Originally Posted by
rbnn
I do not think it is reasonable to argue there is a "curse" on the Ravens due to Dilfer's being cut. After all, who believes in curses?
Still, many Ravens fans and management have not understood what Dilfer's loss means for them and for the team:
(1) Cutting Dilfer was clearly unmerited at the time and crushed the Ravens long-term;
(2) The value of Dilfer's intelligent, unhurried, mistake-free play is particularly obvious after yesterday's loss to the Steelers. Dilfer was superb at never getting rattled, at never allowing unforced turnovers, and at instilling the values of competence, patience, and skill in his teammates.
(3) Whenever there is a thread on this message board defending Dilfer and arguing that Dilfer was unfairly treated, numerous posters chime in with slurs about his play. That type of response is classless: Dilfer brought home the Ravens only Superbowl, and was a supremely intelligent, winning-oriented quarterback. I don't know of any other group of nominal team fans who act like that. Usually team fans are loyal to and support their best and most successful players - with Ravens fans, it's the opposite, at least in Dilfer's case.
(4) Dilfer represents a philosophy: of winning over statistics, of function over form, of skill over flash. By rejecting Dilfer, the Ravens (and their fans) implicitly rejected that philosophy. That rejection carries over even today, to decisions, for example, whether to select coaches based on that coach's actual football expertise or on his perceived public relations attributes. Ravens fans and management have to ask themselves: do they value skill or do they value flash?
Until Ravens fans and management can come to understand that firing Dilfer was wrong - and why it was wrong - and that heaping scorn on Dilfer is likewise wrong, they will continue to repeat the same kind of mistakes that led to his firing.
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