Jaguars GM admits fans’ troll job helped team get on winning track
Part of the beauty of being a sports fan comes from being a part of something bigger than yourself. As much as you yell at the TV, complain about one play call or another, or shout tips at your favorite players (you know you do it), you don't control the outcome on the field of […]
Part of the beauty of being a sports fan comes from being a part of something bigger than yourself. As much as you yell at the TV, complain about one play call or another, or shout tips at your favorite players (you know you do it), you don't control the outcome on the field of play.
There's something beautiful about that. But Jacksonville Jaguars fans can claim their actions really helped change the direction of the team. Or at the very least, they successfully sparked much-needed motivation.
At least according to Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke, they did. How? By sending him a clown figurine that he keeps at his desk day in and day out.
"Some fan sent that to me," Baalke said of the clown on the Jaguars' new docuseries The Hunt.
"It was a little clown figurine, and I said, 'You know what? I'm going to put it there to remind myself every day why I come to work,' what my purpose is, I guess. It's to prove them wrong."
It wasn't that long ago when Jaguars fans attended games in full clown attires, mocking Baalke and his decision-making. But Baalke has found redemption as of late.
After fielding all sorts of criticisms last year following a spending spree that led to accusations of "overpaying" for key free agents, the Jaguars won the AFC South and were the main characters of one of the most electric playoff comebacks in NFL history during the Wild Card round.
Now the Jaguars are seen as one of the best teams in the AFC.
"What the critics have to say or do really doesn't affect my day-to-day," added Baalke in the show. It's just not how I'm wired. It's not my DNA. You wake up in the morning and put your shoes on and go to work and you do the best job you can and everything else takes care of itself."
But the Jaguars GM understands the NFL is a "what have you done for me lately?" league. And in case he forgets it from time to time, he keeps the clown figure near him as a reminder of what he's paid to do.
"I'm paid to do a job and that job is to help build this organization into a winning franchise," Baalke added. "And that's, that's my focus is the only way to silence the critics is to prove them wrong."
You can check out the Jaguars' opening episode of The Hunt in the video below:
