Football isn’t football, is it? At least it’s not for me. When it comes to loving the game, nothing beats college football.
Football is here! And while I love the game, I don’t parse that emotion equally across football platforms. I love the high school game and, especially, college ball.
College fans–like the Mich St. fans here–gather in eateries across the country to watch their favorite team.
Pro football? Not so much.
Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy watching the NFL, especially the Super Bowl. But college football has finesse and flavor that puts it in a league of its own. Most Americans seem to feel the same way, too.
College football drew an average of over two million TV viewers last year, while NFL viewership declined 14%, according to Emily Kaplan of Sports Illustrated.
Why is college football doing so well? I think there are three main reasons.
Rivalries
The NFL does have some intriguing rivalries, such as the Ravens-Steelers and Seahawks-49ers.
NFL tussles don’t come close to matching intense rivalries in college football.
For example, imagine the Saturday after Thanksgiving without ‘The Iron Bowl’ (Alabama vs. Auburn). I’d be fine without turkey and stuffing in exchange for keeping that rivalry game alive.
College rivalries are exhilarating because of the proximity of the schools involved. A good share of the rivalries are intrastate fights, like Florida-Florida State and UCLA-USC. There are epic border wars, too, such as Michigan-Ohio State and Oklahoma-Texas.
In all cases, fans are neighbors. They share the same eating places, parks, grocery aisles, and meet at tightly-packed and loud stadiums to cheer on their respective teams. Yowza!
Stadium Environments
The stadium environment at major college games is unmatched anywhere else. Take, the example, LSU Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It’s regarded as “The Valley of Death” and “The Place Where Dreams Go to Die.”
Eddie Fuller catches “the pass” that beat Auburn (ohoto, Sports-USA Today)
Believable? Well, consider this. It’s October 8, 1988. Fourth-ranked Auburn is in town and holds a 6-0 lead late in the fourth quarter. LSU’s Tommy Hodson then completes an 11-yard touchdown strike to running back Eddie Fuller. LSU kicks the winning PAT. Tigers win, 7-6.
Unremarkable, right? Last-minute comebacks happen all the time. But when LSU won Tigers fans were so loud that the campus-based seismograph registered the response as an earthquake!
Tiger Stadium isn’t unique. This kind of support is found all across the country–at ‘Bama, Clemson, Texas A&M, Ohio State, and Oregon, just to name a few places. The reason is that fans pack the stadium–year after year, season after season.
NFL stadiums can be raucous at times, too, but NFL players have to worry about something that most college players don’t: “boo birds.” Most of the time college football players have fans on their side. It’s different with the NFL. If things aren’t going well–or as expected–fans boo.
Playing for the Love of the Game
Tom Brady will be bringing home $20.5 million this season, enough to buy about 2,050,000 air pumps.
Courtesy: Imgflip
I don’t have a problem with NFL players getting paid and making that kind of money: it’s their career and teams are making loads of money from their talent. But some NFL players are in the game for the wrong reason–playing for dough. The Denver Post has reported that as many as 70% of NFL players play primarily for the money.
Do most college players play for the love of the game? They should if they don’t because less than 2% of those playing college ball will make a career in the NFL. It’s likely that many players play for the game and their respective schools. Consider the case of in-state players, who put everything on the line–every single game–especially during rivalry games.
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Don’t get me wrong, I look forward to tuning in on Sundays to NFL games. But my excitement is reserved for Saturday afternoons and nights.
It’s college football!
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Cameron Brown is a Western Kentucky University undergraduate majoring in journalism and secondary education (history) with a minor in broadcasting. Contact Cameron at cameronbrown647@yahoo.com.
