Rooting for a bad football team stinks. When you've paid what is likely a couple of hundreds bucks to see said bad football team, it probably sucks even worse. And when you're sitting there in the cold watching this bad football team you're probably getting frustrated and angry. And when you are frustrated and angry, you probably want to take it out someone.

My request is.... don't do that.

I say this today because I read a story this morning about Jets superfan "Fireman Ed." You've probably seen him before, not only is he shown during every Jets game but he can also be seen in pretty much every fan montage. He wears his signature hard hat and leads the crowd in the "J-E-T-S JETS, JETS, JETS" cheers.

Only now, he's giving up. Not because the team stinks, but because he's getting abused by other fans.

"This is an indication of how society has lost and is continuing to lose respect for one another," "Fireman" Ed Anzalone wrote. "... The fact that I chose to wear a Mark Sanchez jersey this year and that fans think I am on the payroll - which is an outright lie - have made these confrontations more frequent. Whether it's in the stands, the bathroom or the parking lot, these confrontations are happening on a consistent basis.

"Although I can 'hold my own,' I do not want to lose my temper and make a stupid mistake," he continued.

That's just messed up. If you want to boo the team, the coach, the owner whatever... feel free. That is your right. But as fans we should be on the same side. Even if we disagree about what direction the team should go, we all ultimately want the same thing and we shouldn't be taking out our anger on one another.

So if you go to the game tonight and there are guys there dressed up or painted or doing whatever to support the team, show them respect. We really don't want our versions of Fireman Ed giving up, because while this season has been sad in its own way... that would be really sad. Don't take away someone's right to be a fan.