Sometimes being a football fan can be a real pain in the... ankle.
"When Bo Nix broke his ankle I was like, 'No way,'" says Broncos' super fan James Chavez, otherwise known as Orange Vader. "My heart dropped."
Broncos Country experienced a wide range of emotions in the wake of their team's overtime playoff victory over Buffalo, including legitimate grief due to the injury suffered by quarterback Bo Nix.
“That feeling of being powerless and recognizing that what has once given you so much hope you actually have no power on, that can be quite a bit to truly process as a human being,” says Dr. Iman Hassan, a sports psychologist and professor at the University of Denver.
Dr. Hassan says "fan grief" is a totally appropriate response to a negative stimulus caused by something we care very deeply about.
She also says it's important not to run away from those emotions.
“To move through those phases of grief in a healthy manner, I think it’s important to tag along language to it that help us better understand what [we] might be feeling and why," says Dr. Hassan. "Also, recognizing that there’s a shared sense of grief among the entire city [can help]."
Sports can create a strangle-hold on the very fans that fill up stadiums around the world — the emotional investment required often involves identity and self-worth. Dr. Hassan says the act of caring so deeply about anything, especially sports, is an important aspect of human culture.
“It gives us a sense of hope," says Dr. Hassan. "It gives us something to connect with others. It allows us to feel excited. In a world where people often feel very isolated, sports allows us to have that sense of connection within a sports team. Being a fan shows a level of loyalty and commitment and gives us something to be excited for.”
Rallying around backup QB Jarrett Stidham, hope is no longer in short supply among Broncos fans, and Dr. Hassan says the team may benefit from that during Sunday's AFC Championship game against the New England Patriots.
"My advice would be to get to that acceptance phase as fast as possible and know they probably need you as fans rooting behind them," says Dr. Hassan. "Work through those emotions, talk through them, use that communal opportunity to progress through the stages of grief and hopefully you’re at acceptance by the time kickoff starts.”
That is a clinical prescription to go nuts, Broncos Country, so cheer loud! And Bo-lieve, it's what makes us sports fans.
It's what makes us uniquely human.
“Stay positive," says Chavez. "It ain’t over, nothing’s over, until it’s over. We don’t give up, I don’t ever give up. We’re going to do it for Bo. This one’s for Bo Nix.”
