Eddie Jackson: Bears fans booing team is “unacceptable”

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https://670thescore.radio.com/chicago-b ... acceptable
"I just want to address that," Jackson said. "That booing situation, like, that's not us. That's to all my Chicago Bears fans. If you're a real Bears fan, a fan of any one of the Chicago Bears, the way we handle the situation of booing, things like that, it's called adversity. As a fan, as a player, in life, we're going to go through that.

"For them to start booing, that's something that we don't take kindly, we don't accept, we don't like. I just want to speak to the fans on that part. All the booing, we need to cut that out. It's football, we get it. Trust me, we're more frustrated than you guys are, and we don't boo our teammates. It's just a fact that they'll boo us now and cheer for us later. I feel like if you're going to ride, you're going to ride all the way. You're going to ride through the ups and downs.

"Especially on offense. For them to build the chemistry and the confidence that we need them to have, our fans booing them, it's not acceptable. If that makes any sense. Like, we get it. We understand. We get it. But at the same time, we cheer for each other. We lift each other up. If it's not working, don't boo. Lift each other up. The one thing about our defense is we always want to put the offense on our back."

"I don't care if the offense is doing horrible, booing is not acceptable," Jackson said. "When times get hard, you don't kick anyone when they're down; you pick them up. If the offense is not scoring and you see they're not scoring, don't boo, cheer for them. Lift them up.

"Your quarterback, he needs the confidence. You got to build him up, let him know, 'We're still rocking with you.' Let the offense know, 'We're still rocking with you.' Don't boo them. That's just one of the things I don't like.

"You got to understand he's a quarterback. He's a young quarterback. It's his third year, second year in a new offense. He needs as much confidence as he can get. It's a lot of talk going on about him on the Internet, things like that, and as a player, you're a human being. You can say you don't pay attention to this, you don't pay attention to that, but at the same time, you're human.

"When you come out there in your home stadium, where you're supposed to be the man, the guy, and they're booing you. Come on, man, that's unacceptable."


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I heard that. He did allow that fans have a right to boo. But he came across a bit strong. "Unacceptable" is a big word. That said, I pretty much agree with him, in that it doesn't help your team win if you're booing them. My behavior backs that up. I've been to some bad Soldier performances and I never boo. If I want my team to win, why does doing something that might make them feel bad and play worse help in any way?
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As far as I’m concerned, if I pay to attend a game, it’s well within my rights to boo. If they don’t want to be booed, score touchdowns.
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marlin
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Uh-oh. We've been here before. A crapstorm is coming and a huge contingent of Bears fans will now dislike Eddie Jackson for as long as he's with the team (and probably after).

Time will eventually heal all wonds and if he's one day inducted into the Hall of Fame, he'll give his speech in Canton specifically thanking the fans as being the 'best in the NFL'. And the fans will cheer him on like nothing ever happened.
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marlin wrote: Sat Sep 07, 2019 11:07 am Uh-oh. We've been here before. A crapstorm is coming and a huge contingent of Bears fans will now dislike Eddie Jackson for as long as he's with the team (and probably after).

Time will eventually heal all wonds and if he's one day inducted into the Hall of Fame, he'll give his speech in Canton specifically thanking the fans as being the 'best in the NFL'. And the fans will cheer him on like nothing ever happened.
I remember when someone else said that, and the fans excommunicated him. I think this is different. I actually like the way Jackson said it. It's not like he said, "you're fans, shut the fuck up and watch the game, you have no idea how hard this is." We've heard something like that before, and that's not a good look. What Jackson said was, "Don't boo us, help us. Cheer to lift us up. We're all in this together." I can respect that statement. It's still a fan's right to boo, and they should if they feel like it. But I don't think this comment was as egregious as past similar statements, when taken in context.
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Bears Whiskey Nut wrote: Sat Sep 07, 2019 11:14 am
marlin wrote: Sat Sep 07, 2019 11:07 am Uh-oh. We've been here before. A crapstorm is coming and a huge contingent of Bears fans will now dislike Eddie Jackson for as long as he's with the team (and probably after).

