“Farewell, NFL”

c. 2017 Rod Ice

All rights reserved

(9-17)

Pro football.

I have literally followed the sport for my entire life. Never completely swayed by basketball, baseball or hockey. Little interested in tennis or golf. I must confess that there is definitely no soccer on my personal radar. Perhaps a nod of bemusement to cricket. A brief encounter at Cornell University with Lacrosse.

American football has ruled my sports consciousness, always. From the time I collected plastic helmets out of the vending machines at W. T. Grant’s. Musing that the team from my native Ohio had no logo on its head wear. And, having been born in Columbus, hearing from some in my family that they would rather cheer for the Bengals.

The accepted truism was always that baseball had been the nation’s pastime. But football reflected the changing social habits of our nation. More speedy, more corporate, more intense. Big hits and splashy product endorsements. The sensibility of TV wrestling on a grander scale. Namath’s ‘guarantee’ of a Super Bowl win. Ickey Woods’ end zone shuffle. Mean Joe Greene trading his jersey for a Coke. Joe Theismann hawking diet products, with glee.

Welcome to the National Football League - an entertainment company with 32 divisions.

Super Bowl dreams grew from birth as the antiquated ‘AFL-NFL Championship Game’ morphed into a national holiday of sorts. Incredibly, the league out-commercialized every other sport. Even NASCAR. Lots of revenue was generated. Literally billions upon billions of dollars. Plenty of champagne and caviar for everyone. Or if you prefer, Budweiser and Buffalo Wings. The league used patriotic imagery to promote its for-profit wares. Literally ‘pimping’ the respected common culture for their own benefit. Red, white and blue and... the register rings, too! The ‘Star Spangled Banner’ brought to you by Miller-Coors and Chevrolet. You deserve a break today!

So there was little fan notice paid when Colin Rand Kaepernick decided to sit down during the national anthem, before a preseason game with the San Francisco 49ers, in 2016. The din of this party-for-pay literally drowned any notes of dissent. The state of our league was sound.

As it has been observed: “Money changes everything.” The flood of football lucre remained overwhelming. Even amid the lone protest of someone attempting to raise social awareness. With league franchises like the Rams, Chargers and Raiders all jumping from city to city, while others literally held their host communities hostage for a ransom of new stadiums and facilities. The NFL proved more skillful at this game of extortion than any other collective.

Some, like myself, grumbled. But we continued to watch. Football had become the opiate drug of choice for America. Particularly in Cleveland, there was plenty of angst over the sport. Yet loyalty to the game kept us interested. Even as we endured losing seasons.

Then, Donald Trump commented on the subject.

The result came like Hurricane Harvey. Forceful and raw. Ranks were joined to the right and left. Facebook, ever the benefactor in such instances, along with Twitter, exploded. One camp stood tall for the flag and anthem. The other rose to lobby for free speech and attention to racial injustice. The divide appeared not unlike the Red Sea after Moses got busy.

Somewhere in this cultural melee, football itself got lost.

Jerseys began to burn. Along with tickets and paraphernalia. Videos posted were so numerous that some appeared on the network evening news broadcasts. Meanwhile, others dramatically ‘took a knee’ to show their support for the protesters. Predictably, both sides spoke in ‘absolutes.’ In black-and-white terms that left no room for actual discourse. In sound-bites that matched the choppy tempo of the game itself.

But for this writer, the chaos yielded a moment of reflection and pause.

Respect for the national flag and anthem was non-negotiable, in my own estimation. A habit every citizen should observe. As was the concept of free speech under our constitution. Liberty of language even for those who foul the air with contrarian views. These concepts were part of our identity as a people.

I feared the idea that any group would symbolically surrender their membership in this grand, democratic experiment by shunning symbols of national pride. America is whole only when everyone has a place at the table. Even those who have no appetite for the meal being served. So the strategy of kneeling seemed to step upon the message.

Still, I pondered over the practical details. Why was the NFL using our national colors and anthem to promote its seedy business interests? Did it not cheapen the value of these emblems with the stain of easy money and hucksterism?

I reckoned that veterans and first responders, the police, firefighters, and those who literally protect and serve our communities were right to wrap themselves in the comfort of ‘Old Glory.’ But millionaire athletes, many of whom have engaged in untoward, reckless and selfish acts? Do they have a right to claim pridefully the status of soldiers and warriors? More to the point – should their employers have this privilege to use the flag as if their own blood had won our freedoms?

As ever, there was more to the story than an Internet meme or a brief clip on CNN. After long hours of consideration, my personal response came like a beam of light, through the clouds.

I turned off my television and began to write.

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