For those who think that their empire is invincible — think Google, think the United States of America, think Harvard and Yale — now is the time to take a cautionary glance at the National Football League.
This once invincible sports empire — with ratings that always went up, with popularity that always surged, with role models and anti-role models that commanded the nation’s attention, with an economic model that surprised even its inventors — now is going in the other direction.
Ratings are down.
Ire over the “kneel down” disrespect of the national anthem is up.
The fight over how many tens of millions of dollars the commissioner should get, or whether he should be retained at all, is tawdry.
Parents of potential NFL players now in junior or senior high school fret over brain damage. There is less of that unique madness: burning parental desire to see their kid succeed in this professional sport.
Perhaps worst of all, the sport itself, to some fans at least, is losing its luster: low scoring games, slipshod play, penalties galore.
Perhaps most symbolic here is the dismal fate of the once adored Denver Broncos. ‘Twas a time when a Broncos loss would turn the city into a tailspin. Now, it’s ho hum. True, the diehards still take to the talk-radio waves to analyze every imaginable alternative, from the overall Bronco playbook down to the specific — botched — plays. But who’s listening? Fewer and fewer people. The city expects the Broncos to lose. Even if they were to win a couple of games now, the season is ruined. The specter of the once mighty John Elway isn’t what it used to be.
True enough, this could change. As they used to say about the Chicago Cubs, any team can have a bad century, er, make that, a bad season. The Broncos in particular and the NFL could turn around.
But it’ll be going uphill. The league and the sport ain’t what they used to be. Once the NFL allowed itself to buy into the political divisions of the nation, not taking a strong stand on the kneel downs at the playing of the national anthem, the NFL guaranteed itself a divided loyalty.
Copyright © 2017 by the Intermountain Jewish News
