I and others have been asked repeatedly why we are bothered by the Tavon debate. I think I can pin it down.
Tavon enthusiasts envision glorious achievements ... that haven't happened and continue not to happen. They project from shreds and tatters a major impact ... just around the corner.
Well, that's all we had for years and years: imagined results, wins just around the corner. Projections of what would happen as soon as ... this or that. The only way we could be optimistic was by fantasizing what might/would be.
But, of course, as we sit here with ACTUAL glory all over the place, we don't need that sort of projection any more. We don't need to imagine RBs and WRs who produce because we actually have them.
Now, for me and others, it makes no sense to keep hyping a theory of excellence when we have the real thing. Tavon love annoys me because it asks me to return my mind to a time when we enthused over potential because that was all we had. I don't get why one might do that and the dogged defenses of this guy strike me as a pull back into a dark time.
Apparently, for others, Tavon is a treasured artifact linking them to the thread of hope they nursed during really dark times. To relinquish hope in Tavon, perhaps, seems a betrayal of the faith they kept in the face of relentless disappointment.
Perhaps that's why they cling so fiercely to this idea that the special threat he poses gives him distinctive impact as a decoy. The fact is that jet sweeps are run all the time, often, effectively, by players who are not particularly special by league standards. But ... there is Tavon running the decoys, so this sole actual contribution can be made to seem evidence of something persistently special even though he hasn't produced in years. Years ago, Tavon was our sole shining jewel, the only player who offered anything special in a moribund offense. It appears to me that, for many, that link to past hopes against hope gives his minimal role today a glamor that does not need authentic results to shine on.
Obviously, I can't know if that is actually what my Ram brothers are thinking and feeling when they so relentlessly defend his mediocrity.
I do know that, to value him highly, I would have to value theories and fantasies of achievement. And as a Ram fan, I no longer feel any need to turn to my imagination to find achievements worth celebrating. We are NFCW champions with a hugely productive RB, fine WRs, and a young QB emerging into stardom. These glories are actual achievements. And it rankles me when people insist that unrealized theories are worth engaging my Ram enthusiasm. I have much better reasons to celebrate today.
