While most people crawl out of bed, crusty-eyed and reaching for the sleep button, last Monday morning I found myself springing to life with one thing on my mind – “It’s Sunday Night!” That’s when I knew I had officially fallen in love with American football. But in Australia, not everyone is a fan.
To those who don’t follow the NFL, being excited about ‘Sunday Night’ on Monday morning probably doesn’t make much sense, but basically it’s when One air live games direct from the USA’s National Football League on NBC.
I wasn’t always this into American football.
I vaguely remember coming across the sport during the Denver Bronco years in the late 90s, fuelled to find out more because of the repeated mention of John Elway in South Park.
Then a few years later, I stumbled across the Super Bowl being aired on SBS. Glimpses of Damien Lovelock’s dog Rocket and the amazing 100K-plus crowds, was pretty much the reason I stuck around.
God knows I didn’t understand one bit about the actual sport.
In fact, I recall rooting for the team I thought had the nicer colour scheme.
But I’ve come a very long way since then.
I now have a favourite team (New England Patriots) and even a couple of favourite players (Tom Brady & Danny Woodhead). I watch as much NFL as I can, and try and keep up with the talking points of the game.
And having just recently finished watching every episode in Emmy Award-winning series ‘Friday Night Lights’, it’s fair to say footbaw has become a bit of an obsession of mine lately.
Surprisingly though, most people I’ve spoken to about NFL (including Australian sport journos) are indifferent and completely unappreciative of what it has to offer sporting enthusiasts.
Of course every person has the right to choose what they like and what they don’t like. But it’s my belief that half of the people who quickly dismiss the value of American football and the NFL, just haven’t taken the time to properly appreciate the nuances of the game.
Having once related to the following pet hates, here are some reasons American football probably doesn’t float your boat.
1. The stopping and starting – Australians are used to watching football of the AFL, rugby league, rugby union, and soccer variety. These are all sports where the ball is constantly being passed around, in play, and often at pace.
Interchanges are limited, and generally the moment to consult the coaching staff is at quarter/half time.
This isn’t the case in the NFL. After each and every play it’s not unusual to see players going on, coming off, the offense and defence consulting the sideline, before getting into their respective huddles, and then re-setting to do it all again.
It takes too much time, it’s hard to keep track of who is on and off, and it hurts the flow of the game. Then there’s the amount of timeouts they’re allowed to use, making it one of the few sports where a team can realistically still win with just 30 seconds on the clock.
2. The equipment – Helmets, shoulder pads, knee pads, thigh pads, hip pads, gloves, tail pads, neck rolls, rib pads and elbow pads are all used in American football.
The equipment is there to help avoid players being injured, but ironically it’s the equipment which has been condemned for actually causing more serious, career-ending damage, such as the injuries caused by players tackling helmet-first. On top of that, players cover this bulky plastic protective gear with brightly coloured, tight-fitting, spandex and nylon. It’s all a bit much isn’t it?
3. Rigidity of the playbook – American football is a highly structured sport. Each player has a particular job and the coach’s playbook says what their job will be for each play.
Though I understand what they’re trying to do, even I find it irritating at times when I see a running back handed the ball only to run straight into traffic for zero yards gained; especially when he could have easily improvised and made a first down by running around the line of scrimmage.
To better get our heads around this we shouldn’t think of this sport as a game of “football”. As I say to everyone, think of gridiron as a game of chess. There are the obvious comparisons that can be made, such as the importance of protecting your king (the quarterback) while trying to outplay and defeat your opposition at the other end of the playing area.
But then there are the strategic elements of American football that relate directly to chess, like having to pre-empt and counteract your opponents’ defence and having select types of moves (plays) you can perform. Think of the game this way, and trust me, it will all make a lot more sense.
4. NFL players – Where to start? They’re overpaid, in oversupply and yes, some are even overweight. Big egos are also not hard to locate at an NFL game. With every successful catch, block, throw, whatever, at any moment NFL superstars will be ready to remind you of how brilliant they are with some sort of outlandish, self-obsessed celebration.
For the humble Australian sports fan ingrained with an incessant case of tall-poppy syndrome and the familiar phrase “full credit to the boys”, this is just a bit too much to digest.
Keith Jackson
Guest
As a longtime fan of American Football, I think it's one of the most popular sports out there and the NFL(National Football League)is great! I'm a Chicago Bears fan(and a NFL fan)myself and I'm watching them play the Indianapolis Colts(another American NFL Football Gridiron team)at Soldier Field on TV(Bears lead 24-14 going into 3rd qtr)I think American Football might one day catch on if Europeans got more into it, but they have their own football! Oh, and I also collect NFL football jerseys, too!
Davidvfr
Roar Rookie
I've liked watching the NFL for years, I'm a long suffering Miami Dolphins fan. Probably started watching sometime during the 80s, I think the only TV network that hasn't had it over the years is CH 7.
