Meet Your 2020 Draftees

Other than keeping our Offseason Tracker updated (you can see it below this post), there hasn’t been much work done here on Packerville, U.S.A. Chalk it up to Pandemic Lethargy — a lot of extra time, but low motivation. But we’re back with a summary of the Green Bay Packers’ player haul from the 2020 NFL Draft, which was held April 23-25th. Without further delay, here we go:


Utah State was the only FBS program to offer Love a scholarship despite his excellent play at Liberty High School in Bakersfield (2,148 yards, 24 passing touchdowns; 806 rushing yards, eight rushing touchdowns). He looked like a future NFL starter while earning second-team All-Mountain West honors for the Aggies in 2018. Love ranked eighth in the FBS with 32 touchdown passes in 13 starts (267 of 417, 64.0 completion percentage, school single-season record 3,567 yards, six interceptions). His statistical production declined in 2019, garnering just honorable mention All-MWC honors as he threw an FBS-high 17 interceptions on the year (293 of 473, 62.0 completion percentage, 3,402 yards, 20 touchdowns; 81 carries, 175 yards, 2.2 ypc). Love showed glimpses of his talent as a redshirt sophomore in 2017, starting six of 12 games played (129 of 235, 54.9 completion percentage, 1,631 yards, eight touchdowns, six interceptions).

— NFL.com


Algiers Jameal "AJ" William Dillon is the grandson of College Football Hall of famer Thom Gatewood, who was the first African-American team captain at Notre Dame. Dillon played for a former B.C. offensive lineman (Paul Zukauskas) at Lawrence Academy in Connecticut, and he decided to sign on with the Eagles. He played only four games due to injury his senior year of high school but still racked up more than 600 yards and 12 touchdowns. Dillon jumped into the fray at Chestnut Hill as a true freshman, winning ACC Rookie of the Year and Freshman All-American honors by ranking seventh in the FBS with 1,589 yards (300 carries, 5.3 ypc) and scoring 14 touchdowns in 13 games (four starts). He started 10 games in 2018, earning first-team all-conference accolades (227 carries, 1,108 yards, 4.9 ypc, 10 touchdowns; eight receptions, 41 yards, 5.1 average) and cutting his fumbles from four to one. Dillon was the team's bellcow again as a junior, finishing among the national leaders in carries (318), yards (1,685), and 14 touchdowns in 12 starts (13 receptions, 195 yards, 15.0 average, one touchdown). The 2019 third-team Associated Press All-American and first-team All-ACC selection chose not to play in the team's bowl game to get ready for the draft.

— NFL.com


Deguara (pronounced DUH-gwah-ruh) was only a two-star recruit despite leading his Folsom, California, high school to an undefeated season and a Division I state title as a senior, racking up 114 receptions for 1,671 yards and 24 touchdowns. A three-sport athlete (also played baseball and basketball) in high school, Deguara redshirted his first year with the Bearcats and then played in all 12 games on special teams and as a reserve (four receptions, 47 yards, 11.8 average). He played in just seven games as a reserve the next season (11 receptions, 98 yards, 8.9 average) before breaking out in 2018. Deguara started all 13 games as a junior, catching 38 passes for 468 yards (12.3 average) and five scores. American Athletic Conference coaches voted Deguara first-team all-league for his play in 14 starts as a senior (39 receptions, 504 yards, 12.9 average, seven touchdowns).

— NFL.com


Martin earned first-team all-state and Minnesota Mr. Football finalist honors as a senior quarterback (877 passing yards) and defensive back (13 pass breakups) at Burnsville High School. He settled in at linebacker pretty quickly for the Gophers, however, starting once in 13 appearances as a true freshman (10 tackles, 0.5 sack, one interception). Martin started nine of 12 games played in both his sophomore (42 tackles, 6.5 for loss, two sacks, one interception, two forced fumbles) and junior (59 tackles, 3.5 for loss, two pass breakups) campaigns. He was suspended for the team's 2018 bowl game, though, as well as the 2019 season opener for violating team rules. Martin had a knee injury his senior year which limited him to eight games (seven starts), but he still managed to earn honorable mention All-Big Ten honors with 66 tackles, 2.5 for loss, one sack, two interceptions, and two forced fumbles.

