Why do you Americans watch your football?

notfromhere wrote:

11 minutes of actual play over the space of 3 hours 12 minutes...........I am completely mystified by you?

https://qz.com/150577/an-average-nfl-game-more-than-100-commercials-and-just-11-minutes-of-play/

Not most men, but there a lot of men in U.S. larger than 6'4" 295lbs. Am. football is, I guess a positive use of energy for said large men.

Am. football, started off as a college intramural activity. The complexity of the game intentionally mirrors corporate U.S.A. I stopped playing at Pop Warner. Friends/classmates of mine who rose to N.F.L. level say there are a lot of meetings as there are in corporate Am.

I wish it were not so popular. Some of the 5'11" to 6'4" athletes in Am. football would have been good to great 800m men. Men like Randy Moss or Colin Kaepernick. Do not look at Kaepernick's bulk. I am sure at age 12 if he would have chosen 800m over Am. football, his height to weight ratio would have been similar to Duan Solomon's &/or Jim Ryun's.

Thanks for all the replies. The live football product is far different than the televised football product. Sounds like most of you have not been to a LIVE football game lately.......why not?

Wouldn't your football be better if it went the Arena Football route, where they play platoon football......ie, players play both offense and defense.

It would reduce the size of players (particularly Linemen), who are getting unhealthily big.

Us Americans love watching people ram their heads together and give each other brain damage. If that’s not quality entertainment, then I don’t know what is.

Watching the best athletes in the world compete is one reason.

The great runs, the hits, the amazing catchs, the drama, the history, no other sports compare.

A HUGE % of the fans played football at some level, which helps.

There is nothing in sports exciting as a great 105 yard kickoff return.

Youtube Gale Sayers, and be prepared to be amazed.

notfromhere wrote:

Sounds like most of you have not been to a LIVE football game lately.......why not?

American football is one sport that is better to watch on TV than in person.

The replays and close ups help.

You have 22 guys to different things on each play.

You don't just follow the ball.

In soccer, all 22 are not in on most plays.

They spread out and a wider view helps.

Boxing?

I don't waste time watching football.

Instead I pit myself against my friends and strategically pick players from opposing football teams to fulfill my fantasy whereby a conglomo-team dominates according to a set of scoring rules that are different from the scoring rules of regular football.

It's the dumbest sport on earth and all of the players are on HGH.

Strategically it is an interesting game due to all the stoppage, but with the drugs the players have become so massive that they are killing themselves. This is especially apparent in the career of a running back today vs the 1980s / 1990s.

I think if they shortened the play clock to 30 seconds to speed things up and widened the field by 10 yards to make speed a bigger factor it wouldn't suck so much.

THANKS FOR SHARING YOUR OPINIONS, EVERYONE!!!!!!

(there's no right answer)

Americans don't understand sport. Football is proof of this. No one else plays their national game.

notfromhere wrote:

Thanks for all the replies. The live football product is far different than the televised football product. Sounds like most of you have not been to a LIVE football game lately.......why not?

Huge TVs, instant replay and commentary. That could be said for any sport, but it is especially true for football. The huddles make time to see what you missed in the previous play (Who made that block away from the ball?) and to see the amazing catches in slow motion. Having a great commentator like Tony Romo point out little details you missed is also great.

I usually go to one live NFL game a year, but I always make sure it's a game I don't care too much about. For the games that matter to me, I want all the angles and the ability to watch a play as many times as I want.

Armstronglivs wrote:

Americans don't understand sport. Football is proof of this. No one else plays their national game.

Very true. Also in an area were maximum competition would be good (sports) they use cartel like leagues that are closed and socialism ( draft) to reward the lazy

SprintTriathlon wrote:

Bad Wigins wrote:

But the strategic possibilities are vastly greater due to the forward pass and more liberal rules regarding tackling and blocking.

Nah, American Handball (because it is not football!) may be a bit like backgammon, while Football is chess.

Why do the Euros think that "handball" quip is clever when it is they who invented rugby "football?"

Soccer is checkers, at best.

Football isnt our 'national game'.

Hullo Dumas wrote:

Football isnt our 'national game'.

True, it’s baseball (rounders).

notfromhere wrote:

Thanks for all the replies. The live football product is far different than the televised football product. Sounds like most of you have not been to a LIVE football game lately.......why not?

Wouldn't your football be better if it went the Arena Football route, where they play platoon football......ie, players play both offense and defense.

It would reduce the size of players (particularly Linemen), who are getting unhealthily big.

I doubt that there are very many Americans who haven't been to live football games, most of which are probably high school or college games. Watching those is not the same as watching the NFL. The NFL is designed for TV spectators, hence all the play stoppages for commercials and resulting down time. As you move down the ladder to levels, high schools and smaller universities, where it's not a "made for TV" product that changes and it's a much more watchable game in my opinion.

I am totally with you in thinking it would be a better game if players played both offense and defense. It would be a healthier game as well, you could not have guys weighing 300 or more pounds playing. They'd never last an entire game. And getting hit by a 320 pound guy is likely to do more damage than getting hit by a 220 pound guy will do. I'm probably one of the very few posting here who can remember when high school and college teams had to use the same players for both offense and defense and I think it was a better game then.

Our football is dropping off due to all these bogus safety rules and practice restrictions. No one can tackle anymore. It's hard to watch. Having said that it's still easily the best sport to watch. Track would be an easy second to me.

Even without the commercials you don't get that much time of "actual play" in football. It's just the way the game is and it's a damn great game that's being slowly ruined. But hopefully it never reaches futbol levels of boring.

notfromhere wrote:

Thanks for all the replies. The live football product is far different than the televised football product. Sounds like most of you have not been to a LIVE football game lately.......why not?

Wouldn't your football be better if it went the Arena Football route, where they play platoon football......ie, players play both offense and defense.

It would reduce the size of players (particularly Linemen), who are getting unhealthily big.

When I played Pop Warner as a young lad, I stood around only long enough to catch my breath. I either started on offense or defense. If I started on offense, I was second string on defense, if I started on defense, I was second string on offense. I also was on suicide squad a.k.a. kick-off coverage. If you watch old ESPN show on 1969-1970 Minnesota Vikings, Joe Kapp was narrating: 40 for 60. Forty men for 60 minutes. Currently, a N.F.L. team has a 53 man roster. College football used to have unlimited rosters in order to hoard talent, then 120 men, now 85 or 63 for D-1. N.F.L. is currenty hoarding talent to keep rival leagues from getting great Am. football players. With a 53 man roster, teams can have eight defensive linemen, three quarterbacks, six receivers, six cornerbacks, etc. Vikings 3rd string quarterback fifty years ago used to be Paul Krause, a free safety on defense.

I do not think Am. football roster limits are making U.S. citizens larger. U.S. citizens are not getting taller; U.S. citizens are getting thicker.

There is noway anyone can play both ways at the pro level over a 16-20 games season. Everyone would be injured. We don't even see that at the NCAA level. High school with 12 minute quarters, lesser size and velocity, and they don't play from Aug to Jan.

I never the left the field in my HS days, was on every team. I also never faced 300 pounders who could bench 450 and 225 pound running backs with 4.4 speed.