The American version of football has peaked.
NFL Viewership was down 8% in 2016. I suspect it will fall even more this year.
That gives reason to believe that football has peaked in viewership. It will fall, just like boxing did.
Whether people are boycotting over Colin Kaepernick not having a team, players sitting during the anthem, the game being too violent (it is), cable being overpriced and a waste of money (it is) or another reason is ultimately irrelevant – it boils down to the fall of American football as a media empire.
First, let’s address the Kaep: he had every right to sit and say what he said. He proved with his choice of apparel, however, that he doesn’t know the definition of oppression, so I find his argument a bit half-baked.
This may shock some of you, but the NFL operates to make money. They have every right to not keep a guy that creates what they perceive as an image problem. Kaepernick was getting paid millions to play football. Not talk politics. His employer and other potential employers have the right to choose to not hire him.
To that extent, all businesses should be able to decide who to hire and fire based on whatever metrics they want.
And employers should pay the consequences of their actions. In this case, it’s going to be some angry people boycotting them.
Colin wasn’t a top tier quarterback. In fact, no team really viewed him as a starter anymore. Is he a qualified backup? Yes. But probably not for the amount of money he would’ve wanted.
Do players (and all people) have a right to express opinions outside the norm? Yes. And honestly, those guys aren’t wrong about police brutality and targeting, so I get it.
I don’t pledge allegiance to the US of A. I pledge allegiance to myself. What has my country done for me lately? Nothing but take and limit innovation (material for a different post).
Look, a lot of NFL fans (and college football even more so) fall into a certain category of people.
They like certain things. They act a certain way. And if you don’t think and act the way they like, they won’t like you.
I’m not saying those things are good or bad, just that they are.
As I’ve said for a while: Budweiser, Cheetos and football. Until some greedy politician takes away those things, the aforementioned people aren’t going to care about losses of liberty (which, if you read what I write, bothers me a lot).
I may disagree with you, but I’ll defend your right to be wrong (haha) ’til I can’t breathe anymore.
The concussions are a serious problem.
Who wants to watch their kid get concussed and deal with brain damage for life?
They made a movie about a guy who found the damage to players’ brains alarming. It was a good movie (“Concussion”).
Is football worth the injury risk? At what age/time do we realize the risks aren’t worth the game?
There’s a bigger issue at play with American football: the players aren’t exactly upstanding citizens.
Big universities will spend gross efforts to protect their precious football players from trouble when they commit crimes. It’s happened at Florida State and Baylor recently, but they are by no means alone.
Look at the University of Minnesota last year. Where was the coverage of that? I saw more stories on social media about petty bullshit than I did about this (I saw not one other person share a story about the gang rape at UM).
Then, the “deplorables” had the nerve to add rape to a list of potential “pitfalls”, right after using a fake ID and credit card fraud.
People were ready to murder a swimmer in California for sexually assaulting an unconscious girl, but there wasn’t much more than crickets about a gang rape by football players.
No riots over the Vanderbilt gang rape either. Thankfully, those guys are behind bars for a long time.
Why is that? Do we as a society like watching football so much that we can’t hold football players accountable for their crimes?
Domestic violence, assault, rape, murder. These are semi-regular occurrences with football players, both in college and pro.
Another football season and another rape has already happened, this time at NC State.
The first article I read mentioned the accused were so “passionate about football.” Who gives a shit how much they like football?! Those guys just raped someone.
Soooo many more rapes occur than the ones you read about online too. There’s an excellent documentary on it (click the previous link to “The Hunting Ground”).
How do we as a society stand by idly while these goons do the proverbial (and, too often, literal) raping and pillaging that we vilify people throughout history for doing?
What makes one a horrible monster while we turn a blind eye to the one happening right now, right under our noses while we stare at the television screen?
It’s time we stop catering to this facade. No other sport carries problems as grave as this. When was the last time you heard of a baseball team gang raping some girl?
When was the last time you read about a lacrosse player beating his girlfriend or robbing people?
And if you’re thinking about Duke Lacrosse rape case – they were innocent. Found innocent in court. The criminals were the woman who falsely accused them and the DA, who’s been disbarred and jailed, for ruining their lives.
What about futbol (real football) players? Just that they are pretty boys with attitudes. Not harmful to society.
For the above reasons, American football has peaked. It will soon fall far from grace.
Please boycott this sport that breeds monsters.
How do people find it reasonable to #standwithKaep against the NFL, but not stand with the rape and assault victims against the football machine? I don’t get it.
But whatever your reason, I’m ready to stand with you as we watch the football empire crumble.
There are better things to do with our weekends. Read. Watch a good show. Spend quality time with loved ones. Anything but continue to support the criminals that play American football.