Why I don't watch professional football

[liberal N proud]

1. The money paid the players, the money taxpayers pay for stadiums so billionaires can pay obscene salaries.

2. And most importantly, I can't stand the commentators and their love affairs with a few players. Get a room!

I turned on the Texans vs the criminals to see the score and the love fest over Brady made me sick.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

1. I don't watch it either. Has never interested me.

The physical damage it does to players is criminal and I won't watch it.

[montanacowboy]

2. That's a big Roger

I feel the same way and especially about the criminals
There is no team I want to see the shit kicked out of more than that smug bunch and the Drump loving Brady

[DemocratSinceBirth]

3. I am watching to see if the Pats will lose.

I am afraid the Texans are overmatched.

[True Dough]

4. You don't watch any professional sports?

Baseball? Basketball? Boxing? Tennis? Golf?

All pay obscene amounts of money. None are going to change.

I'm not arguing with your principles, but I am checking in on all the NFL playoff games and enjoying some of the action.

[TexasBushwhacker]

15. The players get paid a lot of money because pro sports

brings in a lot of money. Would it be better if the owner just pocketed more profits? The athletes are the ones people tune in to watch. They are the ones risking career ending injuries.

But pro arenas shouldn't be getting tax breaks.

[physioex]

86. Disagree....Not your average player.

It said the NFL is an acronym for Not For Long, most players have a very short career with salaries that are not so great. And after you get cut then what??

[TexasBushwhacker]

91. After they get cut?

I don't think anyone goes into pro sports expecting a 40, or even 20, year career. They know they will get to play sports for a living for a few, or perhaps several, years if they are lucky. The minimum salary for NFL players with zero years experience in 2017 will be $465K. The minimum for a player with 10 years experience is a cool million.

https://www.spotrac.com/blog/nfl-minimum-salaries-for-2015-and-the-veteran-cap-benefit-rule/

Considering the median household income in the US is still under $60K, a player making several times that for a single year's play should be able to build up a sizable nest egg for their post sports life as long as they don't live too large. Some players are opting to spread their salaries over several years to keep them from blowing it all. Others make a conscious effort to live on less. Ryan Broyles lives on $60K a year and invests the rest.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/nfl-player-ryan-broyles-family-live-60000-year/story?id=33015081

On average though, NFL players probably get paid too little considering what they put their body through. The NFL is still a cash cow for most of the owners.

[liberal N proud]

19. No basketball and some baseball and golf

But the commentators can get just as stupid there.

[onenote]

21. the average salary for an NBA player is around $5 million. For the NFL its around $2 million

[BSdetect]

5. The game is concussion central.

Violent and stupid.

Totally agree with the points re funding.

[HassleCat]

6. Pro football is boring.

Too predictable, not spontaneous at all.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

7. I rarely watch it, and then it's only parts of the games.

I still watch college football, but I might phase that out too. It's a violent sport that results in CTE for many players, plus watching it live subjects me to what seems like 50% commercials.

This is silly, but another reason that the NFL turned me off was seeing these kinds of introductions by effin' "Bocephus":

[LeftInTX]

66. I wonder why he isn't performing for Trump?

[Buckeye_Democrat]

67. He seems like a perfect fit, I agree. n/t

[left-of-center2012]

8. Thanks for sharing

[fishwax]

9. I don't mind the players geting paid, but I agree with you about taxpayers subsidizing the owners

[B C Butler]

10. I love the Patriots

And it hurts when I hear them called cheaters. It is time for us to come together as one nation and accept them as our Super Bowl Champions.

[Drahthaardogs]

17. They are cheaters, but oh well.

But I don't see them beating Atlanta or the Cowboys in a Superbowl.

[OldHippieChick]

24. Yes, they are the Trump of

the NFL ... and no, I do not mean that as a compliment

[mythology]

33. Does it bother you that they are cheaters?

People don't call them cheaters. The team cheated, knowingly and repeatedly in taping other teams. They didn't do it once, they did it the entire time Belichick had coached the team. We've had to hear for years that the Patriots do things the right way, do all the things other teams don't do, know all the rules, and yet nobody batted an eye when Belichick claimed he had misinterpreted the rules.

He was a below average coach in Cleveland, took a playoff team and ran it into the ground. And then suddenly he's the greatest coach of all time?

Josh McDaniel, their offensive coordinator, was caught having other team's practices filmed. The Patriots welcomed him back with open arms.

