BAIL TO THE CHIEFS: HOW I LOST INTEREST IN THE NFL

I’m the kind of fan the Kansas City Chiefs and the NFL don’t want to hear about. Yeah, I had Chiefs season tickets for about 15 years. I went to the Carl Peterson Show, the Tim Grunhard Show, and religiously watched road games with friends and family. I bought t-shirts, sweatshirts and hats emblazoned with the arrowhead. I even ran a fantasy football league for several years.

I bled red.

Then something happened. Every year I had tickets, the price went up. I got married. I had kids. The team has been a playoff failure since 1993.

I learned my entertainment dollar could be spent elsewhere and better yet, more efficiently.

I also looked around and saw the behavior of the people I had developed and shared my Arrowhead experience with for so long, and I hated it.

When the Chiefs won, they would taunt the other team and the other team’s fans. When the Chiefs lost, it was worse. Not only did they take out their frustration on the other team’s fans, but they took it out on each other. I’ve seen men shove their wives/girlfriends. I even saw a guy destroy a food and beverage cart after an emotional Chiefs playoff loss. I’ve seen arguments. I’ve seen fights.

OK, this is by no means unique to Kansas City. I’m sure this happens in every NFL city when their team loses. And I can honestly say, I’ve never been so emotional about my team losing that I have to take it out physically on someone or something.

In other words, it’s just a game, and my life isn’t so pathetic that I live and die by it. I mean win or lose, do you really believe these guys give a damn about me or what I do?

Now, I rarely watch the Chiefs or any NFL game for that matter on TV. I can’t stand to listen to the radio geeks talk Chiefs. I never where my Chiefs apparel, and I haven’t played fantasy football in about seven or eight years.

And here’s the amazing part about the whole thing: I don’t miss any of it.

Sure, if someone handed me a ticket, and I didn’t have anything else going on, I’d probably go to a game, but that doesn’t make me a hypocrite. That makes me someone going to a free football game, nothing more, nothing less.

I haven’t changed because of the recent poor play of the Chiefs or the different direction the organization has gone under Scott Pioli, which by the way, I don’t necessarily agree with. I’ve grown tired of professional football in general, and the funny thing is that I don’t believe I’m alone in my thoughts.

I know of several friends and family members who share the same sentiments as I. Maybe it’s a maturing process. Maybe it’s an awakening. But whatever it is, I don’t see my views changing anytime soon.