Jerry Seinfeld has a routine where he laments the changing nature of rooting for teams in professional sports. With all the trades and movement via free agency, Seinfeld says it’s gotten to the point where we’re all rooting for laundry, because the clothes stay the same but the players don’t.
It’s not one of his funnier routines, but the point is accurate. The transient nature of professional sports has made it foolish to get too attached to any players on your favorite team. Since I’m typically a realist, this hasn’t been too much of a problem for me. While my allegiance to my favorite teams never wanes, I usually choose my favorite players from around the league. These are players I enjoy watching for one reason or another, and since they’re not on my team, I don’t really care what team they play for.
Sometimes, however, I find myself choosing my favorite player from my favorite team, but rarely have I ever had the disappointment of seeing him leave during the prime of his career. I was dejected to see personal favorites like Charles Oakley (Knicks) and Jessie Armstead (Giants) leave town, but they had already given me years of enjoyment as a fan, so I was able to come to grips with their departure.
It’s not always so easy to see our favorites leave, so you can imagine my dismay when I found out that safety Gibril Wilson, my favorite member of the New York Giants, had signed a free agent contract with the Raiders just four years into his career.
After being drafted by the Giants in the fifth round of the 2004 NFL Draft, Wilson entered the league with little fanfare. And to be honest, I latched onto him mostly because of his amusing name. From Pepper Johnson to Osi Umenyiora, the Giants have never lacked great names, and Gibril was no exception.
Similar to the way I developed a fondness for Armstead, I watched Wilson as he excelled on special teams and in certain pass-defense packages his first couple of years in the league. It turned out he was actually pretty good, and I never hesitated to sing his praises to all my fellow Giants fans.
But then he became a major contributor to the Super Bowl champions, and suddenly he was a hot commodity on the free agent market. And when I found out that the Raiders were hot after him and he was raised in northern California, it seemed like a no-brainer he would end up there. When you factor in that the Raiders were willing to make him the third-highest paid safety in the league, and it was a recipe for his departure.
I can’t blame him for taking the money because word around the campfire is that Giants weren’t going to come close to matching the $39 million contract he received that included $16 million in guaranteed cash. I don't want to say Wilson isn't worth it, but I get the sense the Raiders are attaching a little too much value to the fact that he just won the Super Bowl, as if he has some magic winning dust. If the Giants lost to the Patriots, I have to think the contract he received would have been worth about 30 percent less.
Don’t worry, this is not going to ruin my week, or even my day. It’s just a little disappointing. The lesson, as always, is Seinfeld sees all.
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