— NFL.com

Runyan is the son of the former Michigan star and NFL Pro Bowl right tackle of the same name. The older Runyan served in the U.S. House of Representatives for two terms and is currently an NFL Vice President of Policy and Rules Administration. The younger Runyan appears to be headed for a long NFL career of his own. The Moorestown, New Jersey, native actually played his high school football at St. Joseph's in Pennsylvania, earning all-state notice his senior year. Michigan signed the legacy pick, though he had to wait through a redshirt season in 2015 and made only one appearance the following year. Runyan played in nine games as a sophomore, starting for the first time in the team's Outback Bowl appearance. He ascended to first-team All-Big Ten status in 2018, starting all 13 games at left tackle. Runyan did the same in 2019, again garnering first-team all-conference honors for the Wolverines.

— NFL.com

Hanson has been on NFL scouts' radar since his redshirt freshman season. The four-star recruit from Eureka, California, took over the starting center job for the Ducks in 2016, earning his first of four straight honorable mention All-Pac-12 nods after starting all 12 games. He started all 13 games as a sophomore and 12 of 13 games in the 2018 campaign. He missed the first half of one contest because he drew a personal foul on a blind-side targeting call in the second half of their previous game against UCLA. Hanson started 12 games at center in 2019, missing two games due to injury.

— NFL.com

Stepaniak was named the top offensive lineman in Ohio's Division III as a junior and senior but ended up crossing the border to play for the Hoosiers. He started two of 12 games played at right guard as a redshirt freshman. Stepaniak started six games at that spot as a sophomore but missed six other contests due to an injury. Back to full health in 2018, he started all 12 games at his right guard spot. Stepaniak was an honorable mention All-Big Ten pick as a senior, starting 11 games (10 at right guard, one at left guard). He missed the team's bowl game due to injury.

— NFL.com

As a senior, Scott started all 10 games he played ... placed fourth on TCU with 44 tackles ... ranked third on the team with seven pass breakups, including a career-high three in the 51-14 win over Kansas ... took part in four takeaways over the final three games of the season ... had a 98-yard interception return for a touchdown at Oklahoma, 1-yard shy of a school record ... also had a fumble recovery and a season-best seven tackles against the Sooners ... forced a fumble the week before on Texas Tech's final series to preserve a 33-31 TCU victory ... added five tackles and a pass breakup in the game ... recorded his first career sack as part of five tackles to go with a forced fumble in the season finale against West Virginia.

— TCU Athletics

Garvin was nicknamed "Spider" for his length and agility, both of which were on display regularly to Miami opponents in 2018. He started all 13 games that year, racking up 17 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks with 60 total stops. Garvin also broke up five passes and recovered two fumbles on the year. He made plays as a junior, starting 11 of 12 games played and posting 37 tackles, nine for loss, five sacks and two forced fumbles. He decided to sit out the team's bowl game to prepare for the NFL draft. The four-star recruit from Lake Worth, Florida, contributed as a true freshman, recording nine tackles (three for loss, two sacks) in 13 appearances as a reserve.

