American Football and Psychology: Why We Can’t Get Enough of this Game

Image source: sport.ox.ac.uk

Amid injuries, scandals, and other media-driven drama, the Super Bowl remains as the most-viewed television show in history. Every year, the NFL reports record-breaking profits from tickets, merchandise, and sponsorships.

We cannot explain, but we just know by heart and mind that American football is “the game.” However, some neuroscientists and psychologists have an explanation as to why American football reflects our culture and thoughts.

These specialists point out that your brain is mirroring the actions of these athletes, and this gives us self-esteem boosts. This sense of mix-up holds an alternative reality for those who are facing tough life decisions and relationships. They feel as if they are “not alone,” because their favorite athletes are facing these as well.

Football also gives a sense of bonding between men of different ages, religions, and political beliefs. Football allows men to talk to one another regardless of their differences. It does not require much emotional vulnerability, too. The game also provides intellectual and strategic discourse. Football is a controlled and calculated chaos that may or may not display favorable results.

 

Image source: millerthepillar.com

However, football also displays a dark side–great misogyny, violence, and corruption. Football is also about destruction. For the country as a whole, football displays America’s war ambitions. This war-like game helps us become self-aware of our past fights and victories. The rise of football over any other sport has changed America’s self-image.

I’m Jason Goldblatt, and I’m a freelance sports writer and football fanatic. Check out my blog for more updates.

American Football in Europe: Touchdown Across the Pond

As we all know by now, “football” means two different things to the American and European sports fan, and casual observers in the continent have made remarks of how unusual the game is in their eyes. In Britain, for instance, it has been seen by some as a comically less violent version of rugby (to be completely fair, rugby is violent enough as it is).

However, this unfamiliarity hasn’t stopped the game from gaining a foothold in Europe. The game they call gridiron has cultivated a robust fanbase in what was traditionally a soccer-obsessed region, with enough fans creating a thriving American football scene across several European countries. Exhibition matches between teams have resulted in incredible turnouts, such as a sold-out match between the Dallas Cowboys and the Jacksonville Jaguars at Wimbledon Stadium.

       Image source: qz.com

And the Europeans are not just mere spectators. Teams, governed by organizations like the European Federation of American Football, have emerged across several countries in the continent which face off in competitions like the Eurobowl and the European Championship.

Image source: eurobowl.info

For organizers, Europe is still a major region for expansion. The demand is high enough that the National Football League (NFL), itself one of the main promoters of the sport in that corner of the world, has considered re-establishing a franchise in London. The NFL has previously supported a full-on branch in Europe, with teams playing from Germany and the Netherlands up until 2007.

This fanbase did not escape the attention of dedicated followers from the other side of the pond, though not a few of them look with amusement at the creative names adopted by the gridiron fans in Europe. The names of the many football teams in Europe often reflect the region’s history and cultural legacy, with a few of them, such as the Waterloo Warriors, being somewhat tongue-in-cheek in their naming.

Jason Goldblatt here. For more updates on all things football, follow me on Twitter.

American football abroad: Europe’s increasing fondness of the gridiron

The NFL may be watched “only” in the U.S. or Canada and could even be understood only by North Americans. However, it’s fast gaining traction in other countries as well. Particularly in soccer-centric Europe, the fondness for the gridiron is finally taking off. France, Spain, Germany, the U.K., and Poland are all enthusiastic American football audiences. Hooray!

Image source: mmqb.si.com

For Europeans, gridiron is a weird sport. It’s called American football, but players seldom (or never) kick the ball. The pitch is also marked with plenty of lines and numbers that they barely understand. Unlike soccer, rules are much easier to comprehend, and the pitch has fewer visual distractions.

At the Oneida High School, exchange students from France and Spain enjoyed their first taste of American football. While they still prefer soccer, playing America’s most popular sport was not bad at all.

In Poland, U.S.-born coach Brad Arbon was hired to supervise and train players of the Polish national team. The country’s strong dedication toward the sport is eminent in its growing number of American football programs especially designed for its citizens.

Image source: thenews.pl

Outside the U.S., Germany is perhaps the best playing country for American football. There are currently about 500 teams playing the sport in Deutschland, from youth flag football to the senior semi-professional level. According to German Football League chairman Carsten Dalkowski, half the people playing American football throughout Europe come from Germany.

My name is Jason Goldblatt and I have been watching, following, and writing about American football for many years. True-blue fan here. Subscribe to my blog for more articles about this amazing sport.

REPOST: 5 Reasons Why 80% Of Retired NFL Players Go Broke

A recent estimate by Sports Illustrated claims that 80 percent of NFL players go broke three years after their retirement. Leigh Steinberg believes that the athletes’ lack of long-term financial planning may be the biggest reason for their financial troubles. More of his insights in the Forbes article below:

Image Source: ibtimes.com

Sports Illustrated recently estimated that 80% of retired NFL players go broke in their first three years out of the League. How is this possible in a sport rolling in revenue with an average salary of almost $2 million a year? With few exceptions, the star players I have represented since salaries exploded are set financially for life. These are the players at the tip of the compensation pyramid, but what about the rest? The median income in the NFL is roughly $750,000 and the average career span is less than four years. Most college graduates don’t attain these levels of revenue in their first years out of college–why are the athletes struggling?

