ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — There is the game that is played on Sunday afternoon and Sunday, Monday and Thursday nights, and then there is the game that the players and coaches themselves experience.
They’re two different things.
But in the social-media era, the worlds collide — especially for those players who do check their mentions not long after a game, or in the days that follow.
Take last Sunday. Social media erupted with comments about Noah Fant not being targeted enough in the Broncos’ attack. After being targeted 10 times the week before, he was utilized more as a blocker in Pittsburgh and wasn’t even targeted until 13:06 remained in the fourth quarter.
“It’s one of those things where after a game if you run to social media or you run to the internet and you look at what they’re saying — ‘Oh, you should get the ball more,’ — or you look at the stat-line and you see you didn’t get the targets that you wanted, it’s one of those things that can be like a cancer,” Teddy Bridgewater explained Wednesday.
The Broncos’ starting quarterback hasn’t tweeted since June 19 — and that was a retweet of a Mercedes-Benz promotional tweet about a Sprinter van that is used as a barber shop on wheels. In that same span, he has just two Instagram posts, one of which is to promote a series of children’s books based on his life, called “Little Bear Teddy.”
(Yes, it’s as adorable as it sounds.)
“Honestly, it’s one of those deals where it can’t do anything for you but break you a lot of times in this profession. You’ve got so many fantasy owners who want you to throw the ball to that guy, or [people] who tell you how good you are and how bad you are,” Bridgewater said.
“… I really stay away from it unless I’m getting paid to post or something like that. It’s one of those deals where I just really believe what’s being told to me in this facility because in the end, that’s the only noise that matters—what’s going on in between these walls and these meeting rooms.”
Safety Justin Simmons said that he figured out at Boston College that one shouldn’t check their mentions after a game — in large part because the outside viewpoints don’t reflect the situation.
“No one knows the Xs and Os in the room. No one knows what’s going on behind the scenes. No one knows the call that was in the huddle both offensively and defensively,” Simmons said.
Outside linebacker Von Miller has spoken of a personal social-media blackout this season, although he hasn’t strictly adhered do it. While he hasn’t tweeted since Oct. 1 — and has just four tweets since the start of the regular season, including one in which he quote-tweeted LeBron James — he has 10 Instagram posts since the start of the regular season.
But Bridgewater goes a step further. When asked about his thoughts regarding Jon Gruden, he said that he didn’t know all that much about the hubbub that has rocked the Las Vegas Raiders and the NFL this week.
“I don’t get on social media to hear anything, and I don’t have cable at home,” he said, “so, I don’t really know what goes on in the real world sometimes.”
This isn’t merely cord-cutting for Bridgewater. Other players, including Simmons, have or are considering cutting the cord.
“That doesn’t surprise me either,” Simmons said of Bridgewater’s cable-free lifestyle. “I know a lot of guys operate like that, especially during the year. You turn on the TV, and then you know everything local is all about sports and obviously Broncos football. T
hen you watch regular TV. Now obviously, there are guys that’ll be watching the World Series, the playoffs, and things like that, or they’ll go to games. That doesn’t surprise me all that much. It’s more time to hang out with family [when] you’re not really locked in that much on social media and all that stuff.”
More time for family, for football — and for an existence free of the toxicity that can fester during a season.
“No disrespect to fans at home, but they don’t know what they’re talking about nine times out of 10,” Simmons said. “You’ve got to be able to tune that stuff out.
For these guys, ignorance is bliss.
