Woo! Comic #300! Thank you guys so much for reading and keeping me motivated for this silly idea.

I didn’t want to do 2 comics about Johnny Football in a row, but I guess it was inevitable after that weekend. He didn’t set the league on fire all Johnny Football style, nor did he have a middling nobody rookie performance. He was really raw and played terribly. Of course, this was met with the expected response.

LOOK HOW BAD HE IS! JOHNNY FOOTBALL IS A BUST. HE’S A JOKE. It was the kind of day the haters were living for. It was the kind of day the old stodgy grumps hate. This young hotshot smug douche who “didn’t play football the right way” and all that crap. I’ve been watching football for years and I’m well versed in just how over-reactionary people can be, but sometimes it still manages to surprise. This was one of those times. So many people calling JFF out. So many people saying he was done, that he would never work, that Johnny Football is over. Those people are stupid. You simply cannot make those kinds of judgments after one game, but some idiots were legitimately calling him a bust after 1 quarter!

JFF is a rookie, who only played 2 years, in a style of ball not typical in the NFL. This is week 15, to me I think the Browns were giving up the season. Hoyer wasn’t playing well at all and they were officially in a very difficult spot to make the playoffs. Lets see what the Rookie can do! Throw him to the wolves, see what happens? JFF played bad. I have no way to defend his play, he was awful. But to dismiss him after one bad game, it’s just ridiculous. No player deserves to be judged for one game. Not even 3 games. He could finish this season doing just as bad (He plays the Panthers and Ravens, so not super powers but still stout defenses) and I still don’t feel like he will deserve to be judged as a bust. He was always going to need time to adjust. One game and lots of time on the bench is not enough time. It just isn’t. Anyone who says JFF is a bust after one game is an idiot. It’s not fair to him, and it’s not fair to football. Yes I wish he was less hyped. Yes I enjoy seeing him get hit and the defender mocking his money sign. But I also want to see him succeed. I really do.

I’ve alluded to this before, but the NFL needs personalities like JFF, for good and for evil. Football is entertainment, you can pretend it’s not but it absolutely at it’s core is just pure entertainment. If Johnny is good, then he’s awesome to watch because he’s fun to see. If Johnny is good, his brand will grow and his media hype will increase and we will all love to hate him. Part of me really liked Tebow. Tebow was terrible. I had some guy on twitter start arguing that Tebow never got a fair chance and was unfairly judged just like JFF is being. I disagree with that, Tebow had more opportunity and didn’t prove his worth. He was a little screwed by the Jets for sure, but he was dumped by Denver for a reason. The Pats dumped him for a reason, and I think he never got play time on the Jets for a reason. Tebow stunk at an NFL level. But part of me liked having him there, because man he was fun on gameday. The rest of the week? I wanted Tebow to go away. But on gameday? He was so fun. I loved watching his energy, his enthusiasm, and his failures. Watching Tebow try to do a Tebow thing and get lit up was so satisfying. That playoff game against the Steelers was incredible and I was pulling for him, and yet I I still rooted for the Pats the next week to destroy him and it was glorious. I loved hating Tebow. Now that he’s gone? I don’t care about him at all and wish that those in the “Cult of Tebow” are morons who need to move on. Tebow is gone. Get over him.

What’s funny is those are the same people who now call JFF a bust and want him gone, and will proclaim always being right if he does indeed flame out. JFF just speaks to a different type of personality. Now those who loved and pine for Teebs and feel he was never given  a chance call  Johnny a flame out after 1 game. No ability to see their own hypocrisy. I kind of want JFF to succeed just to piss off those Tebow numbnuts. JFF is going to be a hype machine until he’s out of the league. Just embrace it and hope we see some clownball/amazeball before it happens.

Go Johnny Football. I don’t have the most faith you’ll be a star, but I’d love it if you proved me wrong.