The spineless NFL has been party to its own demise for a while now. Professional football has been the pre-eminent sport in America for years, far outpacing the MLB, NHL and the NBA. It’s grown at such a pace as to cause many to believe it too big and certainly too popular to fail.
Well, it may be too big to fail completely, but popularity is a fickle mistress.
Viewership is down for a variety of reasons. Fans, particularly the younger set, are simply not watching traditional network TV.
“Americans under the age of 30 now watch almost 50 percent fewer hours of traditional TV than they did in 2010,” reports the Atlantic.
There is a dearth of heroes taking the field – many less stand-out superstars than in years gone by. They’ve been replaced with overcompensated mediocrity. In years gone by, fans could name dozens of gridiron heroes in a single breath. People tuned in to watch them play, and more often than not, they didn’t disappoint. Fandom delighted in their teams’ nicknames like the Steel Curtain, No Name Defense and the Purple People Eaters.
Now who do we have? A handful of exceptional players – almost all are at least heading into the tail end of their careers, with virtually no one in the pipeline to replace them. The last great superstar rivalry was Manning vs. Brady, and that goes back more than a decade.
Meanwhile the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) has consistently ratcheted up its demands of “management” with every subsequent negotiation. And with every union demand that is met, the product on the field is worse for it.
It is said, quite correctly, that practice makes perfect. The players union has negotiated limited practice time, doing away with “two-a-days,” and severely curtailing practice in full pads. By making life easier and “safer” for the overpaid prima donnas, the finished product suffers. People just don’t care as much to watch an uninspiring performance.
And then there is of course the elephant in the room – the newly discovered voice of the players – the refrain of social justice.
It started with a single player, corrupted by his radical social justice warrior girlfriend, who decided to sit in protest of our national anthem. Since then it has grown into some dopey “awareness” movement, where players sit, kneel, or raise their fist in the air, a la the 1960s black power movement, during the pre-game anthem.
And as all things of the left, it wasn’t about to end there. Social justice warriors must continue to push the envelope of normalcy and reason until it becomes ridiculous. Well, we’re there.
News has surfaced of a 10-page memo written (I doubt it) by current and former NFL players. The memo is suggesting the league dedicate an entire month during the regular season to “Player Activism for Racial Equality and Criminal Justice Reform.” The cabal wishes it to be similar to Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Military Appreciation Month.
This, I think, is a great way to increase viewership and fan loyalty. I know I can’t wait for teams to take to the field donning uniforms emblazoned with slogans like “Hands Up – Don’t Shoot.” That will be great.
What? Don’t think this can ever happen? Just wait. Give this bunch an inch and watch for the mile they eventually demand.
I invite you to read the memo. It’s riveting, and like me, you’ll discover it has zero to do with football or the NFL. It does have everything to do with a money grab. Shocking how it always comes down to that.
The memo states: “To be clear, we are asking for your [NFL] support. We appreciate your acknowledgment on the call regarding the clear distinction between support and permission. For us, support means: bear all or part of the weight of; hold up; give assistance to, especially financially; enable to function or act.” They wish for the NFL to underwrite their movement of political and criminal justice “reform.”
These players, current and former, have every opportunity to do everything they say in their lengthy memo without the involvement of a professional sports league. Instead they choose to demand the NFL be involved.
As a (soon not to be) die-hard NFL fan, I watch the game because I love football. Do what you want off the field. I couldn’t care less. Just leave your racial politics and division in the tunnel. In other words, while you’re in uniform, shut up and play.
