Your Interest in the NFL/Vikings

[Vanimal46]

The Vikings play a preseason game tonight, and I can't say I'm excited about football returning. It's a weird feeling, as I used to love football and couldn't wait for the next season to start. A lot of things have played into this new feeling...

 

• Moving on to other things besides sports for entertainment 
• CTE/concussions becoming a huge issue in the game
• NFL owners holding communities hostage to pay for a new stadium or else
• Quality of game play decreasing year over year

 

Playing fantasy football with friends is really the only thing keeping me aware of what's going on in the sport. If it weren't for that, the only game I would really watch is the Super Bowl. Maybe this is the start of the decline in popularity for football.... Maybe it's already happening.... Or maybe I'm in the minority and it's more popular than ever. 

 

What about you? 

[drjim]

I could write the exact same post with the exact same points. If it wasn't for a fantasy league with friends I've done for almost 2 decades, I'd not pay attention at all.

 

One other point I would add. I played football through college, am very aware of the long term impact it has had on my body (not positive) and I want my sons to have no part of the game.

[Pardon My Dinger]

Zero interest in football. Never mind my personal opinions about the sport being really boring and lacking any beauty whatsoever, the fact is these guys are killing each other. Football is an institution based on the exchange of  blood for money, plain and simple. 

[bluechipper]

I have a similar feeling of decreasing interest, and I think it has mostly to do with the concussion issues. Football used to be my favorite sport to follow and watch, but it's well behind basketball and baseball now.

 

Having said that, I'll still watch every Vikings game that I can.

[Mike Sixel]

I used to love the NFL like no other sport. Then my son started playing football, and we started learning a lot more about the impact of the game on the body/brain.....

 

1. I watch very little sports at all anymore

2. The awful impact on their bodies makes me uncomfortable

3. I no longer do FF, as all my leagues slowly died (we played back in the day you had to vote on what newspaper to use for the official stats.....)

4. So many other fun things to do with my time

5. I found that my mood was more affected by outcomes than I like

 

so, ya, decreasing. I posted on FB this week that I was considering giving up most/all watching of football....

[Vanimal46]

 

I could write the exact same post with the exact same points. If it wasn't for a fantasy league with friends I've done for almost 2 decades, I'd not pay attention at all.

One other point I would add. I played football through college, am very aware of the long term impact it has had on my body (not positive) and I want my sons to have no part of the game.

 

The bubble is eventually going to burst, especially as people in my age group (20's through 30's) have their own kids. In the very small sample size of my friends with kids, they all say they will not steer their kids towards football. Some were like you and played football in HS/college. 

 

The elite of the elite athletes will probably still play since the money involved with the sport is enormous. But D2/D3 football teams? I've got to imagine they'll be a thing of the past in the next 10-20 years. 

[Thrylos]

I'd say I am a Vikings fan, but I don't follow football as close as baseball.  I do not follow pre-season games in FB, and I think part of it has to do with the seasons.   Spring Training really signals the end of the winter, whereas pre-season football signals the end of the summer.  Plus pre-season football games are pretty horrible.

 

Never had an interest in fantasy football as well.   I do follow every single game of the Vikings and follow it live, unless there is a conflict with the Twins'.  Used to have the DirectTV thing, but these days is radio and video highlights or condensed game afterwards, unless the game is on live TV.  

Also, if anyone asks me who the Vikings starters are, before the season, I will not be able to tell. 

 

As far as other teams go: The Eagles' training camp is about 6 miles from my house and I have been there once with the kids and we all regretted it    I do not watch school sports, including football much.  The level of competition is just not there, as far as I am concerned.  I played college football and my boys played up till when they made the decision a couple years ago they don't want to play any longer because of the injury situation as well as the culture in High School among football players.

[wxman91]

Interesting responses.  I'm still as into the Vikings as ever.  I think I know more about the bubble players on the roster than I have in the past.  However, I will also note that I am less excited about preseason this year.  I think it is a bit of a lag from Teddy's injury and the collapse last year.  With injuries being such a big part of the game, I want to see who is actually available in the regular season. 

[Vanimal46]

 

I used to love the NFL like no other sport. Then my son started playing football, and we started learning a lot more about the impact of the game on the body/brain.....

