So, Kansas City Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles asked Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning to autograph a jersey for him after a game.

Or, Pittsburgh Steelers safety Ryan Clark went into the Baltimore Ravens locker room after a loss to chat it up a bit longer with a few of the players.

Somehow, this became a big topic for the talking heads of sports radio and television last week.

My opinion? I don’t really care about this. This is such a non-story, I can’t believe I’m writing about it, but people need to understand.

This is not your dad’s NFL or even your grandfather’s NFL. Hey, it’s not even your older brother’s NFL.

As someone who never played football, even at the pee-wee level — I just did my cross country and track and stayed out of harm’s way — I can respect the hard work, the physicality and the warrior mentality of professional football.

That said, do I need to care about a player’s comportment outside the lines? Absolutely not.

I would never question Clark’s toughness and his ability to put everything on the line, 100 percent, into his play. The same with Charles, one of the top rushers in the NFL.

A player’s dislike for his opponent doesn’t need to be carried off the field. Players nowadays may bicker at one another in social media, but it usually turns out to be in jest.

The players these days have the utmost respect for one another, whether they admit to it the week leading up to the game or not.

With the severity of injuries — particularly the scrutiny that concussions are given — that can come from an increasingly faster and harder-hitting league, playing in the NFL is its own fraternity.

You play hard and you back it up, you are held in high regard in this league. If you’re tentative, you’re deemed soft and not worthy.

Just watching the first half of the Steelers-Ravens game on Sunday, did you notice how many times players from both teams patted each other on the back or even helped the opposing player up of the ground after the play?

It happened a lot. That didn’t happen, say, three years ago, but it’s happening now.

One notion floated around the airwaves last week was that fans didn’t particularly like the idea of players being chummy with one another, that because the fans “pay” the salary of the players, they felt like they had every right to be upset if they wanted.

Wrong. From my perspective, the players owe the fans absolutely nothing except a 100 percent effort. Of course, we want our players to be respective to the public and the community off the field, but you don’t have the right to feel cheated that players should hate one another while at the stadium or during the season.

There’s a mutual respect among the players and it shows. Those prayer circles you saw on the field with both teams joining in. That was the beginning and now respect has shown throughout the game.

Nothing says you can’t battle and hit hard throughout the game. That’s the one expectation fans should have.

Deciding if opposing players shouldn’t be respectful to one another after the game? No, when the game’s over, the game’s over.

Players are free to express their respect any way they can after the game. They’ve earned that right. As a fan, you haven’t.

Sam Tallarico is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle.