OT: Why I hate the NFL

Roger Goodell has ruined the NFL. His mission to "Get Brady" was a joke. The inconsistency in fines and suspensions is a joke. The clamping down of TD celebrations is a joke. I even find it hard to watch the Lions. I just don't care about the NFL anymore.

I hate to be the "different" opinion, but I am. I grew up in an NFL town, where the NFL  team - unlike the Lions - was relevant on the national stage. My first sports memories were going to see the NFL team with my parents, and that fandom was instilled in me at a young age.

I didnt grow up a UM fan - I was an out of state student and none of my family had any ties to the university (much less the state or region). So, going to UM was certinaly novel and amazing, and I love it for all the same reasons most of the people on this board do. There isn't anything like a Saturday in A2...

But - although UM football has achieved monumental status in my mind and even surpassed my favorite NFL team - the sport of college footbal has not. I dont know why...maybe its my childhood indocrination...maybe its the talent level of the NFL...maybe its my ADD.

For me, the matchups in the NFL are more intriguing; the strategy of the game is more interesting (because few teams can win solely based on talent and speed); and, the playoff / championship structure is much more exciting.

Kind of hard to have a vested interest in the NFL when it's basically ony a handful of rich guys that stand to benefit from winning.  Much easier to root for a college when you have a degree from there, not taking anything away from non-alum fans.

I find myself to be the same way.  I watch the Lions (I started watching when I was in 7th grade, when Barry was a rookie), and that's really it.  I just don't care to watch any other NFL games.

But with college, I'll watch pretty much anything.  

NFL now days sucks because player development is very poor which transforms to unwatchable games. You have the same coaches that rotate around and if they suck they carry that all over nfl wherever they stop. Barely any new/freah coaches come over from college. In order for nfl to be fun again the league needs a mass overhaul of caoches and start taking risks on new upcoming guys ot college coaches.

For me, it seems like the networks always show the same teams on their national telecasts.  Last week, the Fox game of the week was Dallas and Green Bay.  I've never seen those two teams play before /s/.  I watch the Lions because I'm a masochist and they're my home team, but the national games don't interest me anymore.  They're always the same handful of teams.

I know that college is not clean by any means...

However I've always stood by the "college player plays for the name on the front of the jersey" whereas "the NFL and professionals play for the name on the back"...

I think Bo said it best.

In regards to number 2...college football on ABC may be worse than the NFL

Every team is basically mediocre from a talent standpoint. The teams that are consistently good are well coached teams.  The others that pop up from time to time do so because the calls, the bounces, and the (lack of) injuries go their way.

I got into an argument with a family member about how any given Sunday anybody can beat anybody. That makes for boring television. If anybody can beat anybody, where's the drama? You don't get Georgia State over Florida in the NFL. Sure, 95 out of every hundred of those games go how they're supposed to, but when you get that 1, or the close ones, it brings an excitement that cannot be matched. 

And when the big boys play, knowing that one loss could be the difference between a playoff berth and a Dec 31 bowl game, so much more seemingly rides on every snap.

That, and I have no idea what a catch is in the NFL. Nobody does.

[edit] My hypocritical side still watches the NHL though. I'll never leave it.

They just lack the enthusiasm and intensity of college imho.  The fans for the most part seem to be watching football rather than devoting themselves for 3 hours to the outcome of the game.

I will watching if there is nothing else on or nothing else to do.

Saturdays I am glued to the TV when Michigan plays and usually very close if not in front of it the rest of the day.  From noon until I fall asleep watching the late westcoast game I am in a state of bliss.

