I
have been an NFL football fan for around 50 years. I love NFL football. Growing up I was a Raiders fan. I have always loved the Packers. I am now a shameless New England Patriots fan,
think Tom Brady is a great quarterback, and am convinced that Belichick is a
freaking genius. But even if the Pats
lose, or someone else is playing, I can still watch a game and enjoy it
immensely. The athletes of today’s NFL
are absolutely remarkable performers.
But the NFL has gone to hell in a hand basket and as much as I love watching
professional football, I will not be watching it anymore.
Last
night’s round of pre-season games featured varied protests during the
presentation of the national anthem. The
league management had instituted new rules addressing this protesting, but they
had tabled these rules in reaction to player complaints about the new
policy. I suppose some type of new rule
is under consideration at this time, but who really knows? And on top of that, who really cares? I am sick to death of political correctness and
social activism infecting every single aspect of my life and the willingness of
the NFL management to allow a bunch of pampered and immature adolescents to
lead them around by the nose is simply disgusting.
My
wife and I watched a great old movie tonight.
The movie is titled “Taking Chance”
and stars Kevin Bacon. It chronicles the
return of a fallen Iraqi War solder to his home in Wyoming as told by his
military “escort” companion. Regardless of one’s feelings regarding our
nation’s military and how it is managed, this movie is gut-wrenching in its
depiction of the cost involved when we send our most precious resources to
foreign lands to die in battle. The
sacrifice addressed by this film is part and parcel of the national anthem
presentation at many public events. A
price has been paid for the freedoms we Americans enjoy and that payment should
be honored.
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It
is indisputable that each of us as American citizens has the right to speak our
minds about how our government and culture operates. The freedom of speech is a precious gift and
must be respected and preserved. But as
many have pointed out already, there is a time and a place for protests; and
during the presentation of the national anthem is neither the time nor the
place. I will not go into the litany of
reasons why these ill-conceived protests are wrong; the subject has been hashed
and rehashed numerous times. Suffice it
to say that when grown men find a niche in our society that allows them to be
paid millions of dollars to play a game, there should be a certain amount of
appreciation for the generous gifts that have been bestowed upon them. A small slice of that appreciation should be,
at a minimum, standing with respect when the national anthem is presented as an
honor to our fallen past heroes and a celebration of our nation’s most precious
principles of individual freedom.
The
NFL will not be missing me. It will continue
its global quest to make insane profits. They probably won’t miss the many, many others
like me who are literally fed up with their idiotic pampering of juvenile
behavior that is unworthy of grade schoolers, much less young adults. But at some point, I must consider that
continued viewing of these sporting events makes me somewhat complicit in the
actions I am witnessing. I will miss
professional football; but I will not be complicit in this obscenity any
longer.
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