— NFL.com

2020 Offseason Tracker

2020 PACKERS DRAFTEES:
• RD1 Pick 026: QB Jordan Love, Utah State
• RD2 Pick 062: RB A.J. Dillon, Boston College
• RD3 Pick 094: TE Josiah Deguara, Cincinnati
• RD5 Pick 175: LB Kamal Martin, Minnesota
• RD6 Pick 192: OL Jon Runyan, Michigan
• RD6 Pick 208: C Jake Hanson, Oregon
• RD6 Pick 209: G Simon Stepaniak, Indiana
• RD7 Pick 236: S Vernon Scott, Texas Christian
• RD7 Pick 242: DL Jonathan Garvin, Miami

UNDRAFTED FREE AGENTS SIGNED:
• ILB Krys Barnes, UCLA
• S Henry Black, Baylor

• T Travis Bruffy, Texas Tech

• S Marc-Antoine Dequoy, Universite De Montreal

• OLB Tipa Galeai, Utah State

• S Frankie Griffith, Texas State

• G Zack Johnson, North Dakota State

• TE Jordan Jones, Prairie View A&M

• QB Jalen Morton, Prairie View A&M

• DE Willington Previlon, Rutgers

• CB Stanford Samuels, Florida State

• LB Delontae Scott, Southern Methodist

• Darrell Stewart, Michigan State

• CB Will Sunderland, Troy
• RB Patrick Taylor, Memphis

PACKERS PLAYERS RE-SIGNED:
• K Mason Crosby: 3 years, $12.9 million; $3 million signing bonus
• TE Marcedes Lewis: 1 yr., $2.25 million; $1.05 million signing bonus
• S Will Redmond: (Contract TBA)
• Tyler Ervin: (1 year, $1.047 million; $137,500 signing bonus
• TE Evan Baylis: 1 year, $675,000
• OT Cody Conway: 1 year, $610,000
• RB Damarea Crockett: 1 year, $610,000
• CB Kabion Ento: 1 year, $610,000
• TE/WR James Looney: 1 year, $675,000
• LB Randy Ramsey: 1 year, $610,000
• WR Darrius Shepherd: 1 year, $675,000
• WR Malik Taylor: 1 year, $610,000
• LB Tim Williams: $1 year, $825,000; $50,000 roster bonus

FREE AGENTS ADDED:
• WR Devin Funchess: 1 year, $2.5 million; $1 million signing bonus

RESERVE/FUTURE PLAYERS SIGNED:
• WR Reggie Begelton: 1 year, $610,000
• FB Elijah Wellman: 1 year, $610,000
• CB DaShaun Amos: 1 year, $610,000

PLAYERS ADDED:
• LB Christian Kirksey (Chargers): 2 years, $13 million; $4 million signing bonus
• OT Rick Wagner (Lions): 2 years, $11 million; $3.5 million signing bonus
• OLB/DE Jamal Davis I (Miami)
• DT Gerald Willis (Miami)
• DL Treyvon Hester (Washington)

EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS AGENTS FREE RE-SIGNED:
• WR Allen Lazard: 1 year, $675,000 
• CB Chandon Sullivan: 1 year; $750,000
• DT Tyler Lancaster: 1 year, $750,000
• WR Jake Kumerow: 1 year, $750,000

ACTIVATED FROM INJURED RESERVE:
• S Raven Green: 1 year, $751,168

UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS:
• WR Ryan Grant
• OT Jared Veldheer
• FB Malcolm Johnson

FREE AGENTS DEPARTING/NEW TEAM:
• OT Bryan Bulaga: (Chargers)
• LB Blake Martinez: (Giants)
• LB Kyler Fackrell: (Giants)
• LB B.J. Goodson: (Browns)
• FB Danny Vitale: (Patriots)
• WR Geronimo Allison: (Lions)
• OT Jason Spriggs: (Bears)
• S Ibraheim Campbell: (Titans)

RELEASED PLAYERS/NEW TEAM:
• TE Jimmy Graham: (Bears)

• QB Manny Wilkins

NFL Players Approve New Labor Agreement

By a margin of only 60 votes, NFL players have approved the new Collective Bargaining Agreement by a 1,019 to 959 majority vote that concluded at 11:59 p.m. E.T. Saturday. The agreement will begin with the upcoming 2020 season and extend through the 2030 campaign. This means that we won’t have a year of dreading a lockout or strike in 2021 as we did prior to the previous CBA.

