There is no question. Football players are gladiators. They illicit the same emotions in modern Americans that were elicited in ancient Rome. Boxing, MMA. NASCAR are much the same. Despite the risks and waivers there is no shortage of young men more than willing to sacrifice their well being to participate at all levels of the “sport”. The height of hypocrisy are college presidents who so frightened that the students may hear “offensive speech” but send their student mercenaries on the football fields to suffer lifelong disabling injuries all for a few bucks.
As stated - Liberalism is a mental disorder.
Colleges are indeed the worst.
Most of those boys are students in name only. This is not a pastime for the students or meant to promote physical fitness and good character. These aren’t the playing fields of Eton.
At some point, very long ago, the early 1950’s probably, in the big universities alumni, fans and schools lost the plot and as you say started hiring gladiators.
I don’t see a way to reform it into a game for real students after so many decades.
I think you are being overly dramatic. Some of these football players are definitely not gladiators, if you are using the romanticized version of the term, if that is possible; they are thugs. I don’t watch football much anymore. Even high school football is becoming degenerate; unsportsmanlike conduct is prevalent.
I never watched football just to see vicious hits.
“There is no question. Football players are gladiators.”
Personally, not so sure of that. I guess it depends on how you’d define ‘gladiator’.
I’ve lost interest in football over the years precisely because it doesn’t seem to be about athletics anymore, and IMHO a fair number of any pro squad are physically unhealthy (e.g. huge linemen with a large amount of central body fat - in addition to the muscle of course). IMHO a fair number would have a hard time performing well in something demanding along the lines of special ops training. They are clearly elites in their sport, and in their specialty positions, but they are not all representative of being a superb overall athlete in great physical condition.
I used to love football, primarily because of the athleticism. At this point, I think they need to clamp down dramatically on performance enhancing drug use, define a maximum percentage body fat you can have and stay on a roster, and somehow change the rules such that using your helmeted head in play is not seen (well beyond the spearing rules etc.). Make the game more about speed, quickness, athleticism, and technical finesse than about clobbering someone.