Time will eventually heal all wonds and if he's one day inducted into the Hall of Fame, he'll give his speech in Canton specifically thanking the fans as being the 'best in the NFL'. And the fans will cheer him on like nothing ever happened.
I remember when someone else said that, and the fans excommunicated him. I think this is different. I actually like the way Jackson said it. It's not like he said, "you're fans, shut the fuck up and watch the game, you have no idea how hard this is." We've heard something like that before, and that's not a good look. What Jackson said was, "Don't boo us, help us. Cheer to lift us up. We're all in this together." I can respect that statement. It's still a fan's right to boo, and they should if they feel like it. But I don't think this comment was as egregious as past similar statements, when taken in context.
Maybe if you literally curse out the fans, sure.
But you could be nearly the greatest Bear to ever play the game, leaving it all on the field for a decade plus long career, a leader, and loved by your teammates...fans will not accept being accused of showing low character. If history is any indicator, Eddie won't be getting off easy. It's human nature.
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Kinda torn on this. On one hand, I completely get what he's saying, and if you're on the field during a shitty game and the fans start to boo you, that's like a gut punch. But on the other hand, is it realistic to expect fans to cheer bad performances?

Cheering/booing is really a reactionary thing; it congratulates an amazing performance or punishes a bad one. When things are close, and your offense is on the field, most fans just shut up to let you do your thing and not interfere. The only time they'll get loud *before* something happens is usually when the defense is on the field and it's like 3 & 1 and they're just trying to mess with the offense.

The kind of reaction Jackson wants just doesn't happen based on games I've watched. Has anyone here ever cheered a missed field goal, dropped pass, or fumble? I highly doubt it.
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I love Jackson. That being said...

I don't know why players think that fans owe them all of this shit. If anything, it's the other way around.

You praise fans for their passion. You don't mind when they're out of their minds cheering for you. That comes with a flip-side to it. Emotion isn't a one way street.

Also, even if it's irrational? Guess what? Fans get to be irrational. Booing is a heat of the moment thing. That's why I didn't mind the fans who booed Luck. Yeah, a gut punch like that... some (not all, it really was a minority) were rightfully thinking "WTF?" Nobody is going to stop in that moment and think "Hey, we should all consider that Andrew is a person too!"

All of this grandstanding afterwards by analysts and players about "fans don't view us as human!" Sure, we do to an extent... but it's not all that different than how we view other people who do a job. If a bartender screws up my order, I'm going to say something. I'm not going to think "Man, he might be going through some shit!". That doesn't mean I am devaluing you as a person. However, you're not my friend or a family member. You're doing a service for me. Players are there to entertain me. I am not obligated to sincerely care about you personally.

Players just aren't owed everything that they think they are by fans. They're compensated with a fortune to play a child's game. So, you get booed... that's a part of the gig.
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OK and its unacceptable that the offense goes out there against Green Bay of all teams on Opening Night after the infamous double doink and shits the bed causing us to lose the game. Sounds like we're even.
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I love you Eddie and wish you well

now please cordially go fuck yourself
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I've never understood booing, what is this a pantomime? We going to start shouting "he's behind you" next?
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That offense deserved worse than booing, quite frankly. Maybe some effigies burned or something.

Eddie and the defense deserve hugs for what they had to put up with.
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BR0D1E86 wrote: Sat Sep 07, 2019 6:28 pm That offense deserved worse than booing, quite frankly. Maybe some effigies burned or something.

Eddie and the defense deserve hugs for what they had to put up with.
I wonder if that's the reason Nagy decided to go for it on 4 and 10 instead of bring out Piñeiro. Given how the game had gone so far, can you imagine if a kicker missed a field goal? The fans would have probably stormed the field.
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Richie wrote: Sat Sep 07, 2019 1:48 pm I love Jackson. That being said...

I don't know why players think that fans owe them all of this shit. If anything, it's the other way around.