Ratification required a simple majority and there could be lasting resentment among union members, given how close the vote was. With nearly 2,500 NFL players, around 500 NFL players did not vote

The following is a summary of the key terms from the approved CBA:

(The full CBA document can be downloaded and read here.)

WAGES / ECONOMICS

• 47% of annual revenue in 2020, plus around $100M in new Player Costs above current CBA for 2020 
• Guaranteed 48% share of revenue in 2021, with ability to increase the percentage to 48.5% share through a media kicker which applies in any season the league plays 17 games 
• Projected increase of around $5 billion to players during course of a new 10-year deal

MINIMUM SALARIES

• $100K increase in 2020 for Rookie Minimums, another $50K increase in 2021 and then $45K increase each year after 
• At least $90K increase in 2020 for other minimum salaried players; $80K to $105K increase in 2021 and then $45K increase each year after 
• Right to use Rookie Distribution pool to provide additional payments to players at minimum salaries to keep minimum salaries in-line with cap growth
• Increase in minimum salary benefit 
• Creation of new four-year player benefit: up to an additional $1.25M in salary excluded from the cap for up to two players 
• Bonus payment of 1/17 of his paragraph 5 salary up to $250K to any player whose contract runs through a season when 17 games is played
• Additional cap room per club in 2021 if 17 games is implemented and media kicker does not reach 48.5% 
• Performance-based Pay increased to $8.5M in 2020 and $10M in 2021, with annual increases thereafter 
• Increase average Minimum Team Cash Spending to 90% over tranches of 3-3-4 year periods 
• $100K increase for ROFR Original Round Tender; $250K increase for first- and second-round Tenders for Restricted Free Agents 
• Raises for Practice Squad Players to $10.5K per week; total number of 12 players increasing to 14 players, with two unlimited Accrued Seasons players 
• Guaranteed Funding Rule increase to $15M per club in 2020 and to $17M in 2029 
• Fifth-year Options fully guaranteed for fourth and fifth years at the time option is exercised; Amount of Option dependent on player achievement and no longer based on which slot selected in first round 
• Increase in pay for all offseason activities 
• Proven Performance Escalators for second-round picks; Super Escalator for rounds 2-7 in fourth year
• Gambling definitions that ensures money is included in players' definition of All Revenue, including portions of non-football activities

TRAINING CAMP HOURS

• Introduction of five-day acclimation period 
• 2.5-hour limit on padded and full speed practices 
• Limit time at facility during a given work day 
• Limit of 16 days in pads 
• No more than three consecutive days for three out of the five weeks 
- No more than two consecutive days for two out of five weeks 
• Three-day weekend at end of camp if 17 games is implemented 
• Two days off in the first week, one day every seven thereafter 
• Limit of four Joint Practices if three preseason games

IMPROVEMENTS TO WORKING CONDITIONS

• Mandated improvements to visiting team locker rooms 
• Establish standards for rehabilitation facilities, training rooms and equipment for each club 
• Active squad increased by one offensive lineman 
• Development of improved safety metrics for fields

BENEFIT INCREASES

Active Players:
• Pension increase of 10% 
• 401K matching contribution increased to $30K, annual increases thereafter 
• Annuity increased to $110K per year; increasing by $15K every other year 
• Tuition reimbursement: increases for active and former players 
• Life Insurance 
• HRA increased to $35K with increases thereafter of to $50K per season, with overall limit increasing from $350K to $450K 
• Adding vision coverage to healthcare plan 
• Injury Protection of 100% of salary up to $2.0M and Extended Injury Protection of 100% of salary up to $1.0M 
• Termination Pay: Increase in mid-season signing benefit to 35% of remaining salary or two weeks salary at the applicable minimum salary amount; right to collect a second time in some instances 
• Practice Squad players eligible for $5K of tuition benefits/year and 401K with $1500 match

Former Players:
• Retroactive increase to $550 per month for all pre-2012 vested players
• Expand pension eligibility to all former players with three credited seasons 
• Establish a $50,000 HRA for vested veterans with no HRA 
• Creation of new network of hospitals in each team city for former players to receive no cost physicals, preventative care, mental health counseling, and out-patient orthopedic services. Coverage of common surgeries to be phased in during course of deal.