 

1. I watch very little sports at all anymore

2. The awful impact on their bodies makes me uncomfortable

3. I no longer do FF, as all my leagues slowly died (we played back in the day you had to vote on what newspaper to use for the official stats.....)

4. So many other fun things to do with my time

5. I found that my mood was more affected by outcomes than I like

 

so, ya, decreasing. I posted on FB this week that I was considering giving up most/all watching of football....

 

Talking specifically about your 5th point, I can relate. The 2009 NFC Championship game was the final straw in my HARDCORE fandom for a team. Embarrassing story.... Myself and college roommates at the time were throwing beer cans, water bottles, anything of note in anger because of what we were seeing on the field. After the loss, we were all so devastated that we cancelled plans for the rest of the night. Woke up the next day still livid about the result... After that, a moment of clarity hit that it was just entertainment, and I've never let a result of a game affect me that way ever again.  

 

[Tom Froemming]

I didn't have an epiphany or moral issue that drove me away from football, I just completely lost interest in it a couple years ago. I went from being obsessed with my fantasy league (never was much of a Vikings fan) and watching 10+ hours of games a week to watching about 10 minutes all season. The games, especially on the pro level, just don't do it for me. I think they're boring.

 

The influence the officials can have over an outcome also drives me insane. Sometimes it seems like they call holding or pass interference whenever they feel like it. Sure, baseball umps can have a big impact on a game too, but not on that level.

[SF Twins Fan]

I'm definitely still a Vikings fan, however the Twins and Wild are the teams that I watch most.  I have the NHL.tv and MLB.tv app to be able to watch them, but I won't buy any packages to watch the Vikings.  

 

I just moved from SF (lived there for two years) to NY and I feel like this has played into me not paying attention to the Vikings as much as I used to.  SF, to me, just isn't a sports town.  People are really excited about the Warriors and the Giants but it's only because they've been good for the last 6 - 7 years.  It's pretty obvious a lot of the fans there are very much bandwagon fans. So, we'll see if I start watching more football again now that I live in NY.

 

I'd agree with a lot of what people said above as reasons my interest has decreased. Since I just moved to NY there will be a lot of exploring that I'll want to do and I don't want to waste my Sunday afternoons sitting in front of my TV.  I still play FF and probably will continue but the reasons for me are probably different than most.  I use it to stay connected with friends I have back in MN as there's consistently friendly banter that goes back and forth and I'm just a competitive person.

 

I believe football will be basically nonexistent by 2050 and I've been saying this for the last 5 to 6 years. With the information that is coming out about CTE and the number of former players who have killed themselves recently I just don't see how football can survive.  More and more players are retiring at an earlier age and I believe less kids are signing up for youth football.  When I have kids I definitely won't sign them up or let them play as the injury risk is too great.  

[drjim]

I didn't have an epiphany or moral issue that drove me away from football, I just completely lost interest in it a couple years ago. I went from being obsessed with my fantasy league (never was much of a Vikings fan) and watching 10+ hours of games a week to watching about 10 minutes all season. The games, especially on the pro level, just don't do it for me. I think they're boring.

 

The influence the officials can have over an outcome also drives me insane. Sometimes it seems like they call holding or pass interference whenever they feel like it. Sure, baseball umps can have a big impact on a game too, but not on that level.

Baseball umps can be bad amd obviously miss calls, but virtually every call is objective. Football has so many critical calls that are subjective. Makes it less enjoyable.

[Vanimal46]

Baseball umps can be bad amd obviously miss calls, but virtually every call is objective. Football has so many critical calls that are subjective. Makes it less enjoyable.

Hell, the NFL can't even clearly define what a catch is!

[drjim]

The bubble is eventually going to burst, especially as people in my age group (20's through 30's) have their own kids. In the very small sample size of my friends with kids, they all say they will not steer their kids towards football. Some were like you and played football in HS/college.

 

The elite of the elite athletes will probably still play since the money involved with the sport is enormous. But D2/D3 football teams? I've got to imagine they'll be a thing of the past in the next 10-20 years.

