By Tom Jones

Tampa Bay Times

What happens?

There has to be an explanation. Maybe it’s chemical. Maybe it’s the endorphins that are set off. Maybe it’s the wires in our brains that somehow get crossed and short-circuit.

Maybe it’s all the time we invest and all the money we spend and all the emotion we expend.

But something happens, something that turns otherwise normal, intelligent, good and decent people into complete out-of-control, almost-foaming-at-the-mouth fanatics.

Ah yes, fanatics, that’s the magic word. The short version is “fan.” And that makes sense.

The point of all this?

Sports fans can be so misguided that their blind loyalty often allows them to excuse even the most disgusting behavior, behavior that they would never normally defend.

Think about it.

Celebrities such as Harvey Weinstein, Matt Lauer, Louis C.K., Kevin Spacey and Charlie Rose display reprehensible, creepy and, in some cases, illegal behavior and they are pretty much universally condemned. No one even tries to defend them. And they shouldn’t. We all agree that their actions are repugnant.

Yet, athletes display similar behavior and fans flock to their defense, often victim-blaming, overlooking obvious incidents, nit-picking clear facts and making excuses for behavior that is inexcusable.

Whether it’s Bucs and FSU fans when it comes to Jameis Winston, Steelers fans when it comes to Ben Roethlisberger and, most recently, Ohio State fans when it comes to coach Urban Meyer and what appears to be enabling a serial domestic abuser on his staff, fans are willing to turn a blind eye all because it’s their guy.

It’s interesting that when I wrote columns criticizing Winston and his numerous bad decisions over the years, the pushback came from either Bucs fans, Florida State fans or, the most vehement defenses, from fans of both the Bucs and FSU. But no one outside fans of those teams rose to Winston’s defense.

The same thing with Roethlisberger. No fans of any other team defended Roethlisberger. But Pittsburghers practically climbed through their computer screens to spew hatred and protestations toward anyone who criticized their team leader.

While Tampa Bay defends Winston and Pittsburgh defends Roethlisberger, the rest of the country watches in disbelief and pity at those defenses.

And now this thing with Meyer and Ohio State.

Reaction to my column calling for Meyer’s dismissal last week was swift and plentiful and not-at-all surprising. Many (not all, but many) Ohio State fans flooded my email inbox and Twitter feed defending Meyer, blaming the victim and listing all the reasons why Meyer wasn’t to be blamed. Their defense was both reckless and pathetic. Meantime, everyone else I heard from saw the evidence for what it was and agreed that Meyer should never coach again. At the very least, they agree that what has gone on at Ohio State was wrong, something Ohio State fans, for the most part, would not concede.

My guess is if the same thing that happened at Ohio State happened, instead, at Georgia or Alabama or USC, those same Ohio State fans so upset last week would not be riled up to defend Georgia or Alabama or USC.

But that’s just how it goes.

So, can we at least admit that something snaps in our heads whenever someone even justly criticizes our favorite teams?

Can we at least admit that we lose perspective and all sense of right and wrong simply because we can’t separate our fandom from our morals? Can we at least admit that we know we’re being unreasonable when we try to defend a player on our favorite team when it’s clear they have messed up?

Can we at least admit that we can’t help it that when it comes to our favorite teams we jump out the window, down the rabbit hole and risk falling into the sewer, all in defending the honor of our favorite team even when it acts dishonorably?

I’m sure some doctor somewhere can explain it. Good and otherwise sensible folks don’t slip off the rails in any other situation except, maybe, when it comes to defending family members. And, when you think about it, many people spend as much time with their favorite sports teams as they do their families, thus giving fans the same strong emotional attachment.

I’m guessing when you dedicate every Saturday in the fall to your alma mater, you can’t turn off your passion Sunday through Friday. I’m sure when you watch your favorite hitter hit a walk-off homer at 10 p.m. on Tuesday night, you really don’t care what he is doing at midnight, even if that something is nefarious.

But this is a plea for all fans to, occasionally, step back and pretend that whatever is being said about your team is being said about your team’s biggest rival. And then ask yourself if you would feel the same urges.

Then again, I don’t expect that will happen. Something like that would take composure and reason and understanding. You know, things that many diehard fanatics don’t have.