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Yesterday was a day of simmering anger for me. I cannot deny it.

I would like to write professional sports off as meaningless and not impactful on my life, but I cannot reject the reality of what I experienced in the past, which was a huge amount of fun and an excuse for social gathering with like minded and enthusiastic people.

That is not an aspect for everyone, and I don’t judge people at all for denying or rejecting that themselves on that basis. Not everyone is set up the same way. And I try not to take it personally if someone personally criticizes me for enjoying a sport, keeping that same sentiment in mind.

I had watched pro football since 1971, was a huge fan, went for years with a large cadre of friends centered around it, went on road trips, even had a piece of a season ticket for a few years. It was wild fun with like-minded people of all ages of both sexes, and I enjoyed that.

When the kneeling thing began and progressed from 2016-2017, and after looking closely at it, I defended the NFL organization (not the franchises) during that time frame since AT THE TIME it neither gave encouragement to the kneeling nor donated money to those kinds of causes that would support it. I investigated back then, and the NFL was studiously not involved at that time in giving money to those kinds of organizations.

Organizations like Microsoft (the worst) were far, FAR worse, giving huge sums of money (to organizations and causes Conservatives abhor) both directly and through employee matching (when their employees gave to organizations like the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation with at one point, up to 3:1 matching, though last I heard, it was at that time 1:1 matching) but they were by far not the only ones. But the NFL was not on any of those lists. I don’t doubt individual franchises gave time and money, but the NFL as an organization was very narrow in its official donations and support.

At that time, I assumed the NFL would allow the individual franchises to wrestle with the issue, and would stay out of it from a support/donation or a ideological aspect. I predicted they would let the franchises weather the storm, impose disciplinary action as needed and that kind of thing. Was I ever wrong on that estimation.

In the years since it began, I changed my outlook 180 degrees.

Instead of taking a hands-off approach, over a period of 2-3 years they transitioned from marginally hands-off in these matters to full and complete craven financial and ideological support of an anti-American agenda.

But what really cemented it for me and destroyed the NFL in particular for me was the prevailing attitude by many of the players that, with the contempt they felt for the majority of people who paid their salaries, they would openly spit on us, while at that same time holding out their open hand for money with the expectation that we would be addicted to putting money into it.

I have had to come to grips with this, as in the last thirty years I had a wide group of friends and acquaintances who would gather and throw parties to watch games, and coupling that with this COVID BS has cut me off from many people in both a voluntary and involuntary way, and has left me steaming.

Yesterday was hard for me. My wife, who is apolitical (but not a huge historical football fan like me) watched the game, but I studiously worked on projects and cleaning my workbench. Every time I walked by the television while passing by, I could feel my anger and disgust rising in me.

I know there are many things the Left has perpetrated that are far more serious and negatively impactful on my life than sports and I wholly despise them for those things, but on a personal level, their complete leftist politicization of sports, Pro Football in particular, is something I harbor a deep, and concentrated personal grudge over.