And the circumstantial evidence around the deflation of footballs makes it exceedingly unlikely that nothing was going on there. Who calls themselves "the Deflator"? Brady randomly destroying his cell phone. The team firing the really totally innocent guys.

The entire organization is classless, from the owner who obviously values "winning" over integrity down to every single player and coach who doesn't have the integrity to say they won't belong to an organization that cheats. Their titles are no more valid that Lance Armstrong's.

[Iggo]

37. Tough.

They're called what they are: Cheaters.

[Feeling the Bern]

52. I just threw up a little in my mouth reading this.

[KPN]

76. Lol!!!!

[JDC]

11. It's nothing but adverts.

Impossible to watch.

[B C Butler]

12. I didn't know Brady was a Trump supporter.

Fuck the Patriots!

[longship]

13. It's Aussie Rules Footy for me.

I despise American football. It's a horrible, violent game which proceeds in 30 second bursts of head bashing interspersed by beer commercials. Who likes that? Not me.

Australian Rules Football:

A longer version:

Now that's football! Note that the ball is always in play and the players don't look like the marshmallow man.

[A HERETIC I AM]

48. I noticed the officials wearing colored jerseys in those vids....

When I lived in Alice Springs in the 70's we used to watch Aussie Rules on telly and back then, the field officials wore white and did a HELL of a lot of running backwards! That and the motions they make for goals and what not was always a source of amusement for us.

[longship]

54. They still run backwards, the last time I watched footy.

And, of course, the players are utterly bonkers. They never freaking stop running.

[X_Digger]

14. I think it's fucking stupid to pay grown men millions to put on costumes and play kids' games.

Only thing more stupid is to pay to watch said millionaires playing kids' games.

[dionysus]

32. i do too, but as long as people willingly cough up obscene ticket prices to paythese guys, what are

ya gonna do?

[yuiyoshida]

16. So this is another of the " I HATE FREAKING NFL FOOTBALL" Threads

Last edited Sun Jan 15, 2017, 07:47 AM - Edit history (1)

That comes out once in a while, from all the elitists who put their noses in the air, and act like they are above the average person, who likes a little entertainment from the NFL.

Well, I heard my Raider's will probably be moving to Las Vegas in a year or so. Can't be helped, and I guess the Owners are so greedy, that they go where the Money is, like some cattle rancher who moves his herd to greener pastures.



I may or may not follow them. It depends on whether or not the local Radio station will still play their games. I grew up being a Raider's fan. I would go out to the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum and watch all the antics going on in the "Black Hole", cheering on the Silver and Black, and loved being outdoors, and hearing the roar of the crowds as another Touch down happens before my eyes. Later years, sitting out there with a cup of Beer, having a Hotdog, and eating Garlic Fries was part of ritual. I grew up with going to Football games...Buying Jerseys and other memorabilia. Getting Autographs from people like Jeff Barnes, a big guy who I happen to admire who has a huge heart and helps the local community.
You don't just toss those memories aside...because of some obscure liberal concepts, and I won't. And by the way, The NFL does support the UNITED WAY, no one ever mentions that.



You can tell me I bought into the Hype! Well if it was good enough for my Parents than it was good enough for me.

You know, fine, I don't care if you HATE IT. I really don't. I worked freaking hard for my money most of my life. I can choose to spend it on entertainment like that, or go out and get a Sony Playstation and stay home and create my own fantasy team and take them to the Superbowl. A game I will never get to see in my life, cause tickets will always be more money than I make in a year. Either way... I love watching the game. Call me a Sell out..I don't care.

I love the Raider Nation, and the fans, and will always bleed Silver and Black. I am no Corporate sell out... I am a person, who has few things to entertain me, and don't give a damn about who wins the Academy Awards, this year. To me that's shlock...but to each their own, right? Find your own fun, and make it your own.

As for me, I will Always bleed Silver and Black... Like it or not, I am part of the Raider Nation.

[liberal N proud]

18. I hate what the NFL did to the game of football

BTW Go Chiefs

[yuiyoshida]

38. You know what I think?

I think its sour grapes for those who HAVE teams who SUCK this year, and they will secretly be rooting for their team, but have to be in this thread poo pooing American Football. What sports has the most eyes during its season? The NFL....

[panader0]

25. I admire your defense of football but the Raiders?

As a Bronco fan, my friend (a huge Raider fan) and I managed to attend a few games.
It was a friendly rivalry. My son, who lives in LA, is also a big Raider fan.
I think Las Vegas is a perfect fit for the Raiders.

