Flag on the play

You may not have noticed, but ratings for NFL games have dipped.

If you're like me, you haven't watched much NFL football this season.

I still like--love--the sport but the NFL has turned me off for a number of reasons. Those reasons are different than the ones expressed in this Washington Post piece, "The NFL is becoming more disturbing than appealing, and TV viewers are tuning out."

The Post explains:

"the NFL is beginning to seem over-managed and over-staged. Constant commercials and interruptions by refs waving their arms do not produce “appointment viewing;” rather, they produce punts, ties and stasis."

All those things are true but they have been true for years.

How many times have we seen a kickoff or punt without a flag on the play? How many drives are free of penalties or commercials?

The average viewer is turned off by those things. The hardcore football fan, not so much.

The commercials are annoying but if you watch free TV you're used to the interruptions and probably appreciate them at times.

My lack of interest in the NFL is due more to the loss of connection to the players and teams. 

I grew up following the Dallas Cowboys and Cleveland Browns, my hometown team. Roger Staubach, Danny White, Randy White, Tony Dorsett, Drew Pearson, Tony Hill, Ron Springs, Everson Walls, and the list goes on and on and on.

The 1970s era Browns and Kardiac Kids of the 80s. Those are the memories I have growing up watching the NFL.

Now, the players change too frequently to really establish that connection and maybe it just seems weird to me that a 40-something-year-old man would have a connection with a professional athlete.

Maybe it's sports overload.

I cover high school and college sports for a living. I spend every day chasing stories, writing, interviewing and thinking about sports. By Sunday, maybe I need to decompress and clear my head of sports stories.

Friday nights, Saturdays...give me my football. On Sunday, the game is on in the background providing white noise. I'll watch a play or two but I could do without the NFL.