Actually, the team doesn't have to know anything about it.
The NFL via the Refs can create a situation where a team is on the crap end of just enough calls and non-calls to be losing in the last year of a lease deal. Fans bail and attendance drops.
Now, lemme ask you...
The NFL wants a certain thing... a team in a certain city....not St. Louis... they've even appointed an executive now for that express purpose now that they've used LA to extort other cities for 20 years and it's played out...plus, they figured they've lost enough revenue from not having a team in LA. The sale of the Clippers really shocked the NFL owners into action in a HUGE way. LA is a massive market that's grossly UNDERVALUED. If the Clippers are worth $2B, just imagine what an NFL franchise would be worth???
So, an NFL owner, even if he wants to stay in St. Louis is dealing with hard choices locally including a disenfranchised fan base due to extended losing or the financial windfall that comes from moving, especially to potentially the most lucrative market in the country (one can argue if SF is the most, but I'd argue that when push comes to shove, LA money will flash the loudest).
That makes the choice an organic and honest one based on actual inputs for the Owner and doesn't require the owner to be complicit in any way while still allowing the NFL to dictate their narrative which is and has been tremendously important for years now.
I mean, I said in 2001 after 9/11 to a friend, "there's no way any team other than the Patriots can win the Super Bowl" and he looked at me and said, "but they have a rookie QB. They aren't even going to win their division". I told him to sit back and watch. All throughout I didn't WANT to believe it, but the cynical voice in my head just kept yammering.
Manning getting back to the SB, Seattle getting that dominating win with that Legion of Boom business. Big business. Tremendous...STORY TELLING.
What it isn't is very good football, meaning that it's not honest. Not that guys aren't playing to win. They are. I truly believe that. But more and more every year, it seems the NFL is steering outcomes to micromanage games.
I mean, if there are really only 6 good teams and that's it, then fine. Let it be that way. I'd rather look at ACTUAL football than what we've seen this season because I'm as mad about the Seattle LOSS in Seattle to Dallas because THEY got just as jobbed as we did! It goes directly to the integrity of the game.
I don't think the teams know, but I think they suspect AND I think some try to coach around it when they can. Like some teams go with it. If they figure out the refs won't call holds, they go all out and take advantage until they start. Others don't change for the refs.
That said, this season is just off. I've seen fans from around the league saying the same thing, both in concert AND commenting on OTHER teams in a way that I've never seen in almost 40 years of watching the NFL. Fans are noticing other teams getting done badly in such an offputting way that it requires something be said. It's becoming increasingly suspicious.
