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Patriots linebacker wasn't happy team got booed off the field: 'I thought it was disrespectful'

A strange sound emanated from the Gillette Stadium seats as the New England Patriots walked into the tunnel at halftime. After scoring just 7 points in the first half against the Kansas City Chiefs, the Patriots were actually getting booed off the field.

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At least one Patriots player wasn’t a big fan of that. Linebacker Kyle Van Noy said he found the booing “disrespectful,” according to NBC Sports Boston.

Van Noy’s reasoning has to do with the Patriots still being in great shape overall even though they lost the game 23-16. In Van Noy’s eyes, the team is 10-3 and that’s not worth booing. Van Noy later agrees with Tom E. Curran’s assessment that the sky isn’t falling for the Patriots and that everything will be fine.

While all of that is true, it’s not a simple as telling fans they cannot boo. The Pats went into halftime down 20-7. The offense — which has been an issue all season — hadn’t done much to inspire confidence. Fans were rightly frustrated with the product they were watching. The easiest way to convey that to the team was to boo.

At the same time, we’re talking about the Patriots here. The franchise has experienced more success than any NFL team over the past decade. Patriots fans have only known dominance in that time. To boo the team after one bad half — especially when the team is still 10-3 — comes off as entitled. Pats fans have it pretty good in comparison to Cincinnati Bengals fans, who should be booing their team and franchise constantly.

Still, Van Noy’s comments aren’t likely to go over well, mostly because fans don’t want to be told how to be fans. If the team falls short of a Super Bowl win, Patriots fans are probably going to boo again.

It might not be right, especially considering how well the Patriots have performed in recent years, but no one said fandom was logical.

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Chris Cwik is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik

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