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The Agony of Defeat

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Ravens season goes through the fingertips of Mark Andrews

The end of the season for postseason participants in the NFL, happens in a flash. Hopes are dashed in an instant and consequently, the pain is acute, perhaps even unexpected. That’s the harsh reality of the league’s sudden death tournament.

Every player wants the ring. Each wants to embrace, even kiss the Lombardi Trophy. Being a champion becomes part of their legacy, etched forever in the annals of sports history. “Super Bowl Champion” decorates their Wikipedia page.

But when the harsh abruptness of the season’s end moves from the surreal to the real and the dream for that season is over, players’ thoughts move from prepping for the next opponent to cleaning out their lockers. It’s time to go home.

Players disperse. They say their goodbyes and sometimes the goodbyes last forever. Some players will be cut or not re-signed. Some will pursue greener pastures with other clubs. Some might even retire.

Yesterday was a day like this in Owings Mills where the 2024 Ravens convened for one last time this season. And judging from the vibe in the X below, it looks like one last time in a career.

Mark Andrews

The Ravens All Pro tight end didn’t make himself available to the media following the bitter loss in Buffalo. Devastated by a performance that unfortunately he won’t soon forget, Andrews opted to duck reporters. I can’t say I blame him, at least not immediately after the game.

The emotions must have been staggering.

Think about it. All the offseason training and conditioning; the OTA’s; mandatory minicamps; training camp; preseason; the regular season; fighting through physical ailments; three games in 11 days; the effort to win the AFC North; winning a wild card game to deliver your team to the doorstep of the divisional round and a chance to redeem last season’s loss in the AFC Championship Game. It’s a massive amount of energy and emotion invested in a singular goal that your team’s leader has insatiably pursued.

And then in a flash, it’s gone because you couldn’t finish a play that you’ve made 999 times out of a thousand. GONE! I can’t imagine the utter despair of failing like that during my college flag football days much less in the NFL when, the entire world is watching.

So I get that Mark Andrews needed to find a hole to hide in at that moment in time.

But yesterday, after 15 hours to collect himself, I expected Andrews to find some composure and face the music. Instead, he tapped out again.

Had Andrews posted, more than likely he would have delivered prepared, heavily canned responses to the obvious questions. Would those answers have made any of us feel any better about the outcome? Probably not. But facing the music may have gained Andrews a measure of respect – the kind of respect his professionalism, passion and compassion usually commands.

Maybe Monday was just another poor performance for Andrews.

Coping With Another Crushing Defeat

When Andrews dropped the two-point conversion attempt, for all intents and purposes ending the Ravens 2024 season, I immediately thought of the long jump skier, tumbling off the ramp during the introduction of the old ABC series, The Wide World of Sports.

“The agony of defeat”.

For those who have followed us here on RSR, you know that we’re all fans. We haven’t detached ourselves from fandom to be more objective in our coverage of the team. We haven’t anesthetized ourselves from the game’s emotions as part of an effort to provide more rationale opinions about the Ravens. We don’t see the need and we don’t think it diminishes the quality of what we do. We hope that it elevates our product. We connect with fans simply because we are fans. We feel your joy and in the case of Sunday night, we feel your pain.

And then we have to fight through the pain, to do our jobs.

It isn’t easy but it is what we’ve signed up for. That said, it doesn’t make doing a piece like The Good, Bad, Ugly and the Paige Spiranac an easy task. And it wasn’t.

Yesterday, when I listened to the players talk about the end of their season, they seemed to take it in stride better than me. Perhaps you too. For them it’s a business. Sure, they want to win but if they don’t, the landing seems far softer for them than the crash landing that fans experience. So, I thought, “You know what? I need to modify my outlook on these games. Losses hurt too much!”

Moving forward, I will try to view the NFL as a form of entertainment. I had fun watching many games this year. Sure, the season didn’t end the way we hoped. The players get over it and therefore so should I. We all gave it a shot. We all had a good time. We didn’t reach the top of the mountain, but we did better than 24 other teams and we had a chance.

We’ll take another swing at the title next season, together, where more fun and entertainment awaits. Where more laughter will be shared and more lifetime memories made.

Sounds like a simple plan, right? Executing it will be a challenge.

Wish me luck.

I’ll do the same for you.

The post The Agony of Defeat appeared first on Russell Street Report.


Source: https://russellstreetreport.com/2025/01/21/tltakes/season-ends/


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