The Game's Not Over : In Defense of Football

**Is there anything more universally American than NFL football?** Love of the NFL runs deep and broad. It is a primetime TV event on multiple national networks, subsidized by public funds and popular from Mount Rainier to Miami Beach. The 2015 Super Bowl, a thriller between the Patriots and Seahawks, was the most-watched program in the history of television, with more than a third of the country watching. Yet football is in trouble. Public anxiety over football spiked in 2014 during the heat of the Ray Rice domestic violence scandal, the ongoing concussion crisis and the league's appropriations of tax money for its own ends. The mounting problems have led some to question the ethics of watching America's beloved game. In this sharply argued, witty, observant book, Gregg Easterbrook makes a spirited case in defense of the NFL. As he shows, the league brings together Americans of all stripes, providing a rare space to talk about what matters. Indeed, the various issues we see in the league are often microcosms of the ones we see elsewhere, whether it's suspicion of the rich, or gender politics or even concern over bullying. The NFL's social, economic and legal problems are real, but they also produce some of our best and most valuable discussions of those issues. Football is a magnificent incarnation of our national character. It has many flaws, and they need fixing — but the game's not over. On November 17, 1968, the Oakland Raiders staged a last-minute comeback against the New York Jets, scoring two touchdowns in the final minute for a dramatic finale. But there was a problem: no one saw it. NBC, broadcasting the game nationally, cut away with 1:01 remaining and the Jets still leading to air a previously scheduled movie, Heidi. The ensuing public outcry was so significant that the rules for football broadcasting were quickly and forever changed. In this perceptive, finely argued book, Gregg Easterbrook shows that the so-called "Heidi Bowl" was not just an isolated bizarre moment. It was the beginning of the football era in America. The sport boomed alongside television, soon becoming our national campfire--one of the few points of agreement across the political spectrum and a genuine source of community even as religion's influence waned. It is no coincidence, Easterbrook argues, that we now see in football the same issues that we perceive elsewhere in America--including recent problems with bullying, violence against women, racial injustice, and financial skulduggery. These problems are significant, and many have been moved to limit their engagement with the NFL's venal culture--or boycott it entirely. Yet as Easterbrook shows, there's something here worth saving. He expounds on the benefits of football, and throws its many problems into relief, finally arguing that the work of reforming and changing one of our great pastimes is American as the game itself Expounds On The Benefits Of Football And Throws Its Many Problems Into Relief, Arguing That The Work Of Reforming And Changing One Of Our Great Pastimes Is As American As The Game Itself. America's Love-hate Relationship With The Nfl -- A Not-so-distant Mirror -- What Comedians Know About Football -- How The Nfl Got Game -- You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet -- Hey, That's Me In The Nfl Mirror -- Where Barack Obama Was Wrong About The Nfl -- Is The Nfl Bad For Boys And Good For Girls? -- Knocking Pro Football Down To Size -- Captain Kirk Will Be An Nfl Fan -- Bonus #1. Memorable Moments In Professional Football -- Bonus #2. Ye Gods, Why Are They Punting? -- Bonus #3. Maybe You're Not Reading Enough Football Poetry -- Bonus #4. Predict Nfl Winners Without Even Knowing Who's Playing -- Bonus #5. Irons Laws Of The Gridiron -- Bonus #6. Football Maxims To Live By. Gregg Easterbrook. Includes Index. The Atlantic Monthly contributor and former ESPN columnist shows how, for 50 years, America and the NFL have been inextricably linked, and why, despite its problems, our most popular sport can and should be saved.