Rights:
• Clear parameters for ownership and usage of player data from sensors 
• Overall reduction in on-field fines 
• Reduction in club fines 
• Implementation of a neutral decision-maker for most Commissioner Discipline cases
• Right to be paid over a 34-week pay period vs. 17 weeks 
• New workers comp process to enable easier filing for players, making injury care more accessible.

Changes to Drug Policy:
• Narrows the testing window of THC from four months to two weeks at the start of training camp 
• Reduces the penalties to players who test positive for THC, eliminating any game suspensions strictly for positive tests 
• Reduces the number of players subjected to testing for THC 
• Increases the nanogram limit from 35 to 150

2019 Game Programs in Review

Preseason Week 01
August 8, 2019
Packers 28, Texans 26


Preseason Week 04
August 29, 2019
Packers 27, Chiefs 20


Regular Season Week 02
September 15, 2019
Packers 21, Vikings 16


Regular Season Week 03
September 22, 2019
Packers 27, Broncos 16


Regular Season Week 04
September 26, 2019
Eagles 34, Packers 27


Regular Season Week 06
October 14, 2019
Packers 23, Lions 22


Regular Season Week 07
October 20, 2019
Packers 42, Raiders 24


Regular Season Week 10
November 10, 2019
Packers 24, Panthers 16


Regular Season Week 14
December 8, 2019
Packers 20, Redskins 15


Regular Season Week 15
December 15, 2019
Packers 21-Bears 13


NFC Divisional Playoff Game
January 12, 2020
Packers 28, Seahawks 23

The Science Behind Fanatic Behavior

Sports Complex: The Science
Behind Fanatic Behavior

By Shirley Wang  |  Association for Psychological Science
May 2006

Only one month after April 3rd’s opening day, baseball fans from Boston to Oakland are beginning to hear a familiar cry: “Yankees suck!” These words — chanted in unison, with clapping hands and stomping feet — are the mantra of many spectators who support opposing teams. Such vocal expressions of intergroup rivalry are just one facet of sports fans’ fascinating and often perplexing behavior.

Husband-and-wife team Beth and Lefty (who have asked their last name not to be disclosed) learned this firsthand after they launched the Web site, Yankeessuck.com. Though established for the sake of “irony and humor,” the site has many times fallen victim to crashes, threats, crude posts, and, once, hacking from a self-proclaimed Yankees fan who left an expletive-laced message in his wake.

“There’s an expression I’ve heard,” says Beth “that ‘sports don’t build character, they reveal it.’ That’s what’s happening here. If they’re angry people, this gives them an outlet. Where else in the world can you just pick an enemy and just hate them?”

Inflaming the Fan

While it may seem understandable that an athlete becomes attached to teammates and being part of a team, it is clear that sports spectators — those regulars sitting in the stands — can also become so passionate about their team that it becomes part of their identity and affects their well-being.

Research shows similarities between a fan’s identification with a sports team and how people identify with their nationality, ethnicity, even gender. Team identification “is the extent to which a fan feels a psychological connection to a team and the team’s performances are viewed as self-relevant,” says Daniel Wann, professor of psychology at Murray State University, who has spent much of his career dedicated to research about sports spectators.

In watching the action, people do indeed identify with teams, and for some, team identification is both important and powerful to their sense of self.

“People are tying up a lot of who they are in their identity as fan of X-team,” says Edward Hirt, associate professor of psychological and brain sciences at Indiana University- Bloomington, who has also conducted research on the psychology of sports fans. “A huge part of who they are, where they derive a lot of their positive and negative affect, is from what their team is doing.”

