The NFC East bubble

Greetings from Jacksonville, Florida.  This is my first vacation in almost 6 years and I am enjoying myself thoroughly. We had a weird flight schedule that took us through New Orleans, Tampa and finally on in to Jacksonville. Along the way, I had the opportunity to pick up several local newspapers and scope our their training camp coverage for their local pro teams.

In Tampa, I picked up a copy of both the St. Petersburg Time and The Tampa Tribune. One thing that caught my eye was a blurb for Buccaneer fans wanting to attend practices.  It mentioned that the Buc’s practice facility could accomodate up to 4,000 fans.  Seriously? The Cowboys travel out of town and pull in three times as many fans at their training camp work outs.

Tonight, I watched the Jacksonville news, expecting to find some great coverage of Jaguars’ camp. Instead, the Jacksonville news seemed to be more fascinated with the University of Florida’s first practice.  Texans love college football, but unless you live in Austin, College Station or Lubbock, the Cowboys will always get more coverage than Texas’ big 3 college programs.

I began to wonder if the Cowboys were the only NFL team to draw such excitement with their training camp program, but then I remembered the crowds I have seen at Redskins’ camp, at Giants’ camp and at Eagles’ camp. I began to wonder if my football world exists inside and NFC East bubble, a land where college football is fine, but the NFL reigns supreme.

The AFC and NFC South divisions seemed to be composed of regions where college football takes priority over the professional game. It’s so weird! It reminded me of a recent conversation I heard on a Dallas sports talk radio program. SEC fans have a great product in their football programs. No one can dispute the quality of athletes and coaches within the conference. However, fans of SEC programs often treat these programs as equals, both in importance and talent, than their NFL counterparts. In a sense, they act as if college football is all they have. The Gators get the special segments, beat reporters, etc. While the Jaguars and Buccaneers get whatever is left over.While I’m sure Florida will have no problem selling out all of their home games, the Jaguars struggle selling out just one of their home games.

We do things a bit different in Texas. Yes, Colt McCoy is a household name. Depending on where you are raised, you grow up wanting to play for Tech, UT or A&M.  Going to a game at Kyle Field (especially in 1990′s), can be just as energizing as going to a game at “The Swamp.” There are more D-1, or FBS, level schools in the state of Texas than in any other state.  Texans earn more D-1 football scholarships than athletes from any other state. We get college football and we love it.

However, we realize the quality of the NFL game, both on a technical and athletic level, is greater than that of the collegiate game.  Do Floridians not understand that? Why is so little interest in Jaguar and Buccaneer football?