I think the ratings decline in the NFL is real, and probably higher than the 10% that was used. I don't necessarily believe it's a college vs the pros issue. Instead, I feel the NFL has made decisions that are having a negative effect. Also, we're in a culture that is trending away from hours of TV time. Some things the NFL has decided to embrace that hurts them: Fantasy Football - It's about stats not games. As stated by op, suspensions - no rhyme or reason. Red Zone channel - see fantasy football. Making football too important - It's fun when it's a game you're viewing for entertainment, but when many aspects become tainted with social/medical/or disciplinary issues, it's no longer entertainment. Lastly I'd say the NFL's desire to promote 'Play 60' is actually pushing people away from their televisions. I think it's the right thing to promote, mind you, but actually undermines their gravy train. I'm a cord cutter, which hasn't really changed my NFL intake. I watch a bit after church on Sunday afternoons and try to catch some of the Sunday and Monday night tilts. I mainly carve out football time on Saturday's around UM games. If I put anymore priority on football, I may have to find a new family.

45 hours....45 hours...

I agree - the NFL seems boring. And after I spend quite a bit of my Saturday watching college football I prefer to get out of the house on Sunday. I'll flip on the Lions when I'm home, but if they lose I don't lose any sleep over it. Whereas when Michigan loses, it stings. Although it all stings a little less after the RichRod and Hoke years. Maybe that's just me getting older and realizing I shouldn't tie my general happiness on how my favorite football team does. Except for the way the MSU game ended last year. That hurt for awhile.

I like the crispness and better defense in the NFL. I sometimes get frustrated with college defenses that can't make a play or a timely stop. Overall though I can't watch 2 or 3 NFL games in a row like I can college.

A lotof those criticisms apply equally (or moreso) to college.

1 - Style of offense - ok not this one.

2 - Commercials - equally bad both ways

3 - Regular season doesn't count - So you apparently don't like college basketball at ALL, do you?  With only 16 games, the NFL is more regular-season-critical than any other pro sport.

4 - Flags on unsportsmanlike celebration - Srsly.  This happens like once every few games.  You won't watch b/c of this?  Gimme a break.  And...college has the same rule.

5 - Inconsistent suspensions.  Srsly srsly srsly.  Like the NCAA is the model of consistent enforcement of league rules.  You won't watch a game b/c some guy on some other team -- not one of the two playing a game -- got suspended or didn't.  Wow.  Aren't you PICKY.

I have found I much prefer college over NFL.  There are lots of other reasons the NFL is uninteresting.

-- Massive free agency, where you can't hardly remember your team's players year to year, and there is zero loyalty to the team by the players (except for exceedingly few), is a main part of it.

-- The games are unattendable -- so expensive, and not-family-friendly.

-- The owners are hardly men worthy of emulation.  Difficult to get really emotionally tied to an organization that is led by a cretin -- a billionaire cretin, at that.

-- The CBA disputes are billionaires v. millionaires.

-- Many players are WAY overpaid ... and don't get it.  Like when Ryan Clarke claimed the players were being "treated likes slaves."  Srsly dude, go get back in your Ferrari to find some young thang who wants to hook up with you, oh and STFU... don't think you're exactly a 'slave.'  Or if you don't like it, quit, and go get a job as a postal carrier or something).  [Although I am on record as saying:  college players deserve to be paid their market value, as college sports remains the last bastion of communism in the country.  Well, besides the People's Republic of Massachusetts.]

-- Ultimately, there's no meaning behind the NFL other than "we want to make a dollar...or two...at least."  Whereas, universities supposedly stand for something other than football, although, not that you'd really notice that these days.

 

I don't like the NFL too, but you don't see me bitching about it on a forum. Can't people just leave things alone that they don't like. If you don't like twitter...leave it...don't tell people that you are or why

It is all about squeezing every penny from the fans

Teams move

Players move

over officiated

teams all run similar stuff - the read option, as an example, is a fad because QB's get killed and NFL teams don't have 4 QB's to roll through over the season

