The No Fun League. Never has there been a more true description of the NFL. Personally, I rarely pay attention to the NFL anymore. A large reason is probably that my team has gone to shambles due to ineffective ownership - and part of that is because the league has taken a lot of the fun out of the game. Here's why:
- The NFL is inconsistent: Penalties, fines, suspensions, punishments - they highly vary for players and teams. There are supposedly standards for everything and of course there is a sliding scale for severity - but it seems the more visible the player or the more visible the issue is in the media - the heavier punishment. Sometimes there isn't a punishment until people speak up and the NFL say oh ok I guess we should do something, people are mad.
- The NFL only cares about the NFL: Until fans, players, and the general public start to push back against the league for issue at the forefront (aka profits suffer), the league does nothing. Take domestic violence; not until very recently has the NFL changed a policy that for years didn't take it seriously. Concussions; only recently has the NFL invested in and taken concussions seriously. And that's only because of the prevalence of suicide and neurological issues from past players in the media.
- The NFL got rid of Celebrations: Sure, can celebrations be taken too far and become unsportsmanlike? Yea, maybe. But in 99% of cases, it's part of the fanfare of the game. I love TD celebrations and seeing the excitement a big play gives a team. Maybe I missed something, but this is just stupid.
- Quarterbacks get preferential treatment: I'm all for protecting the safety of the QB, he's absolutely vulnerable. But haven't we gone a little too far? I miss the glory days where QB's were the baddest players out there because they had to focus on getting the play off and avoiding hits.
- There's probably only about 10 minutes of actual football in a game: Between media timeouts, stopping for penalties, and everything else that goes into putting a game on - there's little actual football anymore. The momentum just isn't the same these days. and now, with all the controversy and protests, there's even less football. I want to hear about the game. I want to listen to real breakdown of plays.
Those are my Top 5. There's about 100 other reasons I'm just not a fan of the NFL right now, but the more I talk about it, the more frustrated I get. If you know me, you know I'm a football girl. I've spent a lot of my career in the college football arena and been lucky enough to have some incredible NFL experiences (including some dating of a player or two, but alas, that's for another time). But this season, I'm not a fan. I'm taking my talents to college football and committing myself to supporting the passion that represents. Sure, the NCAA has its own issues but I tend to feel pretty positively about them overall. Football is truly the best sport out there and I hate to watch Roger Goodell and the NFL ruin it at the elite level.
What do you think? Are you still a fan? Talk to me. It's painful, but together, we can support each other.