How much would you miss American Football if it went away?

[Thomas D]

I don't buy into the theory that football will be gone in 25 years. But if it were I think my life would carry on relatively unchanged. 

[Mr. Smith]

Good riddance

[TDAS04]

I wouldn't care.

[Sol]

I'd be pretty happy--we wouldn't be losing generations of athletes to traumatic brain damage.*

*Not as many anyway. Boxing, hockey, and headbutting the ball in soccer would all still exist as major threats.

[RI]

Only slightly. As long as baseball's around, every other sport can die for all I care.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Only slightly. As long as baseball's around, every other sport can die for all I care.

Gridiron football seems likelier to remain popular than baseball in the long term.  It's a sport that seems practically made for commercial television, even if some rules changes are made to reduce dangerous tackling.  Baseball's already gone from being America's national pastime when I was born to being decidedly third in importance after gridiron and basketball, and I see no reason why soccer won't continue its ascent to become our preferred choice of a spring and summer game.

That said, I wouldn't miss it, or any other particular sport, if it went away.

[bedstuy]

I love football and my beloved hometown New York Giants of East Rutherford, New Jersey, so I'd miss it a lot.  But, thankfully, it's not going anywhere and it's in fact only getting more popular.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

Hopefully Americans would get into actual football as opposed to just mindlessly cheering on the national team every four years.

[King]

Devastated.

[Bigby]

I'd miss the Georgia-Florida games for sure.

[angus]

I don't buy into the theory that football will be gone in 25 years.

Is that a theory?  What is it based on? 

Anyway, I voted for the "meh" option.  I don't love it or hate it, but among the various little league, high school, university, and professional sports, I'd say it's among the least interesting to me.  Still, lots of people seem to really get into it.  I think that what happens as new "extreme" sports are invented the audience becomes more fragmented, and maybe things like soccer and women's sports become more popular, so maybe football doesn't command the millions of adoring fans it once did, but given its appeal I can't imagine that it fades away in just one generation.  My guess would be that your great grand children will still be able to find televised football games.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Option 1.  (Sane Murican Normal)

[Hatman 🍁]

Good riddance, indeed!

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Good riddance, indeed!

[DemPGH]

Somewhere between 1 and 2. It's an escape - either to go throw around a football on Saturday afternoon or to watch. In fact, post Super Bowl I go through a week or so of withdrawal. I'm also seriously suspicious of people who hate it.

No, I don't think it's going anywhere. In fact it's expanding (the NFL, despite logistical problems, would love to have a team in London), and the relatively short season keeps people from burning out.

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

I'd miss it a lot.  Nothing like watching the Delaware Valley get whipped into a frenzy every Sunday when it comes down to crunch time for the Iggles.  And then the games are often down to the wire and exciting with the Eagles.

Good stuff. 

[Kaine for Senate '18]

I'd be devastated.  I love the NFL.

[Smash255]

Voted Option 1.  Seriously though probably option 2, but it would be horrific

[justfollowingtheelections]

Good riddance

[Hatman 🍁]

Good riddance, indeed!

[Wolverines34]

Football should be banned (at least NFL football) mad grimy and disgusting (and full of criminals).

[traininthedistance]

Somewhere between "a lot" and "some" depending on my mood. Went with "some" because, between all the awful news that accompanied the NFL earlier this year, the fact I'm not in any fantasy league for the first time in six years, and the fact that the Giants are having an awful season, it's just not providing the sort of joy and engagement it usually does.

I mean, to be honest, there's logically a lot to dislike about football- the head injuries, the Washington Racists, the horrible exploitative hypocrisy that is the NCAA- and if you don't like it, I can't blame you.  But there's a lot to like, too- in particular I'm drawn to the chess-like tactical depth of its plays, the down-and-distance system, which makes it bar none the most intellectually engaging sport.  

And, well, it's a part of my blood.  I was raised a football fan.  My dad would tell me bedtime stories about the Canton Bulldogs and Steve Owen and Jim Lee Howell's assistant coaches. One of my earliest memories was as a five-year-old, running around, behind my parents' couch, delirious with sheer innocent joy as Scott Norwood failed to split the uprights.  And one of my next memories, lest you think this is all sunshine and light, was Ray Handley.

If you can't stand football, if you hate the violence and the machismo and the posturing, that's fine.  You're in good company.  But forgive me if I can't quite join you.

Perhaps I should have voted "a lot".

...

Hopefully Americans would get into actual football as opposed to just mindlessly cheering on the national team every four years.

If there's one good thing about the popularity of "foot"ball in this country, it's that it has spared us from the popularity of football.

This is also an excellent point.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

As long as I can still watch Friday Night Lights reruns, I'd be fine with that.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

ID miss it some because SEC football is just incredible and I'd like to see UMich beat the Buckeyes in the Big House, but being in the northeast where everyone follows the pros 24/7, it can't disappear soon enough (well, after one Lambeau visit vs. The Bears).