[yuiyoshida]

35. WIN, LOSE, TIE, RAIDERS TILL I DIE!

It maybe a perfect fit. Frankly the Bay Area deserves no Football team. The 49ers left San Francisco to get a new stadium down south. They have become a mess and won't be any good for years.

If the Raiders move to Vegas, Fine, Let them Go. I can still root for them from here. Fuck, I could root for them from FRANCE, if they chose!

[KamaAina]

39. Wouldn't it be tragic if things kept happening at the Vegas stadium construction site?

And the damn thing never got built?

[yuiyoshida]

40. I think some Corporation should step up and offer

To build a new Stadium in Oakland for the Raiders. The SF GIANTS got AT&T to do it. Why not have a stadium built by Corporate money rather than tax payer money? They can afford it. And, they get to associate their name with an NFL team.

[KamaAina]

41. I believe AT&T just paid for the naming rights.

As did O.co in Oakland.

Thing is, as you know, pretty much all richies in the Bay Area are Niners fans, even now when it's pointless.

[yuiyoshida]

43. Oakland has built up a tradition on the other side of the bay

In fact, I have recently seen a lot of Silver and Black in the city of late. When I wear my Derek Carr Jersey, people here are like "Yay! Go Raiders!" ..they could get Corporate Sponsorship, like BofA perhaps. It could happen and keep this team in the BayArea... but if they are going to flee to Las Vegas, so be it. I will still root for them.

[KamaAina]

44. The BoA that fled to Charlotte?

[yuiyoshida]

46. Any corporation...

they were just an example.

[KamaAina]

61. So they want a new stadium? There just happens to be one right down 880 in Santa Clara.

The current occupants have screwed the pooch to the point where their luxurious sporting palace is half-empty , and so might welcome a second tenant like the football Giants have with the Jets.

[yuiyoshida]

63. That 49er facility?

Maybe. They will have to share that stadium...not sure what you do with that, have more Thursday night games? Saturday Night games? maybe.

They could move in temporarily until the new Stadium is built where the old one was in Alameda.

[KamaAina]

64. Same as the Giants and Jets in East Rutherford.

On any given Sunday, one team at home, the other on the road. A minor headache for the schedule-makers, but so be it.

[A HERETIC I AM]

49. In another few weeks NASCAR will fire up....

and then we'll be reading the obligatory and seasonal "I hate NASCAR" threads.

[yuiyoshida]

59. followed by the

"I HATE FUCKING MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL" Thread no doubt.

[A HERETIC I AM]

60. Throw in pit bulls, breast-feeding, Hooters,

And The Olive Garden and you'll have the DU circuit

[yuiyoshida]

62. Don't forget shooting Rockets at the Moon!

[Fast Walker 52]

20. what about the permanent brain damage so many players get?

that's turned me off of it quite a bit.

But also the linkage of football with the military and hyper-patriotism.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

23. I don't like that stuff either. n/t

[ProfessorGAC]

70. That's Limited To The NFL?

Huh? Concussions are a problem at all levels of football. I refuse to buy the fund raising tag for piwie football because i don't think 8 year old kids should be playing a full contact game.

My guess is that more permanent damage is done between the ages of 8 and 18 then those caused by playing as an adult, even though the game is faster, bigger and stronger at the college and NFL level.

Now, on the hyperpatriotism thing, you and i are completely on the same page.

[Fast Walker 52]

90. oh, yeah, I didn't mean it was limited to the NFL

That's just where it's gotten the most exposure. I think I've heard of some high school players getting CTE.

[ProfessorGAC]

93. I'm Guessing It's Worse in HS

The NFL guys likely started getting the initial neurochemistry damage when they were 11 or 12.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

22. I'm kind of rooting for Dallas this year, entirely because of ZEKE!

He had every right to question his limited carries against Michigan State in 2015. He was most responsible for the Buckeyes' national title the previous year, and the new offensive coordinators (who were recently REPLACED) barely let him carry the ball against the Spartans! He generally improved with more carries too, so it was ridiculous.

I assured some Cowboys fans after the NFL draft that they didn't waste their top pick by taking him!

[Soxfan58]

26. Hey

The "criminals" owner built his own stadium. And will play their 6th straight AFC championship game there in a week.

[smirkymonkey]

27. Love fest over Brady makes you sick?

Try living in Boston. It's nauseating.

