For me, it isn’t just the NFL’s embrace of the disrespect, it is also the NFL linked PSAs showing guys kissing in the stands, the pink clothes in October, etc. In a league of over 1,000 players, you are going to have some bad eggs. But the league itself has shown that it and its owners are more respectful of sponsors, media outlets, poorly-behaved players, subsidy-granting governments and their personal circle of friends and business associates than they are of the fans who buy the tickets, watch the games and buy the gear.
Fifty years ago they were content to provide entertainment for grown men relaxing on a Sunday afternoon. It became something unwieldy and utterly unsustainable.
What you said. Excellent summary!
The circus aspect was minimal to nonexistent. No Cowboy cheerleaders. Halftime was local college or high school marching bands. Nobody bothered interviewing players because they knew then that players seldom if ever have anything intelligent to say.
Coaches like Vince Lombardi, Paul Brown, Blanton Collier etc would not have stood for one whit of the theatrics today, and their owners would have backed the coaches to the hilt. But then too, the networks were on the same team as the rest of us, and not invested in creating/colluding with disruption.
Thought: It’s not anymore about the quality of the “herd” but the “oppression” of the corral.
My son-in-law, a former big NFL fan, just deleted his entire fantasy league as a protest.