coaches are almost too good to be able to shut down a team's star

with Michigan returning to being exciting I have better options than the Lions

they want to add games when it's already borderline meaningless every other week. When 7-9, 8-8 teams can make the playoffs before "really trying" who gives a damn? I used to but after Barry retired I could only see the game as a bunch of sell swords half-assing it for a check every other week. Every CFB game is a playoff game because the wrong slip-up can end your hopes for a NC. I like that the system allows the good teams a chance at one bad game/loss now but every week still matter, be it Rutgers or osu. I'm yet to go into a UM game thinking "ehh, a win would be great but it doesn't REALLY matter". BFD if the Steelers, Patriots, Packers, Seahawks drop a couple games because they'll still easily make the Playoffs or decide to actually try when they need to go on a run to make the playoffs. It's their job and they hardly seem to give a shit from week to week. No pageantry or real rivalries anymore. It's a joke and over saturated at the moment. Goodell isn't helping anything either! It's the NoFunLeague where he just makes up arbitrary rules on the spot that contradict others made before. Finally, I prefer pro-style offensive football but it'll eventually change to more open, RO Spread systems due to HS & CFB. The reason it hasn't yet is because the NFL is a Good 'ol Boy network where every coach used to be an assistant and they all were taught the same things since the 70s. The younger guys will see that it's better to not reprogram QBs that have been running a RO Spread since JRHS. Defenses will get smaller but faster and it'll open up. Oh, and rules need to skew toward defensive football at all levels due to 20 years of essentially "ruling points into existence". The game is so overly geared to help offense that it's hurting all levels but especially the NFL.

most of your points are silly. commercial are just as bad in college. penalties? yeah that targeting rule in college has been great. two bad offenses. none of that in the big ten. regular season doesn't matter? go ask Carolina if it matters. one plus side that pro football has over college also is rarely does a last place team in college make a fast turnaround. nfl has far more parody than college could ever even think about. i get it, this is a college blog, but to act like the nfl is some awful sport is not only silly, but stupid.

The NFL product is being diluted by a dipshit commisioner who only cares about the bottom line.  On top of the shit show that is Thursday night football, the commisioner thinks he is Judge Dredd and has somehow made the NFL's image worse in his crusade to make it better which include's the league's effort to wipe out any personality shown after big plays.  The amount of penalties and the fucking up of what a catch is are also infuriating.

NFL Redzone channel makes the NFL watchable because you cut out all the commercials and are always watching key plays.  I still prefer college over NFL but Redzone makes it close.

For me

The NFL has no wow factor. When's the last time you looked at a list of nfl scores and said "holy shit!" What nfl moments do people remember year after year? Almost every week in college there are multiple plays that will be shown on big screens at stadiums for years to come. NFL has better skilled players but to get that you give up passion, energy, tradition, and surprise. But mostly, after sitting on my ass all day Saturday watching college I got shit I gotta do on Sunday!

1. Being a Lions fan automatically lowers my interest in the NFL.

2. Officiating sucks. A few years back when the replacement refs were there, everyone got all up in arms at the bad calls, but I didn't notice a difference. Hell, it feels like every other week the NFL is apologizing to the Lions for whatever they effed up that week. Top that off with "What is a catch?" It should be simple, but they have mangled it so badly that no one knows any more. [Like targetting on steroids]

3. Commercials combined with the blackout rules. I can't watch the NFL anymore -- TD - Commercial while they review - XP - Commercial - KO - Commercial - Run a play - Injury time out. I watch for 10-15 minutes and see about 2 real plays. 

As everyone correctly points out, it can be nearly as bad in College, but with the college game I just flip it over to one of the dozen other games being televised. CBS, ABC, FOX, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, (ESPNews), CBSSports, BTN, SEC Network, PAC-12 Network, (BTN-Alternate), (SEC-Alternate) could all be showing a game. It gets tricky around halftime of the noon window trying to find the game that isn't at halftime, but once you cycle through everything the 2nd half is about to start.

If you're lucky there will be a whopping two games on at the same time in the NFL. (And good luck being able to watch my Lions out of market). I sure as heck am not going to pay $350 to watch a couple more games (because see 1-2).

for whatever reason, but this entire state would be buzzin' if the Lions could put together anything that resembled a championship season.

But as it is now, I watch with only passing interest.  There is no swearing at the TV, just occasional laughter.