[liberal N proud]

29. Can't imagine

[greymattermom]

28. I don't watch it because I review grants on traumatic brain injury

and I know that they all have it. Some will have symptoms, some will die from it, but they all have it.

[HAB911]

30. Opiate of the masses, Socialized Cost, Privitized Profit...........n/t

[LanternWaste]

83. Odd that we never never refer to console games as an opiate.

Odd that we never never refer to console games, movies, comic books, music, concerts or any other activity that earns orders of magnitude more than the NFL but that we ourselves enjoy as the "opiate of the masses."

Well, maybe not so much odd as simply self-serving, self-validating and bias-confirming.

[HAB911]

94. Sorry, but how do you compare

Last edited Tue Jan 17, 2017, 08:53 AM - Edit history (1)

the publicly supported NFL business model with console games, movies, comic books, music, and concerts? Apples and Oranges. I've never been forced to pay to build a movie theater, or attend a concert at the point of a gun. I've never seen people get sloppy drunk cooking food in the trunk of their car in the movie parking lot, take off their shirts while swilling beer and playing video games. jeeze

[TheBlackAdder]

31. I laugh when it's the only way that grown adults can bond or converse with each other.

[TrekLuver]

34. I think Rugby is much better and I wish we could migrate to that.

But I love baseball the most.

[AwakeAtLast]

36. And still considered "non-profit"

How is that OK?

[liberal N proud]

42. And then there is that

Even more reason to not watch.

I have not purchased a professional sporting event ticket since 1995.

[tammywammy]

51. The NFL gave up non-profit status back in 2015. n/t

[AwakeAtLast]

56. Ah, good to know. n/t

[pintobean]

45. St. Louis and San Diego refused to subsidize

so now, LA has two losing teams. NFL TV ratings in LA tanked this year, due to the Rams, and their future looks even worse.
If the NFL was a good investment, they wouldn't need taxpayer money.

[The Polack MSgt]

77. St Louis County and the state of Missouri offered Stan Kroenke $400 million

During the rigged relocation process.

That was turned down since the value of the franchise was supposed to triple if it relocated to LA.

[pintobean]

88. Jerry Jones pushed that relocation on the owners.

It was fun watching his team lose yesterday. Not that I was ever a Rams fan, but the NFL fucking over cities with their nomadic teams really pisses me off.

[Separation]

47. Go Pack Go!!

[A HERETIC I AM]

50. The ONLY team fully owned by the people of the city.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Bay_Packers_Board_of_Directors

[Buckeye_Democrat]

58. That's how it should be for EVERY team! GB is lucky they got...

grandfathered in. The NFL doesn't allow it anymore.

[Ilsa]

53. I hope they beat the Cowboys tonight.

But don't tell my husband.

I'd rather see the Packers go to Atlanta to play the Falcons than the Falcons have to go to Dallas. I'd love to see Atlanta in the Super Bowl.

But yes, I love the Packers because of their ownership. Rodgers has been spectacular tonight except for that interception.

[Boxerfan]

55. Funny thing-since I stopped drinking I can't watch it...

Boring as drying paint-
and get real - men playing with balls is a little-childish.

Not going elsewhere....

But seriously when my daughter was asked to participate in band for the school football program I had a 1/2 hour argument with her teacher. no way would I allow or encourage her to be a cheerleader for a ball sport unless she wanted-and she did not.

Ended with giver her a bad grade if you have to but I think the (football) program takes away from true academics & starves your own program.

[MadamPresident]

57. Brady is one of the few reasons I keep watching.

In a league of parity and mediocrity, Brady and the Pats are greatness.

The money is what the money is. I don't begrudge the players, they should be making even more. No one comes out to watch Jerry Jones or Dan Snyder own.

I ignore the broadcasters for the most part. I know what I'm watching and don't need their input. But they are going to gush over the best players to ever play. Brady is one of them. Rodgers is another. It happens. If it were unwarranted, it would be one thing,but it isn't.

So, don't watch.

[coco22]

65. But of course..

sports is the most important thing overall. I hate football and I get tired of the media trying to get people to worship,Brady,Tebow,Manning,etc.

Why watch if we know they will cheat. The same people who cry about taxes or a foodstamp are the same people who pay thousands for a ticket,hundreds or thousands for memorabilia,shoes and on and on.

[kwassa]

68. You don't watch because your team lost? I see.

Their season is over, there is nothing left.

[liberal N proud]

69. Am, NO! Actually, I don't actually have a team

I have been living in Cleveland and laughing at that joke and if I were to actually follow a team, it would be KC which was in it until last night.

