COLUMN: Logan Ryan's Criticism of Titans Fans Reflects Attitude of Entitlement in the NFL
NASHVILLE, Tenn. ⏤ Former Tennessee Titans cornerback and current New York Giants safety Logan Ryan decided to lambast his old team's fanbase on Wednesday. "I played in a franchise in Tennessee where the fan base was nonexistent," Ryan said while answering a question about Giants fans' disappointment with the team's recent performances. "You couldn't even […]
NASHVILLE, Tenn. ⏤ Former Tennessee Titans cornerback and current New York Giants safety Logan Ryan decided to lambast his old team's fanbase on Wednesday.
"I played in a franchise in Tennessee where the fan base was nonexistent," Ryan said while answering a question about Giants fans' disappointment with the team's recent performances.
"You couldn't even get fans to the games, you had to put tickets half off to get fans to the games."
There is a litany of problems with that declaration.
For starters, it's grossly hyperbolic.
Sure, the Titans' fanbase isn't enormous⏤the team's official Twitter account is one of only four in the entire NFL with less than a million followers⏤but it exists, and it certainly gave Ryan plenty of support during his three years in Tennessee.
Ryan's comments are also disrespectful to a group of people who donated to and spread the word about the animal welfare charity he launched during his first season with the Titans, The Ryan Animal Rescue Foundation.
The biggest problem with Ryan's criticism of Titans fans, though, is the attitude of entitlement it reflects.
For whatever reason, Ryan and plenty of other NFL players hold fast to a belief that their teams are entitled to consistent and voluminous fan attendance regardless of performance.
That's not to say the Titans were bad or even that they weren't good during Ryan's tenure; the team's record with Ryan was a solid 27-21.
But Titans fans were jaded in the late 2010s from the team's headfirst nosedive into the toilet that lasted from 2014 to 2015, during which the Titans won five total games and just three at home.
Titans fans also probably found it hard to trust the team since, even during the winning seasons Mike Mularkey produced in his two years as head coach and the ones Mike Vrabel orchestrated in his first two seasons, it displayed a propensity to disappoint fans right after lifting them up.
As a result, Titans fans did not flock to Nissan Stadium in droves while Ryan was part of the team.
Want proof that the lack of a boisterous presence from Titans fans at home games during Ryan's tenure with the team was directly tied to the team's performance?
Just look at how Titans fans have filled Nissan Stadium in 2021, the first full-capacity season since Tennessee's January 2020 run to the AFC Championship.
That run, plus the Titans' improvement under Vrabel, healed a lot of wounds for Titans fans, and it's shown in their presence throughout this season, especially in primetime games.
There seems to be a misconception, among Ryan and plenty of other NFL players, that fans who can afford to attend games but choose not to are of the "fake" or "fair-weather" variety, even if the team isn't very good or has proven unreliable.
That idea just isn't true.
After all, attending an NFL game as a fan can be a bit of an ordeal.
You have to buy a ticket, pay for parking, walk from said parking spot to the stadium, wait in line to get into the stadium, endure a security check, find your seat and walk to it.
Then, if you happen to get hungry or thirsty during the three-plus hour event, you have to pay the ridiculous concession prices and, more than likely, wait in a brutally long and slow line that forces you to miss part of the game you paid a handsome price to view in person.
When the game is over, you have to walk out of the stadium, back to your car, and fight traffic as you return home.
All of that trouble is worth it if your team is good and exciting. If they're not, it's a hassle and, arguably, a waste of money, especially when you can have a perfectly fine experience watching the game for free on your couch at home.
Ryan doesn't understand that.
As a result, he's alienated himself from a fanbase that gave him a lot.
Cover image: Denny Medley/USA Today