I cannot bring myself to feel any level of attachment to any pro team (and I actually actively loathe the Lions because I consider Bill Ford and the rest of the idiots who run the Lions to be the most incompetent, dysfunctional, and downright despicable front office in all of American professional sports... but I digress). To me, the passion, tradition, and excitement of college sports is unmatched. Michigan Football is my link to my childhood in Ann Arbor and my college days, i.e., the best years of my life. When I root for Michigan, I feel like I'm rooting for something to which I have an intrinsic connection, not hired mercenaries working for some billionaire-owned company in which I have no stake. Not that I don't enjoy watching pro sports; I do, but I feel absolutely no level of passion for any team in particular and can't bring myself to care about the outcome of any game. 

To illustrate the difference, I'll tip my hat to a peer program: the Nebraska Cornhuskers. I think every fan of a B1G team should visit Lincoln, NE for a game at some point in their lives and get a taste of the atmosphere that Husker fans have built around their team. I visited for our game against Nebraska in 2012 and was totally blown away by the experience. Nebraska Football is an institution around which the life of the entire State of Nebraska revolves, and the fanbase genuinely, collectively considers itself to be a community. We were approached by multiple random Husker fans who welcomed us to Lincoln, thanked us for making the trip, invited us to their tailgates, and told us to let them know if we needed any help getting around. Inside the stadium, the atmosphere was unreal. Don't get me wrong; I love Michigan Stadium and I think we have an incredible gameday atmosphere, but Memorial Stadium in Lincoln is on a whole different level. To me, everything about that experience epitomizes what college football is all about, and there's nothing like that in the NFL or in any other pro sports league.

The NFL is bland. The sterile atmosphere, boring stadiums, one-size-fits-all offenses all contribute to a manufactured product that sells jerseys and beer. You're rooting for a uniform. Those that play in said uniform are interchangeable and laregly uninterested in franchise "tradition" or "culture". There is no rivalries, fantastic environments, or Heisman trophy. There is no substance to the NFL.

But it's kind of a boring product and there's very little incentive to watch games involving teams you don't care about. I watch like 4 college games every week, more if I have time to watch the mid-week games, but NFL I barely pay attention to most of the time.

The focus on the playoffs in the NFL kind of ruins the regular season and it's really a cautionary tale for all the casual fan morons asking for a 16 team playoff or more even for CFB. If a bad NFL team pulls an 'upset' over a playoff-bound team, like who really cares, the bad team will still be bad and the playoff-bound team will still make the playoffs, it's just another day at the office. If Houston loses to Navy early on in the season or if Notre Dame drops one to Duke and then another one, it's got big implications for how their seasons turn out and the perception of all of those teams. There's not just more at stake because everyone is just a bit more emotionally invested than in the NFL, but also because the format is so chaotic and subjective that a Michigan fan can legitimately sit in front of the TV and have nerve-wrecking moments when NC State fails to put away a heavily favored Clemson in another 'almost upset'.

I agree. I mean I used to be a Lions fan, but about 5 years ago I started following the Broncos thinking the reason I couldn't get into the NFL was because I followed the Lions. Well, my feelings haven't changed. It's just bland, it's cookie cutter to me. I don't watch for than around 30 minutes per week of the NFL. It will never match college football for me.

The NFL is a buzzkill. Maybe it's because historically UM is a stronger brand in Michigan than the Lions and it differs by state, but I just don't care if I miss out on NFL games. Yet, with CFB if Little Man U is playing against a mediocre P5 team I'll have it on as background noise. I think the NFL is still the strongest US sport, but they've plateaued.

The stadiums are almost all sterile corporate environments. Yes, the level of play is better but it's not as fun to watch with very little spread offenses, triple options, pistol etc. that you see in college. No big upsets where podunk u. beats the big state university. Yes there's rivalries but they pale in comaprison to Auburn-Alabama, Michigan-OSU, Oklahoma-Texas, Army-Navy etc.

The gap is widening for me and many others. I believe the NFL is past its tipping point and will continue to decline over time. The interesting question for me is whether college football can maintain its popularity as the NFL stagnates or will there be collateral damage to all levels of football.