I don't support professional sports!

[ProfessorGAC]

71. Sorry LnP, But. . .

...this doesn't make sense to me. The most exploited of all athletes are the college kids. Everybody is making money except them.

The rest of these people, while very highly paid, are at least earning a living. (Yeah, a very comfortable living for many and decent for others.)

So, if you don't support america's interest in sport, that's one thing. (I wouldn't really understand the motivation, but it's at least a consistent position.) But, not supporting only professional sports is something for which i don't grasp the logic.

[liberal N proud]

73. Speaking on that level, I agree with on the Division I level...

Look past that and follow Division II and III.

I have really only followed Div. II myself for years. The players are students first, they graduate with full degrees. The Div, II National Championship 2015 and 2016 graduated a quaterback with a pre-med degree. Their average GPA was greater than 3.0 and they displayed that on their helmets instead of some decal counting sacks or TDs.

Division I is simply the NFL training ground.

[ProfessorGAC]

85. That Makes Sense

And if i'm not mistaken, there are no scholarships in Div 3. That's why some schools are still NAIA i think.

Problem for me, is i'm still stuck on watching for the best of the best, and i know it's really only found at the top professional level.

I'm certainly not going to watch a golf tournament of players shooting 75, because i can do that myself and i'm not learning anything. That being said, there's way more to learn in golf watching the women professionals because they don't overpower the course. It's a finesse game that club players should aspire to be.

[Orrex]

72. I don't have strong feelings about it, but...

I'd love to see the service workers (janitors, vendors, ushers, etc.) make two or three times what they take in now. These people are obscenely underpaid in an industry that's obscenely overflowing with cash, and if anyone doubts their importance, I invite them to use a bathroom that's had 50,000 visitors with no one cleaning it.

[Dr. Strange]

74. Why I don't read Stephen King

1. The money paid to him: 15 million last year (down from 19 million the year before). And all from writing--which he reportedly learned at a public school! That's right, taxpayers' money was used to turn him into a millionaire!

2. And most importantly, I can't stand the fans and their love affair with King. Get a room!



Just kidding, I love Stephen King. Go Packers!

[Yavin4]

80. Why hasn't Stephen Spielberg ever adapted a Stephen King book into a movie?

If he did, he could cast Stephen Colbert in the lead.

[Dr. Strange]

81. You mean Steven Seagal, right?

[sofa king]

75. What gets me are the endless commercials.

The last eight minutes of any half takes close to an hour to play out now because of:

* A planned commercial break slot at 5-8 minutes;

* Up to six time-outs, most of which skip to commercials;

* Up to four team-called play reviews, and if they are successful the team does not surrender a time-out commercial break;

* The two-minute warning commercial break;

* Unlimited play review commercial breaks in the final two minutes of a half;

* An average of at least one injury time-out commercial beak per half.

The FCS National Championship was a perfect example of how far it went, even though college football doesn't have a two minute warning and other rules are different. Running time for the game was over four hours... for a sixty-minute game.

Even worse is the fact that the ball is only in play for an average of around twelve minutes of that sixty minute, three and a half hour, 100+ commercial game. You can find "condensed" versions of games, with replays, that never have a running time of over 20 minutes.

And then there are the commercials themselves, which are often vapid, racist, sexist assaults on the self esteem.

[yurbud]

78. I don't begrudge the players what they make since they make far more for their employers

[yurbud]

79. that stadium business should be a crime. The only time cities should fund it is in exchange for a

financial interest in the team.

[jmg257]

82. So you missed the Packers v. Cowboys game?!? Too bad - great finish!

Love watching that stuff with friends - we always have a good time.

[LanternWaste]

84. While better for the players, free agency and the salary cap pretty much blew it

While better for the players, free agency and the salary cap pretty much blew it for my own entertainment value.

[Bengus81]

87. I watch--KC Chiefs

We're history as of last night,they were never really in the game. What I DON'T want to see is another damn Tom Brady Superbowl. Come on Steelers,kick their BUTT!!

[frankieallen]

89. Who cares why you don't watch football....really.

[liberal N proud]

92. Obviously more than 80 DUers.

[HAB911]

95. LOL, NFL is as big a nerve as "guns"

Last edited Tue Jan 17, 2017, 09:15 AM - Edit history (1)

and that's not a coinkydink

[liberal N proud]

96. True

[snooper2]

97. less than 60 actually, repeat posts don't count