Football's Place in American Society Essay

Football is America’s go to entertainment sport. The NFL hit its peak in 2015, with an average of 114.1 million television viewers throughout the year (“Statista,” 2017). This sport is loved by all, the players, parents, coaches, and fans. But, is football merely entertainment? Is it just a simple game, teaching young boys the value of teamwork, dedication, and discipline? Are parents spending their Friday nights to support their boys, or is there something bigger happening? In H.G Bissinger’s novel, Friday Night Lights, one can see the true effects of this toxic drug through the mindset of the players and the actions of the coaches. While society sees football as entertainment, it actually functions more like a drug.

Abstract: Society is affected every day by many different kinds of sports.  These sports often govern society's way of life.  People all over the nation turn their TVs to sporting events, such as golf, during the weekends.   Scott Stossel states that "more than six million Americans enjoy watching golf on the weekends."  Parents  use sports as a teaching tool for their children.  Kids learn teamwork and discipline from team sports programs and  sports have also helped many students with their grades.  Kids who want to compete in school sports are taught to keep their grades up or they won't be able to play, but the greedy coaches and schools often look around grades to keep their "star athletes" in the games.  Adults have

The NFL has become the most popular sport in the United States. It is watched my millions every weekend. The NFL is only growing in popularity. With new fans joining the fun every day. The NFL has faced its share of problems too. With concussions scaring away many future players, the NFL is hoping to lower the possibility of concussions in the future. Each NFL team plays a total of 16 games over a span of 17 weeks. There are two conferences in the NFL, the AFC and the NFC. There are four divisions in each conference, each with 4 teams. The playoff teams are decided by the division rankings. The winner of each division makes the playoffs, with the two best 2nd place teams making it in as a wild card.

Football remains the most popular sport in America and the ninth most popular sport in the world for a reason. Since its creation in 1869, football has played a fundamental part of American society. Every Sunday, my family along with millions of other Americans turn the television to CBS, NBC or FOX to watch their favorite football team go to battle. My family and I bleed burgundy and gold and root for the home team the Washington Redskins. Americans including myself display great intensity and passion for the game of football and the result of the game often changes my attitude for the better or worse. Watching the game on television may come as exhilarating and entertaining, but playing the game creates the best times. Overall football has made a severe impact on many people’s lives. Football teaches unique lessons in a hands on manner which helps athletes like myself sustain a much more adventurous life. Football has made an immeasurably positive influence upon my life, but the sport has its dangers. Football changes lives.

Football is an American sport that consists of two teams composed of 11 men. On the 100-yard field, they go head to head, trying to keep the other team from advancing the ball down the field toward the end zone, resulting in a touchdown or field goal. Football pits the two teams against each other. The offense, which possesses the ball, is placed against the defense, which tries to prevent the offense from advancing the ball. Several different resources can contribute to a team’s success. Some of those resources are funds, talent level of players, and favorable position on the field, which makes it easier to score points. The four sociological perspectives, structural functionalism, conflict theory, symbolic interactionism, and social exchange theory, all credit different reasons for one team being able to achieve this goal more often than another team. Nevertheless, any of the sociological perspectives you view the sport from, football is a very complex entity. Football is more than just a group of men pounding one another. There is a complex equation that eventually equals success; the differences between these perspectives are the components of the equation that are most heavily weighed on for success. Although it may be a combination of all three perspectives that leads to success in football, it is fair to look at the game from each perspective individually because each holds important insight into what truly leads to a successful football team.

Football is a very popular sport. For a lot of football fans, football is their whole weekend. College football on Saturday and the NFL on Sunday. Most football lovers have a day that they prefer, some choosing college football, while others choose the NFL. People choose favorites for a variety of reasons. This essay will point out the similarities and differences of college football and the NFL.

American football originated with its earlier form of play that derived from a variation of

Football: America’s greatest pastime and favorite all-American sport hides one of our nation’s biggest health concerns; concussions. On average, boys can begin playing tackle football at the age of five and weighing a minimum of 35 pounds, and from that point on they are taught the values of strategy, tackling, running, and teamwork. (Warner, 2016) Some of those children will later become the Professional Football players or college level players.

“It’s the sport of Kings, better than diamond rings…..football…..football.” (LL Cool J, 1986). All across the country, football, both college and professional, has its own cult-like following. Fans of both leagues eagerly anticipate kick-off whether it is on Saturday, for college football fans, or Sunday, for professional football fans. An additional fix is available for college football fans on Thursday. Professional fans get their extra dose on Monday nights. Admittedly, there are many similarities among the National Collegiate Football Association (NCAA) and the National Football League (NFL). Both have extremely loyal, boisterous, and diehard fans. Both play four quarters and the players try their best to get the ball across the goal line. Although there are more similarities in how the game is played, it is the differences that will have respective fans insisting one is better than the other. Differences, such as the two-minute warning, the knee-down rule, and over time, distinguish the professional from the collegiate player (See Table 1).

It all started in 1920 with the fourteen-league American Professional Football Association. The league broke into two competing rivals, the National Football League

Since the introduction of organized team sports into American culture, numerous sports have stepped into the limelight for certain periods of time but none have stuck around as long as football has. Just as with everything else in life, football has had it’s fair share of drawbacks since its invention in the mid-19th century. Despite the drawbacks and criticism football has faced, its role and influence on American culture between the 1890’s and 1930’s far outweigh the negative aspects of its past.

In today’s world of big time professional sports there are the two major players and they are football represented by the National Football League (NFL) and baseball represented by Major League Baseball (MLB). Now there are other sports that the American public enjoys watching, however the argument generally boils down to which sport is the true favorite of the American people: baseball or football. In this paper I will attempt to examine both sports from several different angles to include attendance, television revenue, ticket costs, venues, salaries, entertainment value, and athlete perception. The goal of this exercise will be to determine, once and for all, which sport is the American

Today, the National Football League (NFL) is the largest professional American football league, consisting of thirty-two teams from major American cities and regions. The league was formed in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, and adopted the name "National Football League" in 1922. The NFL is one of the major professional sports leagues of North America.

American football developed out of a combination of soccer and rugby. No single variety of the sport was played -- some schools played soccer, others rugby, while still others played various combinations of the two without any written rules. The first ever college football game was playing in 1869 which was Princeton vs Rutgers. Soon after, other colleges started playing as well.

In 2013, 205 million unique viewers tuned in to watch a National Football League game at some point. Games were broadcast to over 80 percent of homes with a television in the United States, and twenty-two games over the course of the season were watched by at least 25 million viewers, individually. Since 2003, average viewership of the NFL has risen 31%, and in 2013 NFL games accounted for 46 of the 50 most watched telecasts of the fall for viewers 18-59 (Bibel). The point is clear: while it may not be a problem, the United States very clearly has a football obsession. The obsession is so much so that more Americans list the NFL as their favorite sport than the National Hockey League, Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association combined (Rovell).