1)Lack of competent financial planning advice–Athletes are no different than any other college grads in that they were not trained as undergrads in budgeting, the tax system, and long term financial planning. This is an area of specialized expertise and an athlete receiving large compensation needs a safety net of advisors. Upon signing a potential draftee we encouraged them to pick a qualified financial advisor with a proven track record. These advisors help the athlete put together a budget, follow mutually agreed upon strategies, and protect themselves legally. A community oriented athlete will find beneficial relationships with businessmen off the field who are also willing to help.

When parents, university panels, and alums screen prospective agents and financial planners, it enables the athlete to make a better choice. But many NFLers are approached on campus by financial planners and agents who offer financial inducements to sign with them. Some financial planners ask players to sign power of attorney enabling the advisor to make investments or withdraw money without prior authorization–this is fraught with peril.

Image Source: whatculture.com

The NFLPA has tried to protect players financially. They have a program that scrutinizes financial planners and only allows referrals to the planners who they approve. The NFLPA offers education in the financial areas in a variety of ways. The NFL holds a mandatory seminar for draft picks that also tries to warn and protect them. Some athletes do not avail themselves of any of these protections.

2)Supporting a village–Some athletes feel obliged to provide financial support to family, extended family and friends. They are sharing their largess with a large number of others.

3)Divorce–Often cited as the number one challenge, divorce drains funds in legal fees and dissipates assets. The athlete ends up with half of what they earned and may have large and burdensome alimony and child support payments.

4)Lack of awareness of how rapidly a career can end–The athlete forgets that the current rate of compensation is not going to last and can be terminated by injury or skill at any point. Spending habits assume the revenue will be coming forever.

5)Lack of preparation for second career–NFL players have long off seasons they can use to lay the foundation for their life after football. Some athletes do not give it a thought and end up missing the structure and direction that football has given them. The early retirement years can be non-productive.

Image Source: espn.go.com​

There are gifted advisors that an athlete can utilize. The League, NFLPA and agents try and push athletes to use help which also embodies a teaching aspect that can empower awareness. It is up to the athlete to follow the guidance.​

Sports enthusiast Jason Goldblatt follows the NFL. Get the latest football updates here.

REPOST: Tom Brady Laughs at N.F.L. Inquiry Into Deflated Footballs

New England quarterback Tom Brady laughed off accusation that his team used deflated footballs to win against Indianapolis Colts in a rain-soaked AFC Championship game. More about the controversy in the article below.

Deflated balls would have been easier to grip in Sunday night’s wet weather, but Tom Brady laughed off the allegations.

Image Source: nytimes.com

Sunday night was a smooth joy ride for the New England Patriots, with a 45-7 pounding of the Indianapolis Colts that propelled them into another Super Bowl. But Monday morning was a good deal bumpier, with the disclosure that the N.F.L. was investigating whether the Patriots used deflated footballs to gain an unfair advantage in Sunday’s game.

The game was played in the rain, and deflated balls would have been easier to grip in the wet weather. But Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who completed 23 of 35 passes for 226 yards and moved the ball up and down the field with ease, was having none of it.

Asked about the accusation during his regular Monday appearance on the Boston radio station WEEI, Brady laughed it off.

“I think I’ve heard it all at this point,” Brady said. “Oh, God. It’s ridiculous.”

He went on to add: “That’s the last of my worries. I don’t even respond to stuff like this.”

Brady said he had been unaware of the issue until Monday morning, and Patriots Coach Bill Belichick, in a conference call with reporters, said the same.

“We’ll cooperate fully with whatever the league, whatever questions they ask us, whatever they want us to do,” Belichick said.

Asked if the Patriots used deflated footballs, Belichick said, “The first I heard about it was this morning.” Asked whether there could be an advantage to using deflated footballs, Belichick said: “Look, you’re asking the questions. I’m just trying to answer them.”

An N.F.L. spokesman, Michael Signora, confirmed that the league was investigating.

Bob Kravitz, a former columnist for The Indianapolis Star who now works for WTHR-TV in that city, was the first to raise the issue, addressing it on Twitter on Sunday night. At the start of the third quarter, the referees did replace one ball with another while the Patriots were on offense.

For every N.F.L. game, each team has at least 12 balls that it has prepared according to the needs of its starting quarterback. The balls are switched out from sideline to sideline depending on which team is on offense.

According to N.F.L. rules, teams are required to inflate balls to 12.5 to 13.5 pounds per square inch and to make them available for testing by the referee 2 hours 15 minutes before kickoff.

The referee is the “sole judge as to whether all balls offered for play comply” with league specifications, according to the rules. Some balls are designated for kicking only.

Patriots players said Monday that they knew nothing about the accusations.

Left tackle Nate Solder, who in the third quarter caught one of Brady’s three touchdown passes, told reporters: “I don’t know anything about that. I’m glad I caught it.”

Wide receiver Julian Edelman told reporters, “I think it’s just a story.”