Perhaps the most basic question — a genuine mystery for some non-sports-fans — is why people follow sports so ardently. What is it about watching sports that possesses otherwise composed individuals to scream, obsess over statistics, and paint their faces — particularly when they know that there’s a very good chance that their team is going to lose?

Sports fan researchers emphasize this point: that sporting events are competitions in which it is guaranteed that one team must lose, which means that half the fans will be upset with the result. In other activities, those odds might not seem like a worthwhile investment of one’s time.

“It’s a voluntary activity where half of the people aren’t going to like the product when they’ve finished consuming it,” says Wann. “You wouldn’t go see a movie if you thought there was a 50/ 50 chance you wouldn’t like it.”

So being a fan can’t be all about a team’s winning performance. “Everyone is eventually going to lose,” says Hirt. “It’s clear that has to be other benefits that people are accruing.”

Perhaps no fans understand loyalty to a losing team better than followers of the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs have not won major league baseball’s top prize, the World Series, for nearly 100 years (that’s even without Bambino’s Curse that plagued Boston). Yet the team cultivates an overwhelming fan base and maintains a legendary bleacher-section community.

Ask a Cubs fan why he or she likes the team and, according to Wann, they won’t say because of all the championships. “They’ll say, ‘I love Wrigley Field, I love the bleachers and the community in the outfield bleachers,'” says Wann. “Identification is not just with the team — that might be the target or the focal field — but what draws with that is the identification that comes with it.”

John McDonough, senior vice president of marketing and broadcasting for the Cubs, couldn’t agree more. “We’re marketing the experience more than other teams,” he says. “Maybe they won the division or the World Series. Here, it’s really about the unique mystique of the Chicago Cubs. What resonates the loudest with the fan base is the experience.”

A Need to Belong

Although people report many reasons for following a favorite team, social connectedness is among the most frequently cited, as Wann finds in his research on college and professional sports fans.

“When we look at motivation for following a sport team, group affiliation is one of the top ones,” says Wann. “Identifying strongly with a salient local team where other fans are in the environment — that’s a benefit to social-psychological well-being.”

In a series of studies, Wann has surveyed hundreds of undergraduate fans, who vary in their fanaticism for their college teams. After measuring levels of sports team identification and psychological well-being, he found that the results are correlational but consistent: Higher identification with a team is associated with significantly lower levels of alienation, loneliness, and higher levels of collective self-esteem and positive emotion.

Seeing another person wearing the team emblem on a shirt allows for an instant connection. This shared identity might facilitate communication among individuals or just increase a feeling among fans that they have shared values.

“If you take away the socialness, it would lose something for some people,” says Wann. “Part of identifying with the sport team is not just with the team, but with the fan base.”

Sports might be a particularly enticing means of fostering belongingness for several reasons.

“One reason is the way the activity lends itself to large audiences,” says Wann. The venue, he says, provides an easy way of interacting with other spectators, and the vast majority of fans, about 95 percent, attend games with friends.

In addition, highly identified fans tend to be socialized to sports early and view it not just as a game but also as a nostalgic or emotional experience. Many say that they can remember going to games as a child, or that games remind them of pleasant childhood memories.

The repetition of the sports seasons may be another thing that draws fans to the game. “There’s always the next season,” says Hirt, repeating a mantra sports fans are fond of repeating after an unsuccessful season. “Everyone has a chance in spring training. There’s always the sort of opportunity that next season it can happen.”

An Extension of Self

Team identification not only fosters a sense of social belonging, but also it impacts individual self-esteem.

In a study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology in the early 1990s, Hirt and colleagues examined the effects of team allegiance on individuals’ beliefs about their own competence and self-esteem. They brought participants who reported being highly identified with their college basketball teams into the lab and showed them a tape of their teams either winning or losing. Afterwards, each participant was asked to predict how well he or she thought the team would do in the future. Participants were also asked to make seemingly unrelated estimates of their own performance on motor, mental, and social-skills tasks.

