Tag: #KhlownOut

Jaguars fan uses lunch break to protest Trent Baalke in clown garb

Jaguars fan Kevin Wyatt is not letting the #KhlownOut movement die.

It’s no secret that much of the Jacksonville fan base is fed up. When the team fired coach Urban Meyer in December after just 13 games, many wanted to see general manager Trent Baalke out the door with him. Baalke doesn’t hold a very strong reputation in the league after the way things played out when he was at the helm in San Francisco, and his association with the Meyer era was enough for many fans to want him gone.

They responded by protesting Baalke’s retention with mustachioed clown profile pictures, which basically are a representation of how poorly the organization has been ran. For the season finale against Indianapolis at home, many showed up wearing full-on clown costumes.

Though the season is over and there is no sign that Baalke’s termination is imminent, the fans aren’t done being heard. And one in particular is taking the #KhlownOut movement very seriously.

Jags fan Kevin Wyatt is using his lunch break at work to keep the protest alive, going to the stadium dressed as a clown.

Even with a clown occupying TIAA Bank Field, it seems unlikely that Khan will change his mind at this point without some outside pressure, such as no coach being willing to take the job. But it goes to show that the fans aren’t happy, and they will continue to voice their displeasure with the direction of the franchise until it changes.

Trevor Lawrence responds to the #KhlownOut movement

Lawrence: “Would I (wear clown attire) personally? No, I wouldn’t do that. But fans feel how they feel, and it’s hard.”

The Jacksonville fanbase is accustomed to frustration. As fans of a team that hasn’t found consistent success since the late 1990s, they’re used to being disappointed by the result on the field. But the last two seasons have been especially abysmal.

The team is just 3-29 since the start of 2020, and it’s staring down the barrel of a second-straight No. 1 pick in the draft after never finishing as the league’s worst team in its first 25 years of existence. Those frustrations boiled over when reports dropped that owner Shad Khan intends to keep general manager Trent Baalke in 2022.

Jacksonville’s on-field struggles can be (at least partially) attributed to Baalke’s approach during the offseason, and many feel that he didn’t do enough to address the shortcomings on a roster that finished 1-15 last season. They want a fresh start, and to try to pressure Khan to see eye-to-eye, some have embraced the #KhlownOut movement, where fans have changed their Twitter avatars to the clown emoji with a Khan-esque mustache.

It’s unclear how the movement has impacted Khan’s thinking, but it seems to have found a sympathetic audience in rookie quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who was asked about the fans planning to show up to Sunday’s season finale against Indianapolis wearing clown costumes.

“I guess I’ll start by saying I understand how the fans that have been Jacksonville fans for a long time (feel),” Lawrence said on Wednesday, per ESPN’s Mike DiRocco. “I’m sure that hasn’t been easy. (There’s) a lot of diehard fans that this is, I wouldn’t say everything for them, but this is something that’s very important to them, and they’ve been a fan since the Jags started. You see that passion, and you definitely respect that.

“As players, I know the feeling. We want to do everything we can to win for this city, for these fans and obviously we haven’t had much success this year. That’s frustrating for us as well, so I understand from a fan’s perspective. Would I (wear clown attire) personally? No, I wouldn’t do that. But fans feel how they feel, and it’s hard. Like I said, this year’s been disappointing for all of us. We wanted to win a lot more games, so I get the frustration. But for us, we’re just focusing on going and finishing with a win this season.”

If you were expecting Lawrence to call for his general manager to be fired, you may be disappointed, but this is still a telling quote in several ways. You can tell from reading it that Lawrence understands the fans’ frustrations, which certainly pale in comparison to his own over a rookie season that hasn’t gone to plan.

Developing Lawrence is the franchise’s top priority right now, and the team needs to make it clear to him that his concerns will be taken into account and he will have at least some say in the direction the franchise takes moving forward. Whether that means retaining Baalke or moving on, Lawrence’s opinion should be a factor.

