There’s a movement brewing. Not an organized boycott of NFL football per se, but basically that people are feeling disinclined to watch the sport because of the growing sense of dread that comes with it. Jason Kottke, one of my favorite bloggers, explains:
I’ve been a steadfast fan of NFL football for the past 15 years. Most weekends I’d catch at least two or three games on TV. Professional football lays bare all of the human achievement + battle with self + physical intelligence + teamwork stuff I love thinking about in a particularly compelling way. But for a few years now, the cons have been piling up in my conscience: the response to head injuries, the league’s nonprofit status, the homophobia, and turning a blind eye to the reliance on drugs (PEDs and otherwise). And the final straw: the awful terrible inhuman way the league treats violence against women.
It’s overwhelming. Enough is enough. I dropped my cable subscription a few months ago and was considering getting it again to watch the NFL, but I won’t be doing that. Pro football, I love you, but we can’t see each other anymore. And it’s definitely you, not me. Call me when you grow up.
Getting dressed up in red and gold and going to Thieves Tavern is sure fun, but, I dunno… we’ll see.
Read on for more.
[Photo by Honey Jets]
I gave up on football about 6 years ago after 25 years of following the sport (peaking during the Montana reign of supremacy). At the time that I stopped watching, I’d concluded it was no longer the sport that I loved due to all of the rule manipulations to favor wide open passing games at the expense of the running/defense-based teams (also lengthening games in process).
Since then, I’ve found that when I check back in, just about everything the NFL does is lowest common denominator, from their cultural values (cro-magnons on the plantation) to their cutthroat business practices to reap every last cent out of any process. It’s a microcosm of many of the worst aspects of American life and I don’t miss it.
Hopefully this will lead to more room in my favorite bars that have NFL Sunday Ticket.
Well put, SCUM. Gracias.
We don’t want you rubes at the beach on Sundays.
word.
“People can’t prove they share my morals unless they abide by this behavior I just dictated as the measuring bar.” Sounds a little too much like organized religion.
Nobody said anything like that. It’s a personal choice. I feel conflicted, but I’ll probably still watch a lot of games. If you don’t feel conflicted at all, good for you. I just think it’s worth thinking about.
Who gives a shit really? If people want to waste a day sitting in front of a TV all day, fine with me. More people sport a colored jersey to feel included or fit in than really giving a shit about football, and that’s cool, just not my thing.
I gave up the NFL about 12 years ago, and haven’t missed it a bit. It gave me sunday back to focus on outdoor drinking