Since I grew up outside of actual New York and simply inherited my fandom, I’ve been blessed in some ways to never really be involved in the fabled forever battle between Jets and Giants fans. The elitist condescension of Giants fans, “NFL royalty”, thinking the Jets are some pitiful garbage unworthy of any discussion. The frenzied animation of Jets fans, perpetually impotent and furious while screaming into the void that they are worth taking seriously when the team doesn’t back that up. The battle rages. The shitty mean older sibling vs the angry stupid younger sibling. On and on, forever the fight continues. I missed all that. I got to direct my hatred elseware and never really think much about the Jets.

But sometimes, on twitter, or in certain fan forums, or on reddit, I occasionally, by accident, stumble into the front lines of this stupid war. It is honestly embarrassing for all involved. There are a few different “areas” of fandom. There are the “sport” fans. Fans like myself, who generally just love the entire sport and will watch every game and find something to like. Fans like us, we love our teams but tend to realize the actual scope of the sport. These folks tend to be more statistically oriented, or pessimistic, or level-headed. They still get mad, irrational, and stupid, but they see football in the bigger picture. A loss will not ruin this fan, and usually, conversations will take a reasonable tone, even with the biases involved.

Then there are the Stans. The stans are the other side of fandom. The stans are the ones that give sports fans a bad name. The Stans are the ones who throw all their love and emotion into supporting the team and damn the torpedoes. Stans are delightful, but from a distance. They are an essential part of every fanbase, the eternal optimists and loyal defenders to the death. The stans are the vanguard of any fanbase. The stans are the ones jumping through tables, getting into fistfights, and dumping beers on opposing fans. They yell obscenities at families wearing the other team’s gear. They start the chants. They think every pick is a future all-pro. The stans are dangerous, violent creatures. To wander into a stan argument is to risk death…or worse…going stan yourself. It has consumed us all at one time or another. Most of us learn from it. But sometimes, we read the comments…and we see the worst of us all, toiling away, yelling at each other over nothing.

I want to be clear, this is mostly online interaction. Most fans are the former, especially in person. Online it is worse. In person I’ve never had a bad interaction with a Jets fan. Online, especially in the buttfumble year when I was making a lot of comics about the Jets, I got a lot of Jets hate and there are some Jets fans who still despise me for it, using my “giants fandom bias” as the reason. This is why on multiple accounts I’ve tried to make it clear I do not have any ill will towards the Jets.

Seeing Jets and Giants stans get into it on twitter, especially these days, is depressing and hilarious at the same time. Watching Giants and Jets fans arguing Jones vs Darnold as if it is Manning vs Brady is truly a sight to behold. It’s never a discussion, it’s angry frothing madness hurled at each other for no reason other than it is the way things have always been done. Right now, both teams are trash fires years away from potentially contending and that is only if either team manages to get their head on straight and figure shit out. Both the Jets and the Giants are bad. Bad for slightly different reasons, but also many similar ones. These New York gangs of Blues vs Greens are arguing about who gets to be king of the sewers.

The Jets trade of Jamal Adams sent off the most recent fight, and I wandered in with some popcorn yesterday and just watched the show. Did you know that Jamal Adams was actually never any good and the Jets are going to draft two all-pros with the two first rounders? Did you know Jamal Adams was trash until the second he left the Jets, at which point the Jets got completely fleeced and will waste their 1st rounders on more trash? Did you know that Adam Gase is actually smart and getting rid of headcases? Did you know that Adam Gase is the dumbest man alive and a total bitch who drives away every good player with his ego? Did you know the Giants would be better off if David Gettleman died of his cancer? Yeah, I actually saw that one. I wasn’t even surprised. If you’ve ever wandered into the weeds yourself, you probably aren’t either.

As for the trade itself, I actually think it was pretty decent for both teams. The Seahawks are perpetual contenders and tend to spend their first round picks on bizarre reaches. I personally hate the Seahawks during draft night, because more than any other team they’ve screwed me over multiple times drafting some guy I don’t have prepped for my draft cards. However, the Hawks are still great because Russ rules, and now they will have one of the better secondaries in the league, something they already exploited for a championship. Jamal gives the Hawks a much needed piece in a tight and tough division. The Jets? The Jets are a ways off of being contenders, but extra first rounders is a great way to suddenly make it happen, if they hit. Adams was annoyed in NY (Gase seems to have that effect) and getting such a haul for a safety is good business. Safeties, even great ones, are hard to build teams around. The Giants had no issue letting Landon Collins walk last year. Earl Thomas left Seattle because a great safety just isn’t as inherently game-breakingly valuable as other positions. You gotta be truly cream of the crop to earn that kind of respect. Ed Reed levels. Adams isn’t Ed Reed or even peak Earl Thomas, at least not yet.