Choices

I come from a football family.   Most of three generations of us have played at least at the high school level, and many of us played at the college level.  Although none of us were gifted enough to play professional ball, the N.F.L. has been omnipresent in our homes for nearly half a century.  Many of the memories of my youth are tied up with the N.F.L. ---  the first Super Bowl, the Ice Bowl, the Jets upset of the Colts, and, of course, the '85 Bears.   There were the pantheon of greats that we all emulated--- from Gale Sayers, Dick Butkus, and Ray Nitschke to Walter Payton, Mike Singletary and Brian Urlacher.   There was Monday Night Football with Dandy Don Meredith, Howard Cosell Frank Gifford.  What would Thanksgiving Day be like without some team beating up on the historically hapless Lions before Thanksgiving dinner?

But all good things do come to an end and my love affair with the N.F.L. is officially over, or at least we're going to have a trial separation.  The N.F.L. has made a choice and so must I.  In addition to coming from a football family, I come from a community of many law enforcement officers.  My father was a Chicago police officer and many of my high school classmates were as well, and served this city honorably.

The dust-up started last year when the N.F.L. failed to discipline the St. Louis Rams for perpetuating the Michael Brown mythology with their "hands up, don't shoot," gesture.  And it's getting worse.  Colin Kaepernick of the 49ers has been all over the news with his decision to sit during the national anthem and where socks disparaging police that depict them as pigs.  Yes, we have a guy whose IQ is probably a just a hair above room temperature, makes an average salary of $19 million and claims to be "oppressed" (as an aside, he should try earning that kind of scratch playing soccer in Iran or baseball in Cuba).  Kaepernick, with the acquiescence of the N.F.L., has launched a two pronged publicity attack on civilized society--- demonstrating a disrespect for both the country and the law enforcement officers that provide the bulk of day to day protection of it.  The Santa Clara police reacted by threatening to boycott Monday night's game (although they appear to have backed off). Now, the Seattle Seahawks are threatening to join in on the protest on Sunday, which coincidentally falls September 11.

I have often thought of football as a place, where, for the most part, your background, circumstances, race and religion don't matter.  The only thing that matters is whether you can catch, throw, block, and tackle.  And the N.F.L. had heretofore had a great record in that regard.  Unlike baseball, there were no Negro leagues,  and coaches like Vince Lombardi stuck up for his black players when hotel owners wanted to discriminate and he pushed back against the N.F,L. when it raised issues about one of his players marrying a white girl.  Bill Walsh pioneered the minority coaches' fellowship program in an effort to get more black coaches better training and opportunities.

N.F.L. football is a place to escape from some of the realities of economic and political strife.  In 2008, when the world seemed like it was falling apart, football offered an escape hatch.  For a few hours, all that mattered was the outcome of the struggle on the gridiron-- a healthy diversion while your portfolio and home equity were in meltdown and a 2nd Great Depression seemed all but inevitable.  But now it seems that the N.F.L. has gotten into the grievance business, or at least is enabling it.

By simultaneously permitting Kaepernick to sit through the national anthem and denying the Dallas Cowboys the opportunity to voice their solidarity with the Dallas police department whose members were gunned down in cold blood, the N.F.L. is choosing sides.  

So this football season, I will choose sides as well.  I will not attend a single N.F.L. game this year, nor will I watch one on T.V.  There are plenty of college and high school games that I can watch.  I will also obtain a list of endorsements of Kaepernick's and I will not patronize these businesses.

If Kaepernick and the N.F.L. can make a statement, so can I.