You praise fans for their passion. You don't mind when they're out of their minds cheering for you. That comes with a flip-side to it. Emotion isn't a one way street.

Also, even if it's irrational? Guess what? Fans get to be irrational. Booing is a heat of the moment thing. That's why I didn't mind the fans who booed Luck. Yeah, a gut punch like that... some (not all, it really was a minority) were rightfully thinking "WTF?" Nobody is going to stop in that moment and think "Hey, we should all consider that Andrew is a person too!"

All of this grandstanding afterwards by analysts and players about "fans don't view us as human!" Sure, we do to an extent... but it's not all that different than how we view other people who do a job. If a bartender screws up my order, I'm going to say something. I'm not going to think "Man, he might be going through some shit!". That doesn't mean I am devaluing you as a person. However, you're not my friend or a family member. You're doing a service for me. Players are there to entertain me. I am not obligated to sincerely care about you personally.

Players just aren't owed everything that they think they are by fans. They're compensated with a fortune to play a child's game. So, you get booed... that's a part of the gig.
Many good points here. But comparing your favorite team you've been following for years or decades to a seemingly random bartender was a wildly inaccurate comparison.
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The zero pre-season snaps experiment ( what was it, 3 hand offs on one drive week 1?) does not work with a young QB who needs confidence building reps.

We are weeks behind the other teams and dont have the luxury of a HOF QB calling plays at the line.
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Eh, I don't take what Jackson said personally. Mike Brown used to say it all the time. Tommy Harris said it. Hell even Urlacher said something along the lines of "you guys booing us doesn't make our job any easier".

Fans can boo, players can get bent out of shape over it. None of it really matters. I'm not going to stop cheering for Eddie Jackson because he said something that a fan doesn't like.
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I didn’t boo.

But, I get the frustration. The whole city was so hyped and ready for this all week. The stadium was anticipating greatness, and just waiting for a chance to explode in joy. Never happened. So deflating and disappointing.

The crowd really turned surly after the 4th and 10 debacle. Ugly, ugly, ugly.
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I've always thought booing was tacky. Fans who pay can do it but I think it's dumb. If Jackson wants to stop tacky/unruly fans, winning is the cure.
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Mikefive wrote: Sat Sep 07, 2019 10:18 pm
Richie wrote: Sat Sep 07, 2019 1:48 pm I love Jackson. That being said...

I don't know why players think that fans owe them all of this shit. If anything, it's the other way around.

You praise fans for their passion. You don't mind when they're out of their minds cheering for you. That comes with a flip-side to it. Emotion isn't a one way street.

Also, even if it's irrational? Guess what? Fans get to be irrational. Booing is a heat of the moment thing. That's why I didn't mind the fans who booed Luck. Yeah, a gut punch like that... some (not all, it really was a minority) were rightfully thinking "WTF?" Nobody is going to stop in that moment and think "Hey, we should all consider that Andrew is a person too!"

All of this grandstanding afterwards by analysts and players about "fans don't view us as human!" Sure, we do to an extent... but it's not all that different than how we view other people who do a job. If a bartender screws up my order, I'm going to say something. I'm not going to think "Man, he might be going through some shit!". That doesn't mean I am devaluing you as a person. However, you're not my friend or a family member. You're doing a service for me. Players are there to entertain me. I am not obligated to sincerely care about you personally.

Players just aren't owed everything that they think they are by fans. They're compensated with a fortune to play a child's game. So, you get booed... that's a part of the gig.
Many good points here. But comparing your favorite team you've been following for years or decades to a seemingly random bartender was a wildly inaccurate comparison.
I could have used a better example, sure. However, a bartender could be somebody who has served you drinks for your entire adult life. I know the bartenders at my favorite local watering hole quite well. In fact, I know them FAR better than any of the Bears.