“The most powerful thing we found was that for highly allied fans, they really did view the team’s success akin to how they would view a personal success,” says Hirt.

Fans who watched their team win reported significantly higher estimates of the team’s future performance, their own task performance, and personal self-esteem than did those who watched their team lose. The boost that the winning-team group received was similar to the boost that participants received when they personally succeeded or failed at a task.

“The team is an extension of the self,” says Hirt.

Belonging Is More Important than Winning

Another facet of sports fandom is just how dedicated many fans are.

“The whole idea behind identification is that it’s really part of how we see ourselves and that doesn’t change easily,” says Robert J. Fisher, professor of marketing at The University of Western Ontario, whose research emphasizes the effects of social expectations on managerial and consumer decision making. “If you see yourself as a member of a family, that role doesn’t change. Those types of connections are very long-lasting and very strong.”

He and colleagues published a 1998 study examining how fans of winning teams versus those of losing teams explained their allegiances. Surveying fans at hockey games, they found that for a successful team, performance was cited as a main reason for identification.

But for fans of continually losing teams, that relationship didn’t exist. Instead, members of unsuccessful groups turned their attention to other aspects of their team, such as how much they liked the individual players.

“We actively choose to find people or organizations that enable us to have a certain kind of view of ourselves, to represent ourselves to others,” says Fisher.

Like our choice of spouses or friends, “we want to see ourselves as making good choices and being smart and proud of being who we are,” says Fisher. “We have to find ways to work around their failings to keep them close to us.”

The annual Cubs Convention demonstrates how teams can capitalize on fans’ desires to remain affiliated. When McDonough joined the organization in 1983, he wanted to keep the Cubs on the minds of fans year-round, so he set about making the team appear more personal to the fans.

The first of its kind in baseball, fans were invited to join players, management, and other fans for a weekend in the off season, both to celebrate the previous season and to anticipate the upcoming one. Now 22 years in the running, the convention attracts 15,000 fans in the dead of winter, and has spawned copycat events by other major-league baseball teams.

McDonough cites a breaking down of barriers as the main reason for the Convention’s success.

“Previously in sports you were never able to ask the manager of your favorite team a question, former players, or current players about their experience,” says McDonough. The Convention “humanized the game. It broke down those barriers of the players being unapproachable. Winning and losing was not an issue.”

McDonough is right on, according to the sports-marketing literature. Winning is the best marketing tool, but beyond that, “one of the big recommendations is making the team accessible,” says Ryan Zapalac, Rice University, who researches marketing to sports fans. “If you provide accessibility to the community, you make people feel as though that player is a part of the community.”

In fact, marketers over the past decade have notably targeted the sports fan psyche by using relationship-building marketing strategies, says Jeff James, associate professor of sports marketing at Florida State University. Rather than exclusively trying to attract new fans, they are attempting to build longer lasting, closer relationships with existing ones.

“It’s moving from ‘I’m a fan of the team’ to ‘I’m a part of the team,'” says James.

The Los Angeles Dodgers’ new “Think Blue” credit card points system allows fans to accrue points that can redeemed for batting practice on the field, Dodger equipment used in games, and the best seats in the stadium. The motto is “Earn Rewards. Live Your Dodger Dreams!”

Other strategies for increasing fans’ connections to the team include player autographs and birthday announcements on scoreboards.

“Why do we allow people to make marriage proposals at the ballpark?” poses James. “That couple is coming back. It’s now their anniversary.”

Loyalty Benefits the Loyal

Apart from strategies that teams use to draw fans, fans themselves utilize psychological strategies to justify and maintain their passion — even when a team’s performance is otherwise disappointing.

“Sports fans have perfected methods of coping,” says Wann. “If they weren’t able to cope, there wouldn’t be any sports fans.”