I'm in your age group. My kids are really young. Wouldn't be surprised if none of their friends play football. Going to especially collapse in cities/suburbs and college educated parents. Well on its way to becoming another political issue.

[Dman]

I have to say I was really stoked about the Vikes last year.  I thought that maybe they were going to turn a corner and be really good and good to great for a long time.  That losing streak just took my enthusiasm away and I am becoming less interested.  I follow all MN sports and probably always will.  I hoping I will jump on the bandwagon again.  I always watch the Packer games and probably always will.  

 

I don't like knowing that those athletes are possibly severely damaging there lives for the sport.  I think in time the sport will have to be stopped and I am OK with that.  It is less enjoyable watching games knowing the potential consequences.  I think football may be headed for a slide.  Will have to wait and see.

[Blake]

The NFL lost me years ago.

 

I got tired of the thuggery off the field and the showboating on the field. I understand celebration but it's gotten way out of hand. 

 

And I used to be a huge Vikings fan.

 

No more.

 

I vastly prefer baseball.

 

I'll watch the baseball playoffs and the series this year with great interest. I really would like to see Houston and the Dodgers go at it.

[Taildragger8791]

 

I used to love the NFL like no other sport. Then my son started playing football, and we started learning a lot more about the impact of the game on the body/brain.....

 

1. I watch very little sports at all anymore

2. The awful impact on their bodies makes me uncomfortable

3. I no longer do FF, as all my leagues slowly died (we played back in the day you had to vote on what newspaper to use for the official stats.....)

4. So many other fun things to do with my time

5. I found that my mood was more affected by outcomes than I like

 

so, ya, decreasing. I posted on FB this week that I was considering giving up most/all watching of football....

 

I've found this to be especially true as I've gotten older. Weekends are precious and I no longer want to spend all day watching a game or games that will likely only stress me out and leave me in a bum mood. If I have nothing else to do and will be home anyways, or it's a big game and I get together with friends...then sure. But going out of my way to watch every game or watch all day is a thing of the past.

 

Fantasy football is more of a chore and exercise in frustration than anything else too. I have a couple leagues that we limp along for the cameraderie and that's about it. I'd happily stop playing otherwise.

 

The game is hard to watch anymore anyways, for so many reasons:

1. Primetime matchups are usually trash or are lopsided affairs.
2. Penalties kill the flow. I don't see an easy solution to this either, the game has been designed for passing to dominate and this leads to constant penalties with holding, pass interference and variations thereof, QB and defenseless receiver hits, etc.
3. The focus on passing also means the lack of a great QB makes the rest of the roster worthless, and there are only a few of those QBs in the game. Great defense, great RB, decent WRs, but no QB? Too bad. No chance you'll even get one without a stroke of luck either.
4. The game is so over-the-top in-your-face commercialized. Commercials are out of control, every single moment or situation has a "sponsor", half-time performers have to PAY the NFL to perform for them, NFL Sunday Ticket being locked to Directv, replacement refs, constant threats of team relocation to squeeze money out of communities then returning the favor by charging exhorbant prices on everything (and adding PSLs on top), the blackout policies that only just now ended after Congress started taking notice, etc. All while demanding fan loyalty. The NFL manages to showcase their greed in new and imaginative ways every year.
5. Inconsistent application of their own rules, both on and off the field. Heavy-handed punishment of players while following trumped up policies and procedures and conducting shady "investigations".
6. Manufactured drama and embelleshed narratives dominate the discussions instead of actual analysis of what's happening on the field.

[wsnydes]

I used to be a massive football fan.  Sunday's were reserved for one thing and one thing only.  I had Sunday Ticket for a decade.  I literally planned my week around my ability to watch football even when I was in college.  I was in multiple fantasy football leagues and obsessed about it.

 

I can't really say when the beginning of the end started.  I started to notice that I was so competitive in fantasy football that I found myself rooting against myself based on how my teams were doing.  I eventually quit all of my leagues except one but picked up a pick 'em league.  By that point though, I had completely burned myself out of fantasy football.  I no longer had the time that I used to to really dig into it like I used to and I simply didn't enjoy it anymore.  My teams started to suck, which only made things worse.  I decided that I wasn't going to quit entirely unless I had a good team and still didn't enjoy it.  That happened a few years ago.  I won the league and hated every second of it.  I took my John Elway moment and rode off into the sunset.  That burnout is the reason that I will never join fantasy baseball.  I don't want it to consume me and ruin the game for me.

