Like millions of other red-blooded, American sports fans…I love football. In many ways it has challenged baseball as the American past-time. (My apologies to all the baseball purists.) Between college football and the NFL, August through February have become some of the best months of the year for sports enthusiasts. I cannot deny that I enjoy watching a football game whether I have a vested interest in the teams or not. The sport has done much to provide an entertainment product that is even transcending the male gender bias as more and more women are tuning in to watch. And this remarkable ascent is culminated in the final game of the year called, “The Super Bowl”. It is amazing to think that the first Super Bowl, 51 years ago, wasn’t sold out. Today, if you can even find a ticket, the price of that seat almost demands a bank loan. The Super Bowl is not simply a game to decide the championship team, it has become the sports Mardi Gras which literally consumes a week and has captured the scheduled Sunday. On that “Super Sunday”, everything revolves around “the game”. Church services, family gatherings, sports bars, individual parties, and the like. Life is ostensibly suspended for the big game. And let’s not forget the commercials which cost advertisers millions of dollars per 30 seconds. You have to give credit where credit is due, the NFL has marketed and moved its way into a financial goldmine.
I can remember times through the years sitting down with my sons to watch the “big game”. There were some years at church we threw an evening “Super Bowl” party to fellowship, eat, and gather to watch the cultural phenomena. There were numerous times where numbers of us would gather at a friends house and watch the game. It was, for years, good clean fun. It was a time to set aside all the pressing issues of the day and simply relax and enjoy a sports competition. It was a time of laughter, cheering, and good natured competition. It was a moment you could suspend all your concerns and cares and simply let your brain have a vacation as you cheered your selected team. It was, in some ways, an opportunity for healthy relational bonding for friends and families. Those were the days…
I wish we could get those days back…
Somewhere along the way the NFL morphed from its family-targeted marketing outreach to it’s sexually charged, politically themed event. Instead of relaxing and enjoying the athletic ability of numerous players, some of us stand close to the TV with the remote in hand ever vigilant to change the channel at a moments notice for 30 seconds lest we are snagged with something inappropriate for a seven year old boy (or even a 57 year old man) to watch. What was once an entertaining few hours to relax and enjoy a sporting event has become a media maze which demands navigating lest you are defiled or offended. The NFL may indeed be making untold billions of dollars with their product, but their doing it at the expense of mainstreaming the provocative. And while media gurus and financial analysts may hail the NFL as a success, I simply want to say that they are contributing to the demise of a culture.
I’m not sure where it officially started. Janet Jackson’s wardrobe “malfunction” was the moment many people received their epiphany although I am sure the “morphing” of NFL culture had incrementally started long before that disaster. The commercials, the cheerleaders, and the general trajectory of the sexualization of everything has long been evident. The NFL has danced on the lines of propriety for years. On occasion they cross the line and many viewers “throw a flag” and the NFL tepidly apologizes but the line of decorum has already been successfully moved. Blame it on moral entropy I suppose. It seems like all of culture is become more and more coarse. The sad part for me is that the noble and wholesome role the day once represented has been thoroughly convoluted. Instead of using athletics to raise the standards of human virtue it has been hijacked to demonstrate the moral collapse. The day is no longer about relational connection but rather political alienation as we listen to artists and pundits interrupt our short mental vacation to advocate their perspectives. Honestly, Bill O’Reilly interviewing President Trump and Lady Gaga criticizing President Trump is of no interest to me at a football game (and I’m significantly politically engaged). Why can’t we as a culture simply call a “time-out” and take a breather from our political disagreements?
The answer?
People are drawn to the tawdry, the edgy, the scintillating, the controversial…
And the NFL smiles all the way to the bank…
Is it possible to recover what once was?
Perhaps, but for that to happen I think the influence to do it is going to have to come from a different direction. I personally don’t think boycotts or blackouts by individuals would do much. To try to mobilize a mass blackout that would have a chance to effect the marketing and momentum of the NFL is asking the impossible. It would take the blunder of all blunders by the NFL to galvanize such an effort; plus, I just don’t think boycotts are effective as a whole. However, I do believe internal pressure and dialogue might be of incredible impact. What do I mean?
I am told there is quite a crew of Christian NFL players across the league. In fact, I know that many of them are impacting their fellow players in a productive and powerful way. These brothers of the faith should be commended and encouraged as they take their faith to their “arena” of influence. However, may I suggest that these Christian brothers consider taking their influence to the next level. It would be challenging, but any Christian who takes their faith seriously can find themselves in challenging work situations. Pro-football players are not exempt from that possibility. How about those players who consider themselves Christian begin the dialogue with the league about its overall direction and cultural influence? How about a significant group of Christian players set up a meeting with team owners and NFL executives and lay out their concerns? How about making the case for reformation in the NFL? How about moving the peripheral aspects of the game back to the place of appropriate decorum and family friendliness? Talk about your own children and how as players you are feeling uneasy about your own kids being exposed to the escalating sexual-edginess. What does it say about a league whose players families are queasy about it’s moral direction? What does it say about a game whose players must assign monitors for their own kids?
As Christian people, we are assigned the place of being salt and light where we have been placed. The reformation of the NFL is not my direct assignment, but there are scores of believers in the NFL that are directly assigned. Your brothers and sisters who enjoy watching the game and your athletic abilities are reaching out to you to help us in this matter. Our kids are reaching out to you to help them maintain their innocence for as long as possible. Aside from the tremendous remuneration you receive from the game (which incidentally comes from its fans), do you feel any sense of responsibility for how it is impacting the general culture around you? Don’t misunderstand me, I am not mad at you, I am simply exhorting you to the higher priorities of your Christian Faith.
Because at the end of the day everyone’s bank account associated with the NFL may be increasing, but the healthiness of our culture is decreasing. An insignificant blog like mine will probably never reach some of you…but if by divine providence it does…I hope you consider the exhortation. I would love to be able to sit down soon with my grandson and enjoy the 3 hours of competition without keeping my finger on the remote.
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