ESPN’s Monday Night Football this week featured a competitive match between the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions. The Packers prevailed in a close last minute field goal to win the game.
But anybody with eyes could tell you the game shouldn’t have been that close and NFL referees became the third wheel – issuing penalties against the Lions when there were none. Lions got the loss but it was undeserving. They were the better team.
But the XFL draft just happened and it might just be the answer that every anti-NFL fan was looking for.
Colin Kaepernick hasn’t played a game in the NFL in almost three years but his footprint on the league is still prevalent all these years later.
The embattled former San Francisco 49ers quarterback first kneeled for the National Anthem in a preseason game in 2016 and that’s the patient-zero moment that drove millions of fans to proverbially change the channel.
Sports have this amazing ability to bring people together, regardless of race, creed or political bias. But the problem is most of these spoiled millionaire athletes want to use their celebrity platforms in order to take a political stance.
But instead of doing it on their own time, they did it on the company dime. And it was a slap in the face to NFL fans that have family who put their lives on the line for American freedom.
In the meantime, many of those fans resorted to watching college football. Who could blame them? Most people view entertainment as a form of escapism but when politics is constantly being shoved down their throats by the industry, whether it is sports or Hollywood, these athletes make it that way purposely.
The XFL had its draft on Wednesday and there are some familiar names on the list.
The DC Defenders got former Ohio State quarterback Cardale Jones.
The New York Guardians drafted former Penn State and Oakland Raiders backup Matt McGloin.
The Dallas Renegades acquired former Oklahoma quarterback Landry Jones.
Of course, financially, the XFL can’t compete with the NFL but there are some notable names like WR Rashard Davis, former Oakland Raiders backup QB Connor Cook, WR Sammie Coates, Oregon State RB Tim Cook, etc.
The XFL is definitely a gamble for all intents and purposes but football is also a hot commodity as well. Look no further than college NCAA football to get your fix instead of watching the NFL.
The best thing that the NFL has on its side is that it has good elite players but that simultaneously creates another problem, which is that those “elite players” need a ton of money.
The XFL is essentially a league, a stepping-stone, to the NFL. All of these players are vying for that newfound financial freedom.
But the fans just want some football without all the politics involved and the XFL might be the perfect escape route for that love of the sport.
American team sports are so embroiled in political controversy but the XFL will refuse to carry that load at all.
