The NFL has had a brutal last few years.
The 2015 film “Concussion” hammered the NFL for its handling of the head trauma issue, and the anti-American anthem protests have been an absolute nightmare for the league.
Now one new poll shows the NFL could be in bigger trouble than originally thought.
In Texas, football is king. Many high school programs have stadiums and training facilities that make college programs envious.
The Buzz Bissinger book “Friday Night Lights” not only captured the fanaticism and spirit of Texas high school football, it spawned a movie, a television show, and an upcoming film.
If football should be on solid ground anywhere, it’s Texas, which is why a recent poll should scare the NFL.
According to a University of Texas at Austin poll, 47% of the state’s registered voters have a negative opinion of the league.
The growing discontent is in direct correlation to the unpatriotic protests that scandalized the league for two full seasons.
Commissioner Roger Goodell threw a band-aid on the issue by adapting the anthem policy (players must now stand for the flag or remain in the locker room during the Star-Spangled Banner), but Goodell’s action came far too late.
He allowed the problem to fester and turn into a scandal, which mobilized the left to turn the National Anthem into a wedge issue.
There are grumblings that protesting players are planning some type of mass demonstration despite the new policy.
Their rumored act of defiance is being buttressed by some owners who have already come out and said they will gladly pay the league fine for protesting during the anthem.
Not only is it unfortunate that players are ungrateful and lack perspective, they’ve turned the American flag into a divisive symbol.
There used to be an understanding that politics stop in the public square. That way liberals and conservatives congregate and share cultural touchstones while disagreeing about policy.
But that wasn’t good enough for the left.
They want to turn everything into a political fight.
Leftist actor Michael Ian Black freely admits it:
Theater is political.
Sports is political.
Life is political.
Be political.— Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) June 11, 2018
Highly polarized societies are incredibly unhealthy, and are the hallmark of third-world broken governments.
That’s why diversions like sports matter. People within society have to be able to coexist with those who hold a differing opinion. Otherwise tribalism and sectarian violence become inevitable.
Sadly, the Democratic Party has become so radical, prominent members are openly calling for violence and public disturbance.
The United States, for all its faults, has integrated various cultures better than any country on the planet. The idea that anyone can be an American if he or she believes in American ideals.
The left is unimpressed. Leftists measure the United States against a hypothetical Utopia. And they’re willing to end the American experiment to bring about their revolutionary paradise.
The NFL restored some sense of order by curbing a lot of the shenanigans during the National Anthem, but only time will tell if the left will allow for peaceful escapism.