(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Boo!)

During the annual rookie symposium the NFL holds each summer, players attend seminars where they learn about things like how to invest their money, staying away from drugs, why they shouldn't sleep with groupies, and other scintillating topics. These days, they should probably add a "How To Use Twitter" seminar.

This was posted after the Redskins' win over the Rams yesterday by linebacker--reserve linebacker--Robert Henson:

Maybe the rookie symposium should also offer something on proper grammar, although I guess that seminar is usually called "elementary school."

Henson then spent the next half-hour digging himself even deeper in his hole.

After getting deluged with the Twitter equivalent of booing (insults, wise-ass remarks, and one member of the local media calling for him to be cut, all in 140 characters or less), he spent the next half-hour trying to dig himself out of his hole, apologizing for the McDonald's remark and being a dick in general.

Henson wasn't the only Redskin to share his opinion on this topic.

Even family members of Redskins chimed in.

Now, for the record, Chris Cooley is probably my favorite NFL player. Tanner Cooley does a really good radio show on The Fan. Robert Henson, I'm sure is a very nice guy when he's not rubbing our faces in how much money he makes. But they couldn't be more wrong.

Fans have the right to boo anytime for any reason. Theoretically, they could boo the team if the hot dog stands at FedEx ran out of mustard. That's the freedom that comes with buying a ticket to a sporting event. Now, do they have the right to be vulgar or throw things at players? No, of course not. But booing? Totally within bounds.

Contrary to what some of the Redskins seemed to think, people weren't booing because they beat the Rams by "only" two points. People were booing because the team played like shit. The Redskins were in the red zone four times yesterday, which resulted in exactly zero touchdowns. If they were playing the Steelers or the Titans, that would be one thing. But the Rams? The fucking Rams? At home? I'm not one of those people who thought the Redskins had to come out and score 30 to make a statement, but they needed to score a touchdown. A touchdown.

At this point, the kicker and the punter are the Redskins' leading scorers. That's so incredibly wrong, it could only happen with this team.

And that last call Zorn made in the fourth quarter, deciding to go for the first down instead of the field goal was maybe the stupidest thing I've ever seen a football team do. Ever. The team is paying just Albert Haynesworth and DeAngelo Hall $144 million, and Zorn didn't trust the defense to stop the Rams from marching down the field to score a touchdown with only two minutes and no timeouts?

But back to the booing. The idea that fans can't boo when the team wins is absurd. Do you think the Titans were booed yesterday after losing to the Texans? Well, yeah, okay, there probably were a few. But not nearly as many as the Redskins heard, because even though they lost, they played a hell of a game. So if it's acceptable to not boo a team when they lose while playing good football, it stands to reason that it's also acceptable to boo them when they win while playing lousy football.

And let's be clear: The Redskins have given fans exactly two things since Snyder took over a decade ago: Jack and Shit. They haven't racked up the sort of goodwill that allows a team to have a really bad game and not hear about it from the crowd. Why some of the players chose to take this so personally boggles the mind. What they need to realize is this: Yesterday wasn't just about the Redskins and Rams. It was about the whole miserable last ten years. The fans were booing everyone. And I mean everyone. The offense. The defense. The coaching staff. Dan Snyder. Dan Snyder's lawyers. Vinny. Jeff George. Deion Sanders. Danny Wuerffel. Mark Brunell. The parking attendants. Everyone who's contributed to the Redskins game day experience being so fucking miserable. That's who was getting booed yesterday.

If anything, the players should feel good about the booing. It proves that fans still care about the team, in spite of years of mediocrity and an owner who treats them like walking ATM machines. It proves that people still like the players. I mean, I like Chris Cooley. I like Clinton Portis. I like Jason Campbell. I like Robert Henson. I even like Jim Zorn. (Sort of. Somewhat. In theory, anyway.) I don't want to see them go anywhere. I don't want to see this team get blown up next season, when Snyder and a new coach go all trade-happy and try once again to buy a championship, which is exactly what's going to happen if the team doesn't pull it together.

Bottom line is, fans boo because they care. It may not be fun for players to hear, especially after a victory, but there it is. If you don't like it, either get yourself traded to a team that always wins or get the hell out of the NFL. Working 9-5 at McDonald's may not pay millions of dollars, but you won't get booed. Maybe snapped at if you screw up an order. But not booed.