And the rookie quarterback didn’t exactly jump to defend his boss from a mob of angry fans dressed as clowns.

Legendary Jags receiver Jimmy Smith praises ‘passionate’ fanbase in the wake of #KhlownOut

Smith: “I don’t take it as an insult to Shad Khan. I think it’s a blessing that we have fans as passionate as we do, and we all want to win.”

Jaguars Twitter has been taken over by clown avatars ever since it was reported that owner Shad Khan intends to keep embattled general manager Trent Baalke heading into 2022. Baalke was promoted from within this past offseason largely at Urban Meyer’s request, and fans want a clean break from the disastrous experiment that was Meyer’s NFL tenure.

The #KhlownOut movement continues in full force as fans try to pressure Khan to part ways with Baalke, and it has found a sympathetic audience in Jaguars legend Jimmy Smith, who said that the passion from the Jacksonville fans is a “blessing.”

“With Trent Baalke, whether he feels the pressure from our passionate fans, I think that’s a blessing,” Smith said in an interview with 1010 XL. “I think that’s a good thing that our fans have pulled together. Our fans have suffered for a long time. I’ve shared that, too. I’ve suffered, too. I feel the same way. I look at it as a blessing that our passionate fans got this avatar. I don’t take it as an insult to Shad Khan. I think it’s a blessing that we have fans as passionate as we do, and we all want to win.

“I think no matter what coach or GM you bring in there, I think the first thing you have to do is restore our culture.”

It’s certainly interesting sentiment to see from a former player, and it illustrates that they share some of the same concerns about the direction of the franchise that the fans do.

When it comes to Baalke, there isn’t much justification to keep him around. He doesn’t have a very good reputation around the league as an executive, and he was there with Meyer in lockstep throughout his embarrassment of a tenure. Most notably, he took a frugal approach in free agency, which certainly didn’t help the first-year coach garner the talent he needed to flourish.

After a questionable offseason in which the team didn’t really improve at all, it’s hard to see what Baalke’s argument is for sticking around during the upcoming rebuild. If former players with a lot of sway like Smith are saying this, it could be an indication that Khan is starting to feel some pressure from the fans.

Jags fans prepping to ‘Khlownout’ at last home game vs. Colts

#KhlownOut is reportedly going to crash Jacksonville’s season finale against Indianapolis.

The Jacksonville faithful have had to endure a lot of bad football over the years. Though the franchise found a great deal of success early in its existence, it has finished above .500 just once since 2007 and has won five or fewer games in 10 of those seasons.

But the Jaguars also are now in a position they’ve never been in before. They landed a generational talent in quarterback Trevor Lawrence, but his rookie year was hindered by the abhorrent leadership of coach Urban Meyer, whose tenure lasted just 13 games. Many expected the Jags to clean house after a disastrous season, but reports have surfaced that owner Shad Khan intends to keep general manager Trent Baalke in place.

That angered many Jags fans, who are fed up with the never-ending cycle of failure. They started the “#KhlownOut” movement on Twitter, where they changed their profile pictures to the clown emoji with a mustache that resembles Khan’s.

Now, according to the Associated Press’ Mark Long, the protest will leave the screens and head to the stadium for Sunday’s season finale against the Indianapolis Colts. Per Long, some of the fans who will be attending the game intend to wear clown costumes to make a statement to Khan about their displeasure with the direction the team is heading.

It’s unclear if the fan revolt is having an impact on Khan’s decision-making process regarding Baalke, who has a less-than-stellar reputation around the league. He was fired from the same role in San Francisco alongside first-year coach Chip Kelly in 2016 after gutting many components of the organization that brought it to a Super Bowl.

Many also feel that he’s tainted from his connection to Meyer, and considering he was on staff in 2020 and promoted from the interim general manager role this season, these fans want the team to go in a different direction.

The effort is certainly well organized, as you can tell by looking at the replies by any tweet from the official Jaguars account, and we’ll see what the clown turnout is as Jacksonville closes out a nightmarish 2021 campaign in front of the home crowd.