Last Tuesday I posted an editorial — “Great, More Like Ashamed” — on the kneeling rule now imposed by the NFL, trying to get some kind of objective worldview to the whole mess, ideally allowing all of us to see we all fall victim to our own prejudices while judging those of others.
I actually expected some feedback. In fact, normally when I take space here to write about a topic that is marginally related to sports, I get a bunch of tweets and notes begging me to stop and just write about sports. And, I do understand the frustration of someone who simply wants to know a little about Frankie Montas or Austin Meadows.
But, as I have tried to acknowledge, to me, at least at times, there are topics or subjects or incidents going on around us that beg for more than just casual talk. And I felt the hypocrisy surrounding the NFL’s decision to fine teams/players who knelt during the national anthem was one of those subjects.
And, true to form, I did get a cluster of emails and tweets, but for the most part they were all positive and supportive and agreed with my perspective.
I was surprised, however, at how many people simply seemed to throw up their arms and said, “I’m done with the NFL: I won’t be watching any more games.”
One such friend, Jeremy Steinkoler, noted that he was a lifelong fan–one with whom I have played fantasy football for a decade before last year, and watched Super Bowls with– who was done with the league, and that really got me thinking and wondering about the future of football in our culture.
Certainly there are four bad marks that distinguish the mismanagement of football and how the sport seems to be distancing itself from the masses.
- Injuries, including traumatic brain injury. There is the legitimate question of how we manage human beings using themselves as projectiles to either stop or facilitate the movement of the pigskin. And, I have to ask myself, were my kid in high school and wanted to play varsity football, would I let him?
- Ray Rice Syndrome. Despite the terrible handling of the Ravens RB cold cocking his then fiance, there still is no uniform rule or overriding set of guidelines to handle issues of “lawlessness” consistently and efficiently. As in, a police report means an investigation and potential immediate suspension depending upon the scope of the incident, moving out from there.
- There is the horrible Penn State scandal involving staff under formerly famed coach Joe Paterno, which like the women’s Olympic gymnastic team scandal left kids vulnerable to a predator without potential recourse or protection.
- There is the terrible kneeling “rule” fining players for respectfully bringing a political grievance to light, instead punishing them by a bigoted set of rules that would be treated differently were the grievance different.
I suppose I can see how any of these individual incidents could turn us from the game, but like my friend Jeremy, I have loved watching football for as long as I can remember. For sure I have been a Raiders fan since 1960 — the first year of the team — and since the Niners were already established in San Francisco, I followed San Francisco in those days as well.
Letting go of football Sunday, though? A day that has been a fixture in my universe for now 40 years? How could I even consider such an expatriation.
The thing is, I actually believe all my friends who indeed are getting a divorce from the NFL are correct. For the bad behavior of the owners and league and sport in general are exactly the kind that would make me never ever solicit the product.
For example, I won’t go to Hobby Lobby or Chick-fil-A because both have homophobic policies, and singling people or groups out is discriminatory. And certainly, at least within my own sense of justice, none of the issues noted above has been handled even remotely well, let alone with sensitivity to the actual issue.
The NFL has wishy-washy me for at least another season, but my real question is: does this amount to some groundswell that forces all the folks like Jeremy and me to go to the much more popular — and safe — soccer and the World Cup to sublimate ourselves?
Does the NFL think that within today’s political climate losing a few million viewers is a drop in the bucket? That most of us don’t know the fine points or, worse, someone like me is ambivalent about when if ever there is a time to take a stand?
I should care, however, because it is becoming increasingly clear the NFL doesn’t.
