49ers & Texans Fans Embarrass Selves and Franchises

Mob mentality is a remarkably powerful psychological phenomenon. The more formal title to this groupthink and it has best exemplified in such blunders as the Bay of Pigs fiasco and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Simply put, groupthink is the decision of a group to proceed with a course of action that many deem incorrect, but do not voice it as they strive for conformity.

It doesn't take too much for groupthink to settle in and the real-world examples are abundant. A charismatic coworker in a meeting who may want to push his agenda over the company's greater good may result in his peers agreeing because they fear appearing disloyal or oppositional. Groupthink can take perfectly good people and unknowingly force them to commit terrible acts.

It should come as no surprise then that at an NFL game, where 50,000+ people are united around a common cause (their team) and have massive exposure to alcohol, would become affected by groupthink and make their fan base look utterly classless.

Towards the end of the San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals game, the Cardinals' defensive end, Calais Campbell went down with a neck injury. He had been down for several minutes with what appeared to be a serious injury and team doctors called for a stretcher to take him off the field. In their clear lack of attention to the matter at hand, fans did what they deemed most appropriate when a player has been seriously injured: they decided to do the wave.

I am, admittedly, horribly against the wave ever appearing at sporting events, particularly in the middle of play. If fans want to do it at halftime, during timeouts, in between innings, go for it. But it has no place going on in the middle of the game. And if there is one time when it is definitely not okay, it is when a player is down with a potential neck injury and who has been down for several minutes at this point.

But, not to be outdone, the Houston Texans fans may have actually found a way to top the 49ers. Their quarterback, Matt Schaub, has not had a strong season. He had thrown a pick-six in four consecutive weeks as the Texans struggled out of the gates. Texans fans grew impatient quickly and were calling for TJ Yates to take over the starting job. Down 31-6 in the game, Schaub was sacked and landed awkwardly on his leg, resulting in one truly disgusting slow-motion replay. Texans fans got their wish as Schaub was sidelined.

But they had to take it one step further and really hammer home the "bread and circuses" mentality and cheer when the injury occurred. Honestly, the behavior is so deplorable that it doesn't even deserve condemnation. I don't care if your quarterback is Ryan Leaf, JaMarcus Russell or Blaine Gabbert, you never cheer when a player is hurt whether mildly or seriously.

Both fan bases should be completely embarrassed. Their behavior was absolutely barbaric. People need to show respect for their fellow human being, especially when the worst transgression that these athletes have taken against the fans is a poor performance.

I don't think that every single person that was at both of those games and cheering or doing the wave are bad individuals. If I had to guess, there were a few bad apples that started it and alcohol, not a fear not conforming, helped give it momentum.

At the end of the day, however, the motivating factors don't really matter. The fans still demonstrated a complete lack of etiquette. I was happy to see that Jed York, the 49ers' owner, publicly admonished the fans and I hope that those words do not fall on deaf ears. Because athletes our fellow human beings deserve more respect than that.