I’m 35. 10 years ago, I was semi-employed and still living at my parents’ house. I’d get a new game and wouldn’t think twice about spending 8 straight hours learning all the strategies/moves and then having 50 attempts at beating a boss/getting through a specific level. I just don’t have that patience or time now. I got the 2018 GoW game a year ago and was loving the gameplay right up until I had to face a Valkyrie. I died 3 times in a row without even getting her below 50% health and immediately turned down the difficulty. I can still hop on a game of Left 4 Dead Versus or Black Ops Deathmatch, 2 games I played constantly in my late teens and early 20s, and finish near the top of the leaderboard. The ability is still there for games where I developed it, but unless I suddenly double my salary and cut my working hours in half, I’ll probably never get that good at another game again. And that’s ok.
In 2010, we still had Deangelo Williams, Jonathan Stewart, Steve Smith, Jordan Gross, Travelle Wharton, Ryan Kalil, Charles Johnson, Jon Beason, Thomas Davis, and Chris Gamble and we knew we were getting the #1 pick.
In 2001, we had Muhsin Muhammad, Todd Steussie, Jeff Mitchell, Kevin Donnalley, Brentson Buckner, Mike Rucker, Mike Minter, some really promising rookies in Steve Smith, Kris Jenkins, and Dan Morgan, and the #2 pick since Houston was getting #1 as the new expansion team.
This year we have:
Derrick Brown - Really good young DT that can be a cornerstone for a while
Frankie Luvu - Severely underrated all-purpose LB who’s about to be a FA
Adam Thielen - Solid slot/#3 WR at this point currently playing as our #1.
Shaq Thompson - Great LB but on IR and about to turn 30
Brian Burns - Good pass rusher who can’t defend the run but wants top ED money anyway
Jaycee Horn - Good CB, but has played 17/45 games since being drafted
Bryce Young - Too small, not nearly as mentally ready as advertised, and significantly worse than draft counterpart CJ Stroud
No 1st round pick
So yeah, this is the bleakest outlook this franchise has ever had because you can basically already write off next season, the roster is devoid of top-tier talent, we’ve whiffed on 3 straight 1st round picks, and we’re in danger of losing 2 of the best players we have.