Every team in the midst of a bleak season probably experiences this but I'm sick of hearing Minnesota Vikings fans bitching about the team sacrificing draft position for supposedly meaningless wins. No win is meaningless. I doubt that there is a player in the league that cares about draft position during the season. They probably don't really care about the draft at all until the rookies are actually teammates. As professional football players they only care about the game at hand. They only care about winning. Winning and performance is the only thing that translates into success in their business. Draft position means nothing. The players only care about that which they can control.
These fans say that losing now is good for the future of the franchise. I can't really see losing on purpose as anything but a detriment to the future of the franchise. Who wants to play for a team that has such little respect for the game that they'd simply accept a loss? Accept a loss for the crapshoot that is the draft. History has repeatedly shown that the draft is a gamble at best. There are no guarantees. Even Andrew Luck. The Stanford quarterback would likely be less than thrilled to join a team with so little concern for wins. So little respect for the game. Losses suck. Even in a season with a bunch of them, one more sucks. Wins are special no matter the quality of the season.
The 2011 Minnesota Vikings want no part of the title as worst in team history. Understandable. In a season like this they find motivation in that. The 1984 team ended the season at 3-13 so the current version has guaranteed a tie at worst. There was never a comparison between the two teams. I remember that team far too well. Despite the difficulties, this team has always shown effort and heart. That 1984 team was an absolute disaster. 4 wins is far better than 3 even if it means drafting at 6 rather than 3.
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