 

Since then, Directv quit giving me enough deals to make Sunday Ticket worthwhile.  With so many games on other days plus the fact that most games are on at noon and so are the Vikings in most cases, it make no sense at all to keep it.  The only reason that I did for so long is because I was either paying little to nothing for it.  The constant commercials and long drawn out games started to bore me to death.  The quality of play was decreasing and with rules changes started making the game unrecognizable to me.  I applaud the efforts to make the game safer, but that's also part of the erosion of the game I enjoyed.

 

These days, I MIGHT sit down and watch a Vikings game.  I more inclined to watch college football but do it mainly if I have nothing else to do.  I do and always have followed my alma mater, NDSU, pretty closely but other than that I really couldn't care less about football.  I debated about whether to watch the Super Bowl last year.  I did and am very glad that I did, but that had to do with the history that was made more than anything.  I have no interest at all in it anymore.

  

[wsnydes]

 

Hell, the NFL can't even clearly define what a catch is!

Exactly.  Something that happens nearly 100 times a game isn't even obvious.  That isn't the way to operate a competition.

[Mike Sixel]

 

Hell, the NFL can't even clearly define what a catch is!

 

mind. boggling. But true!

[wavedog]

 

Talking specifically about your 5th point, I can relate. The 2009 NFC Championship game was the final straw in my HARDCORE fandom for a team. Embarrassing story.... Myself and college roommates at the time were throwing beer cans, water bottles, anything of note in anger because of what we were seeing on the field. After the loss, we were all so devastated that we cancelled plans for the rest of the night. Woke up the next day still livid about the result... After that, a moment of clarity hit that it was just entertainment, and I've never let a result of a game affect me that way ever again.  

Same here, the Saints Championship game was a turning point for me as well.  After that post-game depression, I came to the realization that the Vikings will never win a Super Bowl in my lifetime and I am OK with that.  Having lived through 4 Super Bowl losses, the 1998 Championship game etc..that was enough.  When Blair Walsh shanked the FG against Seattle in the playoffs - I was like yep that is what we expect.  Getting back to the OP - I do find myself less interested in watching football lately.  Hard to put a reason for it but some combination that I have hit 50 years old, the games/teams start looking the same to me (maybe related to getting older or it seems like everyone runs a similar passing-based offense), I don't have the DirecTV package so you get stuck watching the same teams on Sunday afternoons, I live in Dallas/Ft Worth so I get the Cowboys shoved down my throat.   I have actually enjoyed College football more lately.  I stopped playing FF a couple of years ago after playing for 20 years and I do not miss it one bit.  

[Vanimal46]

 

Same here, the Saints Championship game was a turning point for me as well.  After that post-game depression, I came to the realization that the Vikings will never win a Super Bowl in my lifetime and I am OK with that.  Having lived through 4 Super Bowl losses, the 1998 Championship game etc..that was enough.  When Blair Walsh shanked the FG against Seattle in the playoffs - I was like yep that is what we expect.  Getting back to the OP - I do find myself less interested in watching football lately.  Hard to put a reason for it but some combination that I have hit 50 years old, the games/teams start looking the same to me (maybe related to getting older or it seems like everyone runs a similar passing-based offense), I don't have the DirecTV package so you get stuck watching the same teams on Sunday afternoons, I live in Dallas/Ft Worth so I get the Cowboys shoved down my throat.   I have actually enjoyed College football more lately.  I stopped playing FF a couple of years ago after playing for 20 years and I do not miss it one bit.  

 

I was watching the playoff game vs. Seattle with another Viking fan I met in Austin. We both had a good laugh after that missed kick, and didn't think twice about it afterwards. Also, you and me both with the endless Cowboys coverage. Can't listen to a sports radio station down here in Texas as they take sports way too seriously. 

