The lead-up to the NFL draft is typically one of the most exciting times of the year for fans—especially if your team has the second, 16th, 33rd, and 44th overall picks.

For New York Jets fans, though, this year’s draft cycle carries an overwhelming sense of apathy.

It is impossible to ignore the “here we go again” mentality permeating throughout the fanbase. A period of the calendar typically marked by unbridled optimism is, instead, shrouded in a lack of interest whatsoever.

Long-suffering Jets fans have been led down this road many times before, and it has never brought them to the promised destination. Thus, many fans are too checked out to get excited about yet another hyped-up Jets draft.

How can you blame them? Given how many consecutive times the Jets have squandered attempts to rebuild the roster with a plethora of draft picks and cap space, it would arguably be foolish for fans to buy into it once again.

A large chunk of the Jets fanbase is beyond the point where they are faithful enough to conjure hope from thin air. They need to see results before they can get invested again. Until those results come, betting on the Jets to underwhelm is as safe a bet as there is in life.

That leaves the Jets fanbase with the title it holds today: The most apathetic bunch in the NFL.

It’s the fault of the franchise, not the fans. They are justified in their lack of belief.

However, it presents an important question, especially for those of you still invested enough to be reading this deeply into an article about the team:

Why bother?

If the Jets are such a rudderless ship, why spend the slightest inkling of time or attention on whether they can make it ashore?

Why care about their free agent signings? Why care about the draft?

Well, for the beaten-and-battered Jets fans out there, desperately searching for a reason to care anymore, we have the answers for you.

Here are two reasons why apathetic Jets fans should take another swig of green Kool-Aid and stave off the fandom sobriety that is relentlessly tugging at their Curtis Martin jerseys.

1. Minimal expectations make it easier to have fun

Some of you reading this are also New York Knicks fans. If that is the case, you are probably quite frustrated with the team right now, perhaps more than you’ve been in a long time.

That’s in spite of the Knicks’ current .632 winning percentage, which would be the franchise’s best since 2013. It’s a mark that hasn’t been reached by a Jets team since 2010.

The Knicks have won at least one playoff series in each of the last three seasons, racking up four total victories over that span. This year, they have been a rock-solid team, posting the fifth-best net rating in the NBA and racking up plenty of victories over elite opponents.

Yet, fans have spent most of the season moaning and groaning.

Why?

One word: Expectations.

A sports fan’s happiness can be calculated by a simple equation: Expectations – Results.

In essence, a fan with 3/10 expectations and 5/10 results (+2) will be much happier than the fan with 10/10 expectations and 8/10 results (-2). The Knicks represent the latter fanbase at the moment.

If you’re a Jets fan, you have the luxury of being able to watch your team with the lowest of expectations. It may seem like a curse to root for a team that seemingly has no hope each year, but it’s actually a blessing in disguise. The beauty is that it takes so much less for the team to make you happy.

The Knicks are about to win 50+ games for the third straight year, and they have a good chance of winning at least one playoff series for the fourth straight year. In the end, though, if they fall short of winning the Eastern Conference, fans will be miserable, even though the team’s accomplishments would still make them one of the most successful franchises in the NBA over the past few years.

That’s because expectations ruin all fun for sports fans. Once fans start to legitimately believe their team can win a title, they struggle to find satisfaction in anything less than perfection.

But the fans lucky enough to root for a team with zero expectations have the most room for enjoyment out of anyone. When you expect nothing, every positive moment can be savored.

Jets fans shouldn’t overlook how much of a luxury that is. Most NFL fanbases end each season wallowing in a pit of misery because their 10-win team didn’t get far enough in the playoffs. Meanwhile, Jets fans have dropped their expectations so low that they may shut down New York City once the team finally gets a single interception.

There is a lot more room for fun when you don’t expect anything. That is as good a reason as any to stay committed to a struggling franchise.

2. The accumulated pain will lead to a greater reward in the end

Nearly two months ago, the New England Patriots came within four quarters of a Super Bowl victory.

How much would that have really meant to New Englanders?

The Patriots have done enough winning over the past 25 years to last their fans multiple lifetimes. There are seventh-graders in Boston who have witnessed as many Super Bowl wins (3) as these 15 NFL franchises have earned across their entire histories:

New York Jets (1)

Chicago Bears (1)

New Orleans Saints (1)

Buffalo Bills (0)

Detroit Lions (0)

Atlanta Falcons (0)

Houston Texans (0)

Tennessee Titans (0)

Arizona Cardinals (0)

Carolina Panthers (0)

Cleveland Browns (0)

Minnesota Vikings (0)

Cincinnati Bengals (0)

Jacksonville Jaguars (0)

Los Angeles Chargers (0)

To some fanbases, winning a Super Bowl would be a fun night.

To Jets fans, it would be everything.

When the Jets finally get over the hump, every ounce of pain that has accumulated since January 1969 will be released simultaneously in a moment of unadulterated euphoria that probably could not be matched by any other conceivable feeling in human life. No other fanbase of any other entity, sports or otherwise, has built up as much pent-up tension to be relieved in one glorious moment.

An entire life of commitment to a product that brought fans nothing but sorrow would be vindicated in a moment so immeasurably joyous that it was all worth it.

Jets fans could die happy.

To those who think that sentence is a bit extreme for the love of a billion-dollar sports franchise that rarely loves back, you clearly didn’t watch Kenbrell Thompkins’ drop, Doug Brien’s missed field goal, Ben Roethlisberger’s third-down conversion, or Aaron Rodgers’ Achilles injury.

You don’t get it.

Nobody could, besides the truest of Jets fans.

For that reason, no team’s Super Bowl victory would mean as much to their fanbase as the Jets’.

It’s why sticking around is worthwhile for Jets fans. As unlikely as it may be for New York to reach the promised land in any given fan’s lifetime, the potential reward is immense enough to be worth holding onto the slight chance it occurs.