Making the NFL History

Its not about the protests since I stopped watching the National Football League ages ago. It isn't about Colin Kaepernick, the catalyst for the flag protests during the playing of our national anthem, signing a major advertising deal with major major NFL advertiser Nike, since I've also never owned a pair of their shoes or bought any of their athletic wear.

This is really all a distraction from the main problem of American Football and how it has "evolved".

It's all about the Destruction.

American Football destroys the people who play it.

You just don't see the level of catastrophic injury in other sports. It's not even close. American Football is Weaponized Sport. You get hit in other sports but you don't get blasted by someone wearing the sporting equivalent of armor plate. Where other sports wear helmets for protection, in the NFL they wear them for striking. Helmets started out as protection and then they became something other.

But then the game really took off in popularity.

Perhaps its our war-like nature. Football fits into that. It's the taking of "territory" on offense, it's the defense "shutting down" an opponent. There is the field "generalship" displayed by the quarterback and the "coaching discipline" exercised by the coach. It's smashing people in the mouth and "spectacular" open field hits that leave an opposing player lying on the field. Oh, people feel bad when it happens but that's what they came for. What did they think was going to happen? People are not indestructible.

And the NFLs greatest stars are getting destroyed. Some show it immediately but most show it over time.

Winning and Losing are part of life's lessons and there's nothing wrong with wanting to win, working to win and, of course, winning. But "Dominance" is a key factor in the NFL, more so. in my humble opinion, than in other sports. There are sports people who exhibit dominance in their fields but its more about their consistency of victory an not the ferocity of how they play the game. They can be described as "smelling blood in the water" on the verge of victory but if, say, there is a stringed racket involved, nobody's going to get hurt beyond a pulled hamstring.

In pro football, the opponent must be vanquished in dominant fashion.

The NFL is a gladiatorial vestige of our ancient past that should be buried in the sands of time.

There is a time where all sports, no matter how wildly popular they were, run their course. Before Baseball, Football and Basketball, Cycling was the biggest sport in the world. Boxing was HUGE and Track & Field heavily bet upon. Horse Racing was also big, big, big.

But although these sports are still around to some extent, they aren't nearly the events they were. People's sporting tastes change and they find other sporting interests and there are plenty more to choose from today. Many of them way less destructive than bashing your brains out on the "Grid-Iron". The trick now is to get the television networks, fully in bed with the big money sports, to put them on the air on a regular basis.

And, let's face it, the dominance of football as a national sport is only perpetuated by acts of Congress who have granted the NFL, along with other major sports, exemptions from the rules of business that give them "Not For Profit" status and exemptions from Anti-Trust laws. This gave them leverage to make massive deals with the national television networks that allow the "major" sports to dominate the airwaves. But if interest in the NFL falls hard, the networks will have to look for new alternatives.

So regardless of whether you are put off by the protests, the decades of lying about long-term injury, the long-term injuries themselves, the DRUGS, the cozy business dealings or just the big money marketing bullshit and crass commercialism of the National Football League you can find other sporting interests. Since other sports don't get much air time, you don't know what you're missing.

If you want to see people destroy themselves for entertainment, well there it is, but if you are growing increasingly uncomfortable with the idea of the results of the game, you have alternatives. You don't have to watch catastrophic personal destruction to be entertained.

People who play sports get injured but the NFL makes commonplace what in other sports is a rarity and in most sport unheard of.

And now all the years of covering such things up and the bubble of belief in the sport is coming to it's end.

I wouldn't miss the NFL one second if it should disappear tomorrow.

Injury Report prior to game 2 in the NFL

Arizona Cardinals, OUT: Olsen Pierre (toe), Andre Smith (elbow)

LA Rams, OUT: Mike Thomas (hip), DOUBTFUL: Mark Baron (ankle)

Caroline Panthers OUT: Damiere Byrd (knee), Greg Olsen (foot)

Atlanta Falcons, OUT: Devonta Freeman (knee), Russell Gage (knee), Ben Garland (calf)

Cleveland Browns, OUT: Emmanuel Ogbah (ankle)

New Orleans Saints, OUT: Tyeler Davidson (foot)

Detroit Lions, OUT: Andrew Donnal (knee), TJ Lang (back)

San Francisco 49ers, OUT: Joshua Garnett (toe), Marquise Goodwin (quadriceps), Erik Magnuson (hamstring)

Houston Texans, OUT: Kayvon Webster (achilles)

Tennessee Titans, OUT: Jack Conklin (knee), Taylor Lewan (concussion), Kendrick Lewis (foot)

Indianapolis Colts, OUT: Denico Autry (foot), Anthony Castonzo (hamstring), Denzell Good (knee, wrist), Chris Milton (concussion)

Washington Redskins, OUT: Troy Apke (hamstring),

Kansas City Chiefs, OUT: Ben Niemann (hamstring), DOUBTFUL: Eric Berry (heel)

Pittsburg Steelers, DOUBTFUL: Tyson Alualu (shoulder), David DeCastro (hand), Joe Haden (hamstring)

LA Chargers, OUT: Joe Barksdale (knee), Joey Bosa (foot), Craig Maer (hamstring)

Buffalo Bills, OUT: Taron Johnson (shoulder), Shaq Lawson (hamstring)

New York Jets, OUT: Josh Martin (concussion), DOUBTFUL: Marcus Maye (foot)

Minnesota Vikings, OUT: Pat Elflein (ankle, shoulder)

Green Bay Packers, OUT: Josh Jones (ankle)

Oakland Raiders, OUT: PJ Hall (ankle)

Philadelphia Eagles, OUT: Alshon Jeffery (shoulder), Darren Sproles (hamstring), Carson Wentz (knee)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers, OUT: Brent Grime (groin), Vita Vea (calf)

New York Giants, OUT: Olivier Vernon (ankle)

Dallas Cowboys, OUT: Datone Jones (knee), Xavier Woods (hamstring), DOUBTFUL: Randy Gregory (concussion)

54 additional players listed as: QUESTIONABLE, two with concussions. Most played in week 2.