Viva Murillo!

I'd estimate that, 999 times out of 1,000, athlete post-game interviews are worthless. They recite tired phrases designed not to stir up any controversy or reveal much of anything. If they win, it was a "team effort" and they "worked together." If they lost, they "didn't get it done" and "give all the credit in the world" to the other team. It's very rare they say anything worth hearing.

But it happened Sunday.

Following a 9-6 defeat to the Ravens, Chiefs right tackle Eric Winston ripped into the hometown fans for cheering when Kansas City quarterback Matt Cassel went down with an injury and was replaced by Brady Quinn. Part of his comments:

There are long-lasting ramifications to the game we play ... I've come to the understanding I won't live as long because I play this game. That's OK. But when you cheer somebody getting knocked out, I don't care who it is, and just so happened to be Matt Cassel, it's 100 percent sickening.

If he's not the best quarterback, he's not the best quarterback, and that's OK. But he's a person. And he got knocked out in a game, and we got 70,000 people cheering. Boo him all you want. Boo me all you want. Throw me under the bus. Tell me I'm doing a bad job, say I've got to protect him more ... but if you're one of those people who were out there cheering, or even smiled, when he got knocked out, I just want everyone to know it's sickening and disgusting.

To be fair, you could argue that not everybody was cheering, and maybe they were just cheering the backup quarterback getting a chance to play in a disappointing season. But a player -- for the hometown team -- got hurt, and fans in the stands were cheering the result.

Winston's comments were spoken in earnest, they were clear and they were impactful. And as fantasy owners, we've all been guilty of it at some point. An opponent's running back is single-handedly destroying your team and you say "Somebody break his legs!" Their quarterback is slow to get up and you say "Oh, maybe he's hurt" with wide eyes, like a child who got an early Christmas present. You drafted a valuable handcuff, so you hope the starter is "out a while."

Now, in reality, we don't purposely think of these human beings and wish them harm. We're not actually rooting for pain to be inflicted on another person and reveling in their personal and professional misery. But Winston reminded us that we're doing exactly that. We're just rooting for our team so it seems like no big deal, but the consequences are sometimes things we'd never really wish upon someone else.

Many NFL players suffer debilitating injuries when their careers are over. For most, their playing time is over after a few years, and the money they make doesn't always look so impressive compared to the sacrifices they make for decades (little league football through retirement). They can get hurt -- seriously hurt -- and their physical and mental challenges can linger with them long after they put away their jerseys. We all know that, and they know it, too. And they take that risk in an effort to do what they like and be compensated handsomely for it. But when you read about NFL owners dying in their 80s while so many NFL players die in their 60s, you know that injuries can play a role in that disparity. To cheer or be happy when an injury occurs seems like a perversion of what it means to be a "fan." How can we do something like that?

I say "we" because I've been guilty of it myself. We don't always think of the players as people; just stat machines that are working for or against us. Maybe they're hurting our fantasy team, or our favorite NFL team. In Cassel's case, he's taking a lot of heat for the team's poor start, and lack of success since he arrived as a free agent. We think of the impact a player is having on the field, and we root for stopping it. We're not thinking of them as people, or football as a dangerous sport.

Winston's comments are a good reminder that they are people and their game is dangerous. I wouldn't really wish any NFL player harm. I don't want any of them to be hurt. If I met them, I'd shake their hand and congratulate their success, even if it hurt my pretend football team. We all would. When fans see an injured player get up after an injury, they applaud -- whether it's a home team player or an opponent. Fans are good people who sometimes get caught up in the game. And by acknowledging that he's likely sacrificing years off his life by playing professional football, Winston brought us back to reality for a moment.

Just something to keep in mind as we work through the fantasy season. Good luck this week.

Youtube Clip of the Week: Watch Winston's comments here.

Do you sometimes catch yourself rooting for injuries? Do you think Winston's comments were over the top and much ado about nothing? Share your thoughts below.

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