Da Dragon
Some of what Melanie writes is true, but there is much more to it than that. Having grown up in Australia during the golden period of Rugby League, 1965-1973, I have a deep appreciation for both sports, as well as a little disgust. It was the NFL with it's 4 downs to advance the ball 10 yards that prompted Australian Rugby League to switch from the old bash and barge to the 4 tackle rule, later expanded to 6 tackles. Part of my disgust with the NFL, but don't get me wrong, I love the game, is that I find it hard to take a game which has a net playing time of 60 minutes, takes a little over 3 hours to complete. The truth is, TV rules sport, and all sports sold out to the dollar. I absolutely loathe the showboating by NFL players with their mini dance after scoring a touchdown, especially when their team is trailing by 20 or 30 points....big whoop!! All the protective gear they wear while in place to reduce injuries is justified by the NFL fan here, saying the speed of the game and the hits require it. Hang on a minute, Rugby League has a net playing time of 80 minutes and games back in the golden era were over in about 1 hour and a half. And those blokes took hits as well. In fact, I remember guys playing Test football on Saturday and then playing for their clubs on Sunday. Those were men.
Blazza
Guest
yea your right but dallas's stadium as a max capacity of 111.000
Blazza
Guest
he is just winning games though. you cant argue with that can you ??
Blazza
Guest
yea its slightly different but have you seen fans in seattle,philly,pittsburg, oakland etc.. completely wrong in my opinion
Blazza
Guest
conferences are what make sports in america. division rivals. im a philadelphia eagles fan and 3 of our 4 wins this season are against division teams. if you dont like nfl thats fine but blaming it on conferences is just lame.
Bakkies
Guest
They are individual skills that they only do for a handful of minutes in each game and diving at the legs of an opponent is dangerous (why do you think the NRL is trying to wipe that out) and poor technique. If I was a coach I wouldn't let my player play if they tackled like that. Try kicking, passing, catching, rucking, tackling , running without blockers for 80 mins and come back to me. Moving teams with history and creating souless entities in the same market. Great for fans, I would be really happy if my team that I had supported as a child and adult was replaced with a marketing entity.
Bakkies
Guest
Hey claptrap ever wondered why it takes nearly four hours to cover 60 minutes of game time? Too many commercials that's why
RebelRanger
Guest
Personally I would prefer College football if there was a easier way to congest it all. Game day traditions, less egos, less pressure means players are free to play their natural game and fun loving crowds
RebelRanger
Guest
Best way to watch a game in my opinion..
turbodewd
Guest
This is why I watch NFL with a PVR or Media Center - the 30 second skip function works perfectly between plays :^)
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
Turbodewd, "Finally, both sports are cursed as slow and boring by people who dont understand them, and we’ve seen a lot of that here."
turbodewd
Guest
3. Too commercial? There isnt a single ad on any NFL field or jersey. NRL fields and jerseys...and Super 15 ones...are covered in ads. You speaketh claptrap.
turbodewd
Guest
Ian, at least gridiron is over in 3 hours (max) with a result (ties are super rare) whereas test cricket goes for 5 days and often ends in a draw!
turbodewd
Guest
Bakkies, you are massively mistaken. 3. There is plenty of technique and skill in throwing a football, catching a diffcult pass or reading a defence. And plenty of skill in devising a play which confounds the opponent. There is plenty of proper tackling, and certainly some tackling which involves diving at the legs of the opponent. What's the problem?! 4. Clubs have indeed moved around, but in recent times Cleveland and Houston got teams back in their city once theirs left. Although Houston has a new outfit and name.
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
NFL and Cricket are remarkably similar. In both sports, the game resets after each play, allowing field changes. In both sports, this causes play to stop a lot (540 balls in 6 hours play versus about 100 downs of 1 hours play stretched to 3 hours) In both sports, there are defensive offenses, and offensive defenses ... 'play each ball on its merits' is the same as 'take what the defense gives you', and if a 46 defense is a aggressive quick with men around the bat, then Cover-2 is your line-and-length bowler that dries up the runs and frustrates the offense into mistakes. Boycott played for three yards and a cloud of dust, while Shane Warne was the essence of the zone blitz. In both sports, the conditions have a vote - playing in a dome is not playing in Green Bay in January, and just because you can make runs on a predictably bouncing pitch does not mean you can do it when the ball is swinging or turning square. Finally, both sports are cursed as slow and boring by people who dont understand them, and we've seen a lot of that here.
Nathan of Perth
Guest
I'd like to see 95% of the world get their heads checked. Nothing to do with sport, just state of the world at the moment!
Nathan of Perth
Guest
Its not really for the sake of being complex. The development of the sport was heavily influenced by the industrial culture of its origins areas and their outlook influenced the game's philosophy.
Eric
Guest
America's game cannot be played on a continual basis such as the AFL or NRL because it involves two distinct games in one being offense and defense. Both cannot be on the field together. Also, for those who love the AFL (like me) please consider the development of Australia's game. The West Coast Eagles won two premierships based on NFL defensive blocking techniques. Collingwood won it's recent premiership on the same technique. Geelong won its premiership based on rotation policies similar to the NFL. But the thing that sets the NFL apart from other codes is the intelligence of coaching staffs. It is probably the only football code in the world where the coaches have as much input as the players on game day, particularly in the last two minutes of every game. One only has to analyse the Green Bay Packers to understand intelligent coaching.