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.
The NFL needs to lose its monopoly status and have some competition.
What if someone started a league that was as tough on player behavior as the commissioner who suspended Paul Horning & Alex Karas for a year for penny-ante bets on games. I think it could succeed even if the play at first wasn’t up to NFL standards.
very interesting, thanks for posting
You make an EXCELLENT point.
I know MUCHO NFL season ticker holders. They are able to purchase their season tickets year-after-year because they only go to a FEW GAMES. All the rest of the games they sell the tickets (legally) online and use the cash to offset their out of pocket costs.
If the ticket prices crash - they will not be able to afford the season tickets and will DROP.
What is this “NFL” thing of which you speak?
Not anymore.
I disagree. It is only the NFL that has fallen in stature, not all of football. High school and college football still hold "a special place in the American civic spirit."
Great point on judges.
I’m going to disagree slightly on the OFF THE FIELD point though. Yes, they are FREE constitutionally! But, millions of us kinda don’t want to hear, see or feel there BS for a long, long time out into the future. So, if they have a prayer of getting their viewers back and fans in the stand, they better just shut the hell up about it.
A good recovery PR move would be for them EACH to adopt one VET whos mental health professionals think is suicidal and help him using some of the millions they blow on houses and Ferrari’s and private planes.
“What happened to the NFL stadium attendance thread that was going a few minutes ago?”
Which one?
;-)
When an organization has a position like this at the VP level, it's lost its focus.
The NFL will never go away, that's certain. However, I think that the days of the Super Bowl being a defacto national holiday are over.
Exactly. The NFL has forgotten who's in charge, in a customer-vendor relationship.
How many restaurants would you visit where the waitstaff didn't serve what you asked for and belittled you when you asked to have it fixed? Where the owner, when you complained, sided with the staff rather than you?
I'm not surprised that the NFL players did something stupid. Out of 1500 or so, there are bound to be a few (perhaps more than a few, given the sample distribution) dumba$$es. No, what surprises me is that so many customers continue to put up with the poor service.
“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)”
Problem with this one is they are never not on company time. When they signed the contract, they placed themselves in a position to follow the “company” rules that were more than just their contract. They were also locked into PA requirements and league rules that, among other things, demand they act in a manner that does not cause disparity or any negative representation of the teams or players of the league.
A couple of years ago, Marshall Lynch was not conforming to his contractual requirements for media time. He was being fined a ridiculously low amount of money each time. But when they threatened to suspend him he sat in front of the media and made a further mockery of the situation. But he met the bare basics of his contractual requirement for demanded media time.
The players are sold to the public and that’s what makes the money. The owners, who make the rules, like the money so they try to protect the players as much as possible. Hence rule changes for player spotlighting and physical protection. And that is why this issue has gone this far. Now everyone attached to the NFL is scrambling to come up with an “out.” Problem is they are over their heads in this quicksand.
Be prepared to be expected to forgive and forget as fast as possible. The owners will toss funds at the military like Wounded Warrior or donate to a VA hospital and people on Mars will read about it. And all will be forgiven, right? Until they do something again. And the owners will throw more money at it and the “great fans,” as you will be called to pander to you, will play the same game as the past. The game survives, the fans are brushed aside, the principles make their millions, and life goes on. It’ll happen. Just wait. I won’t forget. They stepped on me and others like me and it hurt. And hey didn’t care until it bit them on the a$$. I just don’t think it took a big enough chunk to stop them or to pay back what they have done.
rwood
Unnecessary timeouts, like reviews, and TV timeouts.
These completely break the flow of the game.
Playing indoors.
This eliminates the huge weather intangible. And steals part of a teams’ identity.
These two factors broke the NFL.
Now with the added SJW bullsh*t, screw it.
No. Those insulting the flag insult America and all Americans. Their "case" has no merit. They are scum!
USA:
- About 13% Of The Population Is Black
- Median Household Income (2016) $56,516
NFL:
- About 80% Of Players Are Black
- Average NFL Salary $2.1 Million
NBA:
- About 80% Of Players Are Black
- Average NFL Salary $8.5 Million
The NFL players put themselves in a bad spot. They have no one to blame but themselves.
When they made their grandstand play not to respect the anthem, they had their share of critics and supporters.
Once they did that and continued to do it, reversing course becomes embarrassing and difficult to explain.
You protested great injustices last week, but this week you stopped? What happened? Did the injustices vanish? were they diminished somehow? Please explain.
When they took a knee, they alienated a lot of fans. If they choose to stand now, they alienate the fans that supported their protest.
They need to thread the needle to rehabilitate their image fully. I don’t think that’s possible given the polarization.
I agree, but it absolutely astonishes me that the owners would even CONSIDER the possibility of contract extension with his performance.
The elephant in the room here is simple: it's television.
The NFL has decided -- probably correctly -- that its future is inextricably linked to the declining numbers of Americans who actually have any interest in sitting in front of a television for hours at a time.
Look at the content and cast of the shows you seen on a TV schedule these days, and you'll find that it is heavily marketed to an audience of minorities.
One recalls that it took a loooong time for MLB to recover from their players' strike.
The NFL's condemnable tolerance, and refusal to take a meaningful stand on the outright anti-American demonstrations is not something that can just be reversed, like a bad call "after further review".
I would not be surprised to see a rival league make a successful appearance.
It was really strange. The thread was yanked because the author was banned. Not the poster, but the author of the piece. I forget his name, but I googled him and he is a regular sports reporter with other columns from a pro-gun perspective. Why he should be banned makes no sense to me.
But then, the moderation of FR is the most opaque, capricious, and inconsistent thing I’ve ever seen.
Yes, agreed. I suspect that the real damage is the damage to players and owners wallets - that’s when they will change but the damage for many years to come will be “countable”.
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