Is Being a Football Fan Unethical?

Matter of Opinion

New York Times Opinion

Society & Culture, Ross Douthat, News, New York Times, Journalism

4.2 • 7.2K Ratings

🗓️ 15 September 2021

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

It’s the start of another N.F.L. season, the time of year Americans turn on their televisions to watch their favorite teams make spectacular plays and their favorite players commit incredible acts of athleticism. But is America’s favorite pastime actually its guiltiest pleasure? Can fans ethically enjoy watching a football game? The effects of the tackles on players’ brains is one reason you might feel guilty for watching. The injuries come on top of long-running disagreements between players and the league. How do you balance the brutality of the sport with the athleticism and beauty? Steve Almond gave up watching football because of the values he sees it embracing. Kevin Clark watches football as part of his job as a writer and reporter at The Ringer. Mentioned in this episode: “Paper Lion: Confessions of a Last-String Quarterback” by George Plimpton (1966) “Against Football: One Fan’s Reluctant Manifesto” by Steve Almond Kevin Clark’s recent reporting at The Ringer

Transcript

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0:00.0	Today on the argument, I love football, but should I feel bad about that?
0:07.0	Welcome to the greatest two weeks of the year, the start of football season.
0:16.0	2014 days ago the Buccaneers became the first team to win the Super Bowl on their own field.
0:21.0	And tonight the fans back full capacity and take it away.
0:34.0	I'm Jane Kostin.
0:36.0	I grew up a Cincinnati Bengals fan by way of my dad.
0:39.0	Every Sunday we'd watch games together and every Sunday I'd get more and more invested in the game.
0:44.0	The Bengals were terrible when I was growing up.
0:48.0	Historically, awfully, brutally terrible.
0:52.0	But I didn't care. I loved the game.
0:56.0	At the University of Michigan I was one of more than 100,000 fans that filled the stadium during football season.
1:02.0	Go Blue.
1:04.0	Some of the best moments of my whole life happened in that stadium watching that team.
1:08.0	Michigan trailing by full.
1:10.0	Henning fires to the end zone.
1:13.0	Touchdown, man again.
1:15.0	Michigan wins.
1:16.0	But as much as I love to watch the game, truly, absolutely love it.
1:21.0	Football doesn't always make it easy to love.
1:24.0	Because for all the strategy and gymnastics, you're watching men get brutally hit multiple times over in the span of hours.
1:33.0	I remember one of those moments so clearly.
1:36.0	It was a 2007 Michigan State Wisconsin game.
	...

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