I think the point is mainly that when you fuck up at your job, you're not entitled to be cheered on with positivity over it. I know that I'm not. These guys have been treated like gods since middle school. They live in what is a literal fantasy world to most people. I saw a ton of athletes tweet out about how "Fans don't care actually about us as human beings!". I hate to sound like your "blue collar regular Joe" spitting out cliches... but welcome to the real world.
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I think the vast majority of the booing was directed at Nagy; and his poor personnel utilization and abysmal play calling.
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The problem with booing is it is too general. The booing was appropriate for Nagy in response to the expectations he set. Of course that was exacerbated by the lack of preseason snaps - regardless of the reasons. Nagy set himself up, and then when he was actually in-game and in a position to earn the trust he's had heaped on him ... he shit the bed. So that's a boo from me to Nagy.
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Let me start this with Eddie Jackson is one of my current favorite Bears. But these comments really pissed me off. First of all, booing is part of sports. I also don't agree with it but Eddie, just keep your mouth shut. If you don't like it fine but what good can possibly come from calling your own fans out? None. If it's such a big problem in the locker room then Nagy should address it with the fanbase.

But what really bothered me is his coming across like the games mean more to the players than the fans. I have a really hard time with that. We fans all chose this team. I've been a fan of the Bears for longer than Eddie Jackson has even been alive. The only games I got as a kid were vs Brett Farve's Packers on primetime games. Staying up late to see my favorite team demolished and embarrassed. Usually the only game I was able to watch for a few years. And that type of shit has continued into my adulthood. And guess what Eddie? I'm not paid hundreds of thousands of dollars a game to care like you are. And if you aren't given a second contract with Chicago you won't give two shits about this team again. Yet i'll still be here. So while I still love watching you Eddie Jackson, for these comments go fuck yourself.
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Just listened to the post-game presser and Nagy pretty much said the booing was deserved. Interesting how his take on it was that different from Jackson's.
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Xee wrote: Mon Sep 09, 2019 3:22 pm Just listened to the post-game presser and Nagy pretty much said the booing was deserved. Interesting how his take on it was that different from Jackson's.
Heard that too... I think Bojack was just protecting his QB (I respect that).
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I don't know it's like giving a kid a trophy for coming in last just to not hurt his pride or feelings. These guys get paid a ton of cash to play a game for entertainment purposes... If I pay a ton of cash to go see my team play and watch them play like garbage in prime time against our rivals after the coach seemed to think not playing anyone in preseason was a great idea I think they all deserve to be boo'd. It's part of playing a sport and fans had every right to boo them.

If they don't want to be boo'd then win games and look like you came prepared to win. The D looked great for the most part but this offense looked unprepared and sloppy. If their feelings get hurt for the fans pointing that out then maybe find another profession.

I love Eddie but seriously this is football, not the Special Olympics.
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Yeah, I don’t care that the fans booed. The team deserved it. That was just pathetic.

I also don’t really have a problem with EJax being upset about it. He should be. He should respond with four interceptions this weekend to show us what’s what. That’ll sure show us.
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They sure will enjoy how the fans treat them if they win a Superbowl I mean look how all the 85 Bears are treated decades later. Eddie wasn't around for decades of garbage football the fans have been.
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Sounded to me like his point was that booing doesn't actually help achieve the results that you wanted in the first place. Of course fans have the right to boo, but his point was to ask "to what end?" He even clarifies his point by saying that no one would expect his teammates to shit on him while having a bad game, their job is to try and help him get better - that's the expected behavior. If you have a young, struggling QB, booing him will NOT help him. And if we're all in it together, fans and players, then cheering him on may lift him up, may lift the team up, and actually help you achieve the result that you are looking for.

It's a smart point, but most people aren't capable of it.
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Everyone gets it you don't have to be a psychologist to understand what he's saying... My point is it's entertainment not a self help group. I'm not here to make them feel better that's what their paychecks and teamates are for.

50 years of watching junk with this team (give or take a couple years) I've earned the right to boo. Like I said he's only been a player for a couple of years and will undoubtedly leave this team for more cash at some point not stick around for another 50 years.

Rewatch the game and tell me if the play of the O-Line and TEs deserve praise LOL... All should be boo'd... That includes Nagy too. :|
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