Enjoy. That'll Really Irritate Them

There?s no downside to the naming rights deal the Jaguars have struck with EverBank.

You can talk about how it?s not enough money or how the city is giving money back to the Jaguars.

You can downplay the five-year deal, but no matter how you cut it, it?s a win, win, win across the board for everybody.

A five-year deal starting at $3 million and going up to $3.5 million is nothing to sneeze at. Not on the paying side and not on the collecting side, either.

It?s a real commitment and it gives the Jaguars a bit of a cachet they haven?t had since Alltel took their name off the stadium.

The naysayers from across the country who have pointed to the lack of a name for the stadium add an indication the Jaguars are in trouble are going to have to find something else.

?We need to send the national media a message,? owner Wayne Weaver said after the press conference this week. ?We?re a viable NFL town who has struggled recently, but we?ve sold a lot of tickets in the past year and we?re not going to black out many of our games.?

Weaver is right when he said the Jaguars and Jacksonville have been painted with a broad brush when it comes to NFL viability. Scribes with a national voice like Peter King, John Clayton and Chris Mortensen are constantly harping on Jacksonville as a ?mistake? the league made in placing a franchise here.

In fact, they referred to Jacksonville in such a way during one of the Pro Football Hall of Fame discussions two years ago.

That?s ridiculous. They?re behind the curve when it comes to information about Jacksonville. They?re getting their facts from one another, and perhaps a short ?camp report? stop here during August.

I asked Peter last year if he really had any authority to comment on Jacksonville when he spent only 18 hours here for camp.

?Driving from the airport to the Hyatt and a cab to the stadium and back doesn?t give you any idea what a town is like,? I told him the day before the Super Bowl.

He just smiled a sheepish grin and walked away.

There?s a bunch of guys around the league who are the ?beat? reporters or so-called ?insiders? who have decided that we?re not an NFL city. Not enough strip clubs, not enough dark, late-night spots close to the downtown hotels.

I?m serious. We?re an outpost, a place they ?have? to go, not anywhere they?d want to be. And it bothers them that we?re comfortable in our own skin living here.

?How could you like it?? I?ve been asked numerous times by guys from other NFL markets.

As I?ve said many times, Jacksonville has to ?reveal? itself to you. You can?t force it.

So when Mike Florio from Pro Football Talk starts to bang on Jacksonville, just ignore him. He?s out of the loop and trying to justify the things he?s said in the past.

Enjoy the game. Enjoy yourself. Cheer your team. Hope they win. That?ll really irritate him.