In November 2012, the Pacific-12 Conference fined and reprimanded the University of Southern California, then coached by Lane Kiffin, for using deflated footballs in a game against Oregon. An investigation by the university determined that one of the student managers had intentionally deflated the footballs, acting on his own. He was fired.

The charge against New England comes a week after the Patriots used trick formations, all legal, to defeat Baltimore, drawing objections from the Ravens.

The former New England linebacker Tedy Bruschi, an analyst for ESPN, dismissed the latest allegations as more sour grapes.

“It does get old,” Bruschi wrote on ESPN Boston. “Coaches complaining they weren’t ready for formations. I’ve heard it all. There is a long line of people who want to find some excuse for how the Patriots have had success for so long, and the bottom line is that it’s good coaching and good players.”

In 2007, the Patriots were stripped of their 2008 first-round draft pick after the N.F.L. determined that the team had violated league rules when a Patriots staff member videotaped signals by Jets coaches during the season opener at the Meadowlands. In what has come to be known as Spygate, New England was also fined $250,000, and Belichick was fined $500,000.

Hello, I am Jason Goldblatt, a crazy football fan who lives for the thrill of the sport. Check out my blog for more of my musings from the bleacher and enter in the ultimate fan experience with a daily dose of sports news and updates from around the world.

REPOST: Football: A metaphor for America

The State Press‘ Will Munsil writes about the place football has in the culture and spirit of America and her diverse people and the way it unifies them regardless of their differences.

Image source: michaelfoust.com

There’s nothing to do but admit it: We live in an NFL nation.

ESPN and the football-carrying networks may exaggerate with their polls and their hyperventilation, but the fact remains there will be more words written about the NFL this week and more American man hours spent on fantasy football than on health care or schools or roads.

Sports have long given us heroes and legends and moments that bring communities together.

For years, baseball was the defining game. Babe Ruth is as much a founding father in the national mind as anyone short of Washington or Jefferson, and Jackie Robinson a trailblazer on the order of Reverend King.

But recently, the game we’ve chosen to define us is football.

Image source: blog.wine-accessorized.com

“Football,” George Will wrote, “combines two of the worst things in American life: It is violence punctuated by committee meetings.”

This may not read like a love letter to football, but on some level it is. Apologies to Will, with whom I share a first love for baseball, but the strange spectacle of American football has its roots firmly in our national culture.

Football is a meritocracy, unflinchingly. This past week Richard Seymour, a mainstay of three Super Bowl champion defenses for the New England Patriots, a perennial Pro Bowl pick and a man coming off a career best eight-sack season, was unceremoniously traded to the Oakland Raiders — pro football’s Siberian wasteland — because the Patriots deemed the draft picks they received in exchange more valuable. Seymour said he was “blindsided.” The Patriots moved on.

Football’s evolution also reflects the changes in American society since the middle of last century.

Each team now has a game plan that resembles national security briefings and a stable of assistants and staff that meticulously films and analyzes every game to the minutest detail. Players are bigger, faster and stronger every year, and coaches struggle to adapt. Obnoxious TV talking heads obsess over every game and every play, as if they were a presidential debate. Like America, the game is restless, and it changes fast.

Image source: blog.viptickets.us

And in a nation that continues to splinter along social and political lines, football, more than ever, gives us something in common.

There are no Republicans or Democrats on game day at Lambeau Field, or in Pittsburgh, or Dallas. Just Packers and Steelers and Cowboys. Remove football from America’s cities and towns, and see how things hold together.

Yes, football is loud, violent, crass, commercialized and morally compromised. It also happens to be home to great physical courage, a sense of community, innovation and commitment to a cause larger than the individual.

This is much like America, in all its contradictions. For every embarrassing scandal, there is an incredible comeback. For every season that ends in defeat, there’s another training camp. For every star that grows old and leaves the stage, there’s a rookie.

The football season starts, and the nation watches. This is the way of America.

I’m Jason Goldblatt, sports writer and avid football fan.  Follow me on Twitter for more updates on the thrilling world of sports.

Football: More than just a game

Now a lot of people find being passionate about something odd, particularly if it’s a sport. And football, which is thought to privilege athleticism over abstract thought, is not exactly something that inspires long, intellectual metaphorizing from the great minds of our age.

Image Source: www.guardianlv.com

As a writer and a football fan, I (and many others) beg to disagree.

Intellectual comparisons and allusions can come from almost anything, and sports are no different. The great filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock once likened the game to a real-life armed revolution, while the comedian George Carlin likened the quarterback to the field commander in the army.

Image Source: www.cbssports.com

These allusions to battle and warfare are par for course with sports, which apply the same principles as warfare but with a more rigid rule set and with little or no bloodshed and destruction. Much like in real life battles, strategy and strength play an important and complementary role in achieving a victory. Moreover, we may never truly know who wins until after a game, bringing forward parallels to life.

Image Source: www.blogmagazine.org

I have to admit, there is an element of fun involved in playing any sport, and football, rough as it is, is entertaining in its own right. But there really is more to the sport than what you would normally expect if you look at it in a different way. More than a game, football is a reflection of life.

A football fan since birth, Jason Goldblatt currently freelances as a sports writer. Follow him on Twitter for more on his views on football.