sheets to have and it's getting pretty weird.

— Mark Schofield (@MarkSchofield) February 18, 2019

Josh Allen Defaces Family's Autograph with Message Intended for 'Ramsey' for Some Reason https://t.co/6D3yVvHvil

— The Big Lead (@thebiglead) February 18, 2019

Alternate title:

Team with Blake Bottles somehow thinks they should talk about another team's QB
https://t.co/UbgTSgZj7T

— Buffalo Rumblings (@BuffRumblings) February 18, 2019

Josh Allen: Hey Jalen Ramsey I completed 52% and threw for 10 whole touchdowns. am I still trash?

Jalen: pic.twitter.com/KIqEIHxQ4J

— Ryan Burns (@FtblSickness) February 18, 2019

Our own Ryan Day was rewarded for his article on the story with, not only a retweet from Jalen himself, but also with recognition in an article at CBS Sports. Everything about this should have been fun. A WWE level spectacle.

But for some it was not.

I had a brief Twitter conversation with Buffalo Rumblings per their tweet above, a position that has zero logical grounding on multiple levels. First, are our friends over at Rumblings actually going to argue that one cannnot criticize another quarterback if their quarterback is Blake Bortles? That is akin to saying you can only criticize those who are beneath you. But how is this a problem for the fan? How is my ability to watch game tape and evaluate players in any way associated with how my team’s quarterback plays? Maybe it is more a people in glass houses should not throw stones, but this surely makes any player evaluations a problem for anyone.

Second, I assume this means Jaguars fans can only criticize those who have quarterbacks with lower passer ratings than Bortles (79.8). Spoiler alert, those quarterbacks are Sam Darnold (77.6), Josh Rosen (66.7), and Josh Allen (67.9).

The Big Lead tweet was another one that fell wide of the target. Calling the message on the photograph “disturbing”, the writer painted the picture of Josh Allen taking the low road by leveraging a families piece of memorabilia to further the verbal feud. The truth of the signing was made known in a piece by Brad Gelber over at “Bills Wire”, who took the time to interview Jeremy Seilheimer, the gentleman who traveled to get the autograph.

Many have made the autograph out to be a slight from Allen to Ramsey. However, Jeremy said that while it’s not what many want to hear, he actually asked Josh to write it.

“I paid for and asked Josh to write both inscriptions,” Seilheimer said.

“My wife Stacey and I were at the JCK (Jacksonville) game, obviously a memorable one for Josh and the fans and thought getting the canvas signed with those inscriptions would be a great addition to my Bills room!”

So what appeared to be a dig from Allen was nothing more than a request from a fan. Gotta love the offseason.

Yes Brad, we should love the offseason. We should see moments like this an opportunity to appreciate the entertainment value that is afforded by competitive players. A normally benign Bills/Jaguars game has now become more fun thanks to the the Ramsey vs. Allen matchup. We can look at the statistics to make our case (I see you Ryan), or point to the scoreboard as a symbol of victory. Or, we can do what Mark did and point out just how competitive these players are, going so deep as to debate linen count.

If you are taking this too much to heart, as if it is an affront to your very personhood because of how tied you are to your team, or team’s players, lighten up Francis. Jeremy figured it out.

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