I used to watch football. Now, it’s not just the “protest” thing it’s a lot of other things as well:
Celebrating - it’s out of control. A guy tackles the RB in the backfield and he acts like they just won the game.
Hitting instead of tackling - these guys hit trying to hurt the other guy and a lot times just bounce off not stopping the play.
Reviews - endless reviews. It slows the game down and it loses any momentum.
Announcers - Some analyzing is good but that’s out of control too.
Penalties - players looking for a penalty every time they get touched. Especially the QB’s.
There’s more but the game has become a three hour borefest.
“Hitting instead of tackling - these guys hit trying to hurt the other guy and a lot times just bounce off not stopping the play.”
Similar sort of thing happened to the NHL. Years ago, taking out a man using your shoulder or your hips was an art form, particularly with guys that my Dad grew up with in the 1950s and 1960s (Bob Baun, Leo Boivin, Gilles Marotte, Marcel Bonin, etc) and even when I was a kid (Brian Glennie and Perry Miller). Nowadays, it almost always involves slamming someone into the boards and/or getting a stick or elbow into it. The helmets and shields were supposed to make the game safer by preventing those kind of injuries, but for the most part it simply created a complete disregard for the head. Concussions and back and neck injuries are now an appalling problem.
its getting more and more difficult to justify watching a nfl game. its a bit like torture., waiting for the iittle yellow flag to fly into the screen after every play. then the replay annd a series of reviews from 6 angles while the refs huddle under a hood., I change the channel when they go to reviews., add to that the “social justice” bs and I cant help but think my sunday is better spent raking leaves.
someone should broadcast games from the 60’s and 70’s , in their entirety, real football played by badass mother f’ers, not what we see today.
I like your #2. Celebrating.
What ever happened to a player making a play and walking away like he had done it a thousand times before? They used to make plays for the team not for themselves.
The politicization is ridiculous, particularly given the amount of money and privilege the players have relative to the rest of the world. I would stop televising the players during the national anthem, and quit giving them exposure. If this persists, I would not bring the players onto the field until after the national anthem.
Beyond that, I agree with you about the games becoming boring. I would like to see a body fat percentage limit (no more linemen with their guts hanging over their belts). Automatic 2 year suspension for being caught using performance enhancing substances that increase body mass and strength (suspended for life for second offense). I would also reduce the time allowed between plays to 30 seconds from whistle to snap. For starters. If they really want to speed things up, reduce the number of downs to 3.
I agree. The penalties are a killer and just feed the announcers with time to go on an on. I can solve the announcer problem with the mute button but the rest...
I also miss the days of watching them play in the mud and snow. Heck thats what we did as kids.
When the whitest team in the NFL doesn’t even allow 50% of players to be white, something is very wrong. And most teams are only 20%. It amazes me not enough care about blatant racial favoritism and racial imbalance in the sport. And the whitest team generally wins the super bowl! Of course the feeder system is the biggest problem (NCAA). THAT is where the quotas begin.
Thank you. Every one of those.
How about this? Sameness.
Remember when Dallas had the shifts & the flex? Or when Raiders constantly threw past 15 yards? Or the 4-6? Or tge West Coast offense?
Many teams had distinct personalities. Maybe “the game has chanved” or maybe no one has the guts to be different.
I'm the opposite of you. I missed the celebrations. It added some passion to the game and didn't make it look like the players were out there just going through the motions.
Feminization of the game. Female referees. Horrible female commentators. Dressing players up like newborn baby girls every year.
Endless commercials.
The injection of politics was the final straw for me. Sports are a form of escapism. I can turn my brain off and yell at the TV about missed holding penalties. I can't do that anymore. When the NFL begins losing fans like me, there is a problem. When people figure out that they don't need your product to survive, your company is doomed.
Boy,you nailed it as I thought the same thing watching my team opening Sunday. At times it's unwatchable.
I call it the "Just saved the village from a rogue elephant" celebration.
Exactly!
It just isn’t the same game I used to enjoy watching.
I see a couple of games a year now, and have trouble sitting
thought those.
I stopped watching the NFL about decades ago for just that reason. They get paid millions to do a job yet they celebrate every little thing. For well over 25 years I watched a total of the equivalent of maybe two games, a few minutes here and there.
Two years ago I watched my first full game on TV and was actually getting interested again then the protests started last year and I just tuned back out.
Went to a UT Longhorn game a few years ago. The longest day of my life. There were more time outs and standing around than actual play. Dragged out for hours. A total waste of time. No one in the stands were the least bit excited after the first quarter. Don't know which was more bored, me or Bevo. First and last college game for me. There isn't enough money in the world to make me attend an NFL game. Pure torture.
The worst thing that ever happened to football broadcasting on TV was when they put 3 people in the announcer's booth (this practice likely started with Monday Night Football in the days of Gifford, Meredith, and Cosell). Today's announcers talk too much, giggle too much, and many times get off topic and talk about things that aren't even related to the game that's being broadcast.