[wsnydes]

 

I was watching the playoff game vs. Seattle with another Viking fan I met in Austin. We both had a good laugh after that missed kick, and didn't think twice about it afterwards. Also, you and me both with the endless Cowboys coverage. Can't listen to a sports radio station down here in Texas as they take sports way too seriously. 

I was actually at that game with my dad and brother.  I went because I knew that my dad really wanted to go to a cold outdoor football game and he would love nothing more than to do it with his two boys.  It was actually pretty fun until the last play.

 

As Walsh was lining up the kick, a guy a couple of rows behind us said to someone next to him, "If we can't make this kick then we don't deserve to be in the playoffs anyway."

 

At that instant, I pretty much knew it was going to be missed.

 

There were days were I would have been smashing things after something like that.  This time I just sat down silently and waited for the crowds to clear out and then headed to the car.  We got back to my house and I went on with my day.

[Craig Arko]

The NFL stands as a proud symbol of everything that's f-d up in the U.S. Right up there with the NCAA, the WWE, and the NRA.

 

If there was a 'spit' emoticon, I'd use it.

[wsnydes]

 

couldn't disagree more. Nothing more American than political protests. Now, rooting for rapists, abusers, druggies, etc? People seem to have no issues there....

That's another reason I can't keep watching.  I can't support those types of people - the abusers, rapists, etc.  I haven't watched an NBA game since Jordan retired from the Bulls for the last time.  

 

Hockey players, for all of their mullets and missing teeth, are generally some pretty upstanding guys.  I've been watching more hockey.

[Mike Sixel]

 

That's another reason I can't keep watching.  I can't support those types of people - the abusers, rapists, etc.  I haven't watched an NBA game since Jordan retired from the Bulls for the last time.  

 

Hockey players, for all of their mullets and missing teeth, are generally some pretty upstanding guys.  I've been watching more hockey.

 

I could no longer root for AP, which made it hard to be a Viking fan....

[Heezy1323]

As a physician who has been on the sidelines for probably 12-15 games per year across the HS, college and professional levels for the past 10 years or so, I probably have a slightly different outlook on this than most. I agree with many posters that my enthusiasm for watching football on television has waned over the past few seasons, but that is difficult for me to tell if it is because I watch so much football already, or if my overall interest has decreased.

 I enjoy being around the game and appreciate how hard these athletes work. I am constantly amazed at what people their size can do. I enjoy being able to help them when my services are needed. But I cringe every time a big collision happens. I dread that brief instant after a big hit when you aren't sure if the player is going to get up or not. I say a quick prayer before every game that no player will lose their life that night (which is crazy, right?). And when the clock hits 0:00, and no one has been hurt, I feel a huge sense of relief. 

 Inevitably, every fall when the stories about players dying from heat illness or traumatic injuries (and there are always a few, every year), I wonder if THIS is the year things really start to change. But damned if I know how to change things to make them safer. These are large, strong human beings running into each other at top speed. I don't know how you make that 'safe', by any definition. 

 I'm torn on this issue. I do think eventually, football as we know it will be no longer. How long? No idea, that's for people much smarter than me to figure out. But I can tell you: I have a young son. I hope like heck he picks up golf. 

[Mike Sixel]

The day my youngest quit playing football was one of the happier days of my life...

[wsnydes]

 

I could no longer root for AP, which made it hard to be a Viking fan....

Exactly.  I dislike all of the showmanship, the dancing and celebrations that occur after basically every play but guys like AP and the like just disgust me.  I realize that there are good guys in the league, but the bad ones stand out.  When a league decides that a deflated football warrants a harsher punishment than assault, then I have no interest in supporting such an organization.

[Taildragger8791]

 

That's another reason I can't keep watching.  I can't support those types of people - the abusers, rapists, etc.  I haven't watched an NBA game since Jordan retired from the Bulls for the last time.  

 

Hockey players, for all of their mullets and missing teeth, are generally some pretty upstanding guys.  I've been watching more hockey.

 

Before someone interprets that to be a racial thing, even basketball doesn't have nearly as many problems despite largely drawing from the same talent sources. Baseball sources its talent from all over the world, often at much younger ages in 3rd world countries, and doesn't have these pervasive problems either. There's something in the culture of football that allows these behaviors to persist and fester.