‘For me, the camel’s back has broken … I’m done.’
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In his today’s post, “The National Football League: Too Big To Fail?“, GMP Sports Editor Michael Kasdan asks a big and difficult question: Can we blithely continue to watch NFL football given the league’s poor efforts to tackle the serious health and social issues of traumatic brain injury and domestic violence. As a society, we boycott all sorts of companies and franchises when their executives or employees make racist or anti-gay comments, when we learn about their unfair labor practices, or if we find their ad campaigns degrading or insulting. But we make an exception for the NFL, because their product is something we’d rather not live without. Kasdan writes:
Despite the fact that the NFL continues to botch its responses on serious issues arising from the sport, continues to be on the wrong side of a slew of serious moral issues, and epitomizes corporate greed to the extreme, the NFL is more popular than ever. As Bill Simmons of Grantland wrote in a recent article, for the vast majority of fans there is a dissociative quality—we don’t care enough to really care. We love the game, no matter its health and social concerns.
At least one reader of Kasdan’s post, Lotte, wrote that she is done with the NFL, for the exact reasons he cites. She realizes she is only one unhappy fan walking away, but she feels the need to align her habits with her morals, regardless of whether her action, in and of itself, brings about lasting change.
I did delve into some soul searching last week after years of being personally and emotionally bound to the game and franchise … for me, the camel’s back has broken … I’m done. Maybe my one family walking away from the industry won’t be significant enough in lost revenue to spark real change but it’s something I can’t continue to support—not even a little bit. I hope others will join me. I hope to see real change so I can enjoy the game again, but I also know change won’t happen until it aligns with the league’s business goals as well. I’ve made my peace though… And humanity is worth more to me than a game … No matter how much I enjoyed it.
Most fans will probably not follow Lotte’s example of forgoing football, unless, as Kasdan aptly points out, corporate sponsors withdraw their support. Regardless of how it’s brought about, we can hope for change and for an NFL that takes both the health and conduct of its players more seriously.
Photo—Eric Lewis/Flickr