Following the Jaguars is Your Civic Duty, Says Ex-Jaguar

The latest in the various ongoing attempts by the Jacksonville Jaguars to court interest, any interest, in their team from the local citizenry: guilt. Speaking to a gathering of business and community leaders at the Rotary Club of Jacksonville, former Jaguar standout lineman Tony Boselli exhorted people to get behind the team, even if they don't actually happen to like them. Because the city needs the team, or something.

"Even if you don't like football, if you're in business in Jacksonville you need to support the Jaguars. It's the duty of anyone who can afford season tickets to buy them," Boselli said.

Granted, there's an argument to be made that some businesses will suffer if the team relocates, but pretending that anyone has a responsibility to support a particular for-profit business is a little ridiculous. Not to mention that playing on someone's sense of civic responsibility probably isn't the best way to get them fired up about a football team.

The Jags obviously have to come up with new ideas to drum up interest, and shaming people likely won't be what does it. It has been widely assumed that drafting Tim Tebow would be a quick and easy way to do so, but a recent poll of 800 season ticket holders indicated that a majority of them would be against the team taking Tebow in ANY round of the draft. Personally, I don't think that necessarily means he still wouldn't get more people to buy tickets. Season ticket holders are more versed in the game than fans who would come out because a local star was added to the team. While adding Tebow to the roster may not thrill the season ticket holders, it would likely give casual followers something to get excited about, at least until they actually saw him play.

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.