Posted on 11/27/2017 9:40:31 AM PST by Kaslin
As Roger Goodell attempts these next few days to not only save his job but ask for a raise and luxurious perks amid NFL ratings that are plummeting even further into the abyss, undoubtedly many football fans across the country are wondering if our recent national trend towards the hyper-politicization of everything is here to stay.
When Colin Kaepernick began kneeling last summer during the national anthem during football games, claiming that he was doing it to protest what he believed was the oppression of people of color, it caused a sharply divisive uproar across the country that has now snowballed into the persistent anthem controversies we’ve been seeing this season.
Though it may initially seem this was the first step towards the NFL going the way of ESPN’s transformation from a sports network to a quasi-political talk show, in fact the NFL has slowly been edging towards this state of affairs for years.
From Tim TeBow being reprimanded for praying on the field before games to the NFL preventing the Dallas Cowboys from wearing decals to show support for the fallen police officers in Dallas last year, the NFL has seen a variety of polarizing cultural issues begin to spoil what is a defining and unifying American pastime.
After weeks of extraordinarily disruptive protests earlier this fall, Goodell finally decided to attempt to put an end to the controversy by subtly encouraging players to stand for the anthem. Not only did that fail as the kneeling and protests by players continue even now amid the ratings decline, but it seems that this may be the new normal for both professional football and many other aspects of our culture.
Football holds a special place in the American civic spirit. Within itself, it is an exciting sport where athletic prowess and teamwork combine to create a formidable game of skill. However with our culture, it has consistently remained by far the most watched sport in the US and, as a distinctly American sport, remains a symbol of our country’s distinction and pride.
It is now deeply tragic that it has become another political “football,” so to speak, in the increasingly divisive culture wars we’ve been seeing as of late in our country.
The fact remains that both sides of the dispute have a case on the merits.
It is, after all, disrespectful to kneel to a flag that represents the noble American ideals of liberty, equality, and justice for all, and that has been preserved through the sacrifices of so many hundreds of thousands of Americans over the course of our history.
Football holds a special place in the American civic spirit. Within itself, it is an exciting sport where athletic prowess and teamwork combine to create a formidable game of skill. However with our culture, it has consistently remained by far the most watched sport in the US and, as a distinctly American sport, remains a symbol of our country’s distinction and pride.
It is now deeply tragic that it has become another political “football,” so to speak, in the increasingly divisive culture wars we’ve been seeing as of late in our country.
The fact remains that both sides of the dispute have a case on the merits.
It is, after all, disrespectful to kneel to a flag that represents the noble American ideals of liberty, equality, and justice for all, and that has been preserved through the sacrifices of so many hundreds of thousands of Americans over the course of our history.
Furthermore, it is true that there remain great inequities in criminal justice, law enforcement, and economic opportunity for various groups of Americans that need to be addressed.
However, the NFL is not the place to address these deeply complex and serious policy issues – it is a place to play and watch football.
Furthermore, by bringing these issues into a forum as unsuited for their resolution as NFL games, with little substantive discussion as compared to preaching-to-the-choir performances, these questions become far more difficult to properly address.
It seems at the moment that Roger Goodell is likely to continue his term as NFL Commissioner. While undoubtedly there was perhaps only so much he could do given the titanic cultural forces driving these political controversies into our popular culture, hopefully his next few years as commissioner will see better resolution of these issues than the past few.
The NFL disturbances also seem less a cause of our current cultural divide but rather a symptom and accelerator of it. When our divisive political climate simmers down, undoubtedly it will too.
Perhaps in the future us and our descendants will look back at this time as a disappointing era where we let our minor differences and what could be polite disagreements spiral into vitriol and cultural antagonism.
In the meantime, it seems that the politicization of even previously mundane aspects of our daily lives continues. The current NFL kneeling protests show no signs of abating, as the social ripples spread and accelerate beyond any person’s control. Whether the NFL can truly prosper let alone survive amid this remains to be seen.
yes in 3 easy steps:
1) Dump Goodell
2) Announce that any player who practices politics from the field will be immediately suspended and fined.
3) Make it clear they are free to say what they want, OFF THE FIELD, just not on company time. (this is necessary for the really stoopid libtards)
I'm done for my life time.
NO NFL!
As one poster here noted—this is a siege and not a battle.
Let’s see how long Goodell lasts.
My prediction—he is out by this time next season—regardless of what his contract says and regardless of what anyone says publicly.
They will make up some lame excuse—but he will be gone.
Good riddance to the NFL.
The racism and anti American acts that have been commited will never be forgiven or forgotten.
GTHNFL
The NFL will never recover - this is permanent damage.
It’s doubtful that it is reversible. But, the political angle is just one of the problems.
The game sucks now, that’s the biggest problem. It’s a game focused on referees, not players. It’s heading into wrestling territory.
We stopped watching almost 3 years ago, as the game has become a bore-fest of penalties, challenges, replays and nonsensical referee explanations.
I don't accept that premise at all.
Who cares.
Let them destroy themselves like liberals do all the time.
Goodell is only part of the problem.
The NFL has a Vice President for Social Responsibility who is paid more than many players. (Anna Isaacson)
And their marketing VP is also a very liberal woman.
Lots of people would need to be replaced and even have their positions eliminated.
But...will he get to keep his plane? And his insurance?
What happened to the NFL stadium attendance thread that was going a few minutes ago?
Agreed.
No, once infected you have to shoot the victim................
“Furthermore, it is true that there remain great inequities in criminal justice, law enforcement, and economic opportunity for various groups of Americans that need to be addressed. “
This piece of drivel is NOT TRUE.
I am sick to death of reading this garbage,
.
Wow.
They are there on Goodell’s watch.
His successor can send them back into the slime-pit from which they came.
Correct- and what the hell does that have to do with FOOTBALL anyway???
Not anymore. That's the first thing that went, and the only thing saving the NFL from destruction is pure economic bulk. At the moment.
Fifty years building that status, two to lose it. No, sending the teams to the locker room during the anthem won't cure the problem. No, phony shows of false patriotism won't cure it either. The NFL will totter on for a time but it won't ever be like it was.
NFL needs to fire the Clinton crony Joe Lockhart who is their Director of Communication..
Joe Lockhart was Clinton’s Press Secretary during the Monica fiasco and the impeachment.(When Monica took a knee for Bill)
He rented his house in Washington DC to the Obamas when they moved from the WhiteHouse.
His wife is an Exectuive Editor with Glamour Magazine and Conde’ Nast, who also owns GQ Magazine. Thus the Colin Kaepernick GQ A-Hole of the Year..
Same Company owns the Alabama newspapers blasting Roy Moore.
It’s all part of the swamps tentacles.
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