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There’s a debate that arises from time to time on any popular team message board, and that is whether or not it’s okay for fans to say “we” when referring to their team.

“We really need let Carson Palmer go, he’s on his last legs,” as opposed to “the Bengals have to get rid of Palmer because he sucks now and I am sick of watching him suck.”

Can we the fans really say “We?”

We’re not on the team. We don’t score touchdowns. We don’t block anybody. The only thing we’re kicking are empty beer cans at the tailgate. 

Plus, who is so bold to qualify his or her comments as the voice of the team’s collective fan nation?

“We” bothers a lot of people. It’s too pretentious, and they don’t like being told what their opinions are. And they don’t like other fans speaking for everyone. Personally I can’t stand when Bill Simmons talks about the Patriots like he speaks for me or any other Pats fan who hadn’t thrown in the towel after week two.

Those of us who use “we” feel sufficient and confident in our loyalty and almost part of the team. It comes naturally to us. 

So, should it be okay for fans to say “we?”

I believe that the debate is solved with a simple look at college sports.

If you were talking about your college’s football team, and you went to that college, or at the very least had a parent or sibling go there, it’s pretty acceptable to say “we”.

Nobody’s going down to ‘Bama to tell Crimson Tide Brandi, a sophomore communications Theta Beta, that she didn’t win the national championship last January, the varsity football team did.

Brandi won the national championship that night, along with every other Alabama player, alumni, and fan.

There might not be a New England Patriots University. But if there was, myself and many like me would all be filling out applications tomorrow. 

Fans and players are both part of something bigger than the action on the field, in the locker rooms, weight rooms, and meeting rooms.

We all want the team to win. And the team’s fortune on the field effects us all.

The way a loss on Sunday can ruin Monday, Tuesday, and sometimes Wednesday. Or the way I’m still on a high after beating the Ravens last weekend.

The players feel the exact same way. 

I can assure everyone that I was just as depressed as Rodney Harrison when Tom Brady went down in week one in 2008. And though I might not have been quite as happy as Tedy Bruschi when he won his Super Bowls, I was pretty damn close.

We might not put on a uniform. We might not risk life and limb for the glory of the gridiron, and probably none of us are driving a Bentley.

But, we are there for every moment, the wins and the losses, the highs and the lows, as the good and the bad transpire on the field before us. 

That is what unites fans and players into one nation, united under one flag, all sharing in the joy of victory and the sorrow of defeat. 

That is the soul of sports and that is why it is okay to say “we.”