OPINION:
The 100th anniversary of the National Football League kicks off Thursday, and it’s hoped you’re not one of those fans who let the league’s Kaepernick thing become and remain a cloud over your enthusiasm for football, American football.
Colin Kaepernick, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback who kneed out of the NFL three season ago, has a job with Nike. So, if you’re in the booing mode, blow Nike’s way, swoosh, because the NFL minions of marketing are turning their attention to another god of culture.
Jay-Z springs into action on opening night, this Thursday, when one of the OGs of NFL rivalries, the Green Bay Packers, take on the Bears in Chicago. With Aaron Rodgers at the helm, I’m anticipating a schoolyard fight, like the Sunday night game in Week 1 of 2018, when Rodgers and his ailing knee passed for 286 yards and three touchdowns to rally against da Bears, 24-23.
The 100th celebration starts in Chicago’s front yard, Grant Park, where musical superstars Meghan Trainor and Meek Mill will headline a free concert.
I can’t claim familiarity with their music, and I’m certain many NFL owners can’t either. But the owners, collectively and individually love money (and winning) and it’s their marketeers’ job to bring in more and more of it every season without wringing the wallets of their season ticket holders.
And speaking of money, team holdouts and holdups remain the hottest of topics as the season opens this week.
On the Washington Redskins’ front, as the first example, offensive tackle Trent Williams is still a holdout. Injury prone, the 320-pound playmaker claims the medical team hasn’t properly tended to him. So neither he nor the Redskins’ brass has signed on a dotted line.
The ’Skins oldest rivals are facing a bit of the same. Ezekiel Elliott of the Dallas Cowboys is the type of running back who makes this diehard Washington fan jump from my seat every time he’s handed the pigskin. He’s a threat, whether he launches into an open-field carry or he has to twist into the Heisman Trophy keep-away pose. He’s no “Diesel” and no “Bus,” but Cowboys owner Jerry Jones knows he’s damn good — and Mr. Jones is the type of OG who rewards victories and loyalty.
“America’s Team” and the ’Skins don’t go head-to-head until Week 2 in Dallas. First, we have to get past another NFC East rival, Philly’s Eagles. The teams do not like either, period. The teams’ fans do not like each other, either. Rabid fans unleash profanities, pushes and shoves in the stands as if they were born enemies. Most of the time, however, no harm and no foul.
Here’s to preparing for the 100th birthday of the NFL, which has seen everything from changes and reforms for drafting and hiring players to uniforms, to expansion and serious health issue like concussions and other head and body injuries, to politics and Super Bowl “wardrobe” malfunctions.
All of that leaves owners wondering how they keep butts in the seats and turn eyeballs toward the tube.
They’re pinning their hopes that the money keeps coming. They hope to see into their future beginning this week with their 100th anniversary.
Entertainment and American football are a natural marriage.
But money made on and off the field determine how well they play together.
• Deborah Simmons can be contacted at dsimmons@washingtontimes.com.
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