The NFL’s plan to protect America from witches

> Grandpa’s pompous Lord Tywin Lannister response encapsulates exactly what’s wrong with NFL management: They insist on being the self-appointed guardians of America’s mythological vision of itself. Malt shops on every corner, Pat Boone crooning on the jukebox, and modestly dressed virgins sitting around with knees clamped together waiting to be asked to prom. This 1950s, Father Knows Best soundstage fantasy doesn’t stop with paternalistic and puritanical gender stereotypes, but also promotes simplistic notions about race and patriotism. The NFL’s anachronistic fancies aren’t just a misguided attempt to pander to what they think their traditionalist fans want, but also projects the hard-core conservative values of the mostly rich, white one-percenters who own the teams. We must live in their Disneyland – or else.

Great writing by Kareem. I always found the NFL control of players in the offseason, especially when it relates to marijuana use, extremely repressive and controlling. Lots of players and former players are waking up to it [1]

Noone in the private industry, besides sports figures, would put up with the after hours and offseason controls the NFL puts on players. These are also young players that just got out of college and partying, they just came into lots of money, and they treat most like children or their own property. NFL and other sports owners, for one reason or another, really seem to believe they are OWNERS not just the boss.

[1] http://thelab.bleacherreport.com/jake-plummer-s-pot-crusade/

I love the game, but the league is despicable so with every season I watch less and less. At some point, I may stop altogether. I don't buy gear and would lead a campaign if my city even thought about bringing in a team and wasting public money on a stadium. The states looking to ban tackle football for young kids are on the right track. This should be pushed nationally. It's the only way to start bringing down this awful organization. If this went national, I can see the nfl fading in a generation or two. Parents can, of course, do their parental duties and keep their kids out of this sport till they're 18. Really, at this point, CPS should be handling the cases where parents fail. CTE is a horrible "gift" to give to kids. But the dumb masses will take a lot longer to change without new regulations and in the meantime, a few will make millions and millions will get CTE playing for teams whose owners' ideals belong on a slave plantation, not in the modern world. I'll miss it a little, but not much, because these same owners' idiotic policies on broadcasting mean seeing the games of interest most Sundays is an outrageously expensive or impossible proposition.

Always end up forgetting that Kareem is a great author in his own right with a multitude of inspirations and influences

The paragraph at the top, with the Malleus Maleficarum, seems so disconnected from the rest of the article.

Non issue for me since I quit watching the NFL over their unpatriotic stance.

I agree with KAJ on many of his points, but there are a couple I disagree with.

I just don't see how a cheerleader having to leave a restaurant that a Saints player walks into is equivalent to a black player having to leave if another white player came in to eat. Why bring race into it? It's not even an analogous situation, and it's obvious the rule - same with the one only allowing them to say "hello" and "great game" to players - is to prevent the bad optics that would undoubtedly arise from both situations. I can just see TMZ making a huge deal about seeing a player and a cheerleader in the same restaurant, and then it spreads all over Twitter, and then whenever we see player X or cheerleader Y on screen, everyone is thinking "yeah, he's doing cheerleader Y" or "ha, she's doing player X". Of course, lots of people already wonder, but having a little more situational evidence makes it a different story because there's at least some basis to it now.

Furthermore, I think it's totally stupid she got fired over the photo she got fired for - if that's truly the only reason - but on the other hand, rules are rules, and there are differences between that photo and the typical cheerleading outfit or photoshoot. It may show less skin, but it's also bedroom lingerie rather than a cheerleading outfit or bikini. And whereas every time I see an NFL cheerleader she's smiling, in this particular photo, she's not smiling at all, and has more of a "come hither" expression. [0]

I mean, looking at her other Instagram photos, I'm seeing dozens of "sexy" pictures where she shows lots of skin, so clearly it's not like she was being forced to be ultra-conservative and was being micromanaged by her team. It sounds like they just basically said "don't wear bedroom attire" and "if you're wearing something sexy, please just smile", and she violated that rule.

Finally, if these cheerleaders supposedly don't get paid enough, shouldn't it be a good thing she got fired anyway? Now she has the exposure from being a cheerleader of an NFL team - even prior to this situation - and is freed from the shackles and can pursue better career options.

But yeah, I'm all for just getting rid of cheerleaders altogether, or at least giving them better outfits.

[0] https://www.instagram.com/p/BeZGvLuF5va/?hl=en&taken-by=jaca...