The Detroit Lions and The Eric Ebron Narrative
By Mike Payton
The how and why
Sep 28, 2014; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; Detroit Lions tight end Eric Ebron (85) celebrates with teammates after scoring a touchdown against the New York Jets during the second quarter at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports
Let me first start out with a quick disclaimer. Not every member of the mainstream media follows a narrative. The majority are hard working writers that put out original content as well as report the news in a fair and concise way.
The game these days is to follow the narrative and continue to fuel it. But what that narrative has done has created a world where developing a talent over time has become unacceptable. We already live in an impatient world that needs their information now. If your WiFi doesn’t bring up a website immediately, it must be broken. Eric Ebron doesn’t make the Pro Bowl his rookie year, he must be a bust.
It all makes perfect sense if you think about it. People can’t even wait for their coffee to be ready anymore, why would they be expected to wait for an athlete to develop? You wait because much like a car with a new tire, if you don’t tighten all the bolts, the wheel is going to fall off and you’ll be stranded in the desert with that lurking animal that looks hungry. Patience is key with anything. Even football.
But what is media telling Lions fans when they bring up things like drops? Especially when the media only reports the drops of one player? They’re saying that everything else is peachy keen and besides Ebron, not one player has a single drop. But of course why would they want to tell the fans about other players dropping the ball? Because if they say Calvin Johnson dropped three balls today, it makes Ebron’s drops look normal, therefore making it ok, therefore killing the narrative, therefore looking for another subject to write about, therefore costing themselves precious clicks and views.
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