They may boost their self-esteem when the team wins by basking in reflected glory, wearing a team-logo shirt the next day, or talking about the game with coworkers at the office.

In a recent study published in the Journal of Social Psychology, Wann and Rick Grieve, professor of psychology at Western Kentucky University, surveyed 148 fans from both teams as they were leaving a sporting event and asked them to rate their agreement with statements that their team’s fans has exhibited good behavior and sportsmanship. They were then asked to evaluate the opposing team’s fans. The results showed that fans — particularly those of the winning team — were more likely to say that the opposing team’s fans displayed worse behavior than their own team’s fans, a clear case of in-group bias.

“It almost seems to me that they were using the denigration of other fans as a way to enhance self-esteem,” says Grieve. “‘Not only is my team better, but man, your fans stink, too.'”

When their team does poorly, however, they may also show biased perceptions against other people, such as the referees, the other team’s players, or fans of the other team. Their recollection of events may also be inaccurate.

“The good times are always better than what they really were,” says Grieve.

Those who are highly identified with their teams are particularly motivated to use these coping strategies when their teams perform poorly. Because the team is part of their identity, they cannot deny themselves the team’s importance.

“Rather than distancing from teams,” says Grieve, “They may shift expectations. They shift to cope.”

Fans may choose to follow another favorite team in a different sport for a while, or reflect on past glory years, or dream of future success, according to Wann.

Emphasizing loyalty to a team is another way fans can soothe themselves.

When their sports team fails, the highly identified fan might say to him- or herself, “‘I’m not like other people, I’m loyal in the face of all they’ve gone through,'” says Fisher. “‘When they are finally successful, everyone will see that I’m really smart.'”

Alternatively, fans might use hindsight bias, according to Grieve. I knew they were going to lose, but I was so loyal I cheered for them anyway.

Superstition as a Way to Cope

Superstitions are an integral part of sports, and they may also be yet another way fans cope with their team’s performance.

In ongoing research, Wann and his colleagues are exploring the role of fan superstition. Over half of his 1,000 participants can readily define a superstition or ritual they believe in. Moreover, some are truly convinced that their participation in ritual superstition impacts the outcome, says Wann. The more highly identified with a team the fans are, the more likely they are to believe that superstitions matter.

“It’s a real struggle that sports fans experience,” says Wann. “They so much care about the outcome of the event they have absolutely zilch control over. How do we gain control? We may develop superstitions.”

strategies to develop and maintain their allegiance with teams. And they may have to strategize even more as it becomes increasingly rare for players to play for just one team in their careers.

“Now you can’t go hating those guys too much because they might be on your team next year,” says Baumeister. “All these illusory relationships become much more fleeting. That makes it harder to have that illusion.”

Yet despite that illusion, team losses, bad seasons, and so on, the fans remain ardent.

“Sports fans,” says Wann, “are so resilient because they can hope.”

References

• Fisher, R.J. & Wakefield, K. (1998). Factors leading to group identification: A field study of winners and losers. Psychology & Marketing, 15, 23-40.

• Hirt, E.R., Zillmann, D., Erickson, G.A., & Kennedy, C. (1992). Costs and benefits of allegiance: Changes in fans’ selfascribed competencies after team victory versus defeat. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63, 724-738.

• Lindstrom, W.A., & Lease, A.M. (2005). The role of athlete as contributor to peer status in school-age and adolescent females in the United States: From pre-title IX to 2000 and beyond. Social Psychology of Education, 8, 223-244.

• Wann, D.L. (2006). Examining the potential causal relationship between sport team identification and psychological wellbeing. Journal of Sport Behavior, 29, 79-95.

• Wann, D.L., & Grieve, F.G. (2005). Biased Evaluations of In-Group and Out-Group Spectator Behavior at Sporting Events: The Importance of Team Identification and Threats to Social Identity. Journal of Social Psychology, 145, 531-545.