JUST PLAY THE GAME

JUST PLAY THE GAME

I’m a football fan. I’ve enjoyed watch professional football since I was a kid. To me, there is nothing I’d rather do on a Sunday afternoon in the fall, than to sit down and watch a game. Football has change over the years. Today’s game is so much faster and more explosive than it used to be. Although I love to watch the games, there is something about present day football that I could do without. The showboating has gotten out of control. It used to be that when a player scored a touchdown, he would get some congratulations from his teammates, give the ball to the referee, and head off to the sidelines. There are players presently who still handle a touchdown that way, but too many players today act like they’ve just saved the world when they score a touchdown. Elaborate dances are performed, the opposing team is mocked and in general, unsportsmanlike behavior is displayed.

I heard a quote from Joe Paterno, the football coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions, who said to his players “Act like you’ve been there before.” It’s a touchdown. Touchdowns are part of the game. It’s the player’s job to score touchdowns. Sometimes the game seems more like a circus than a football game.

Touchdowns are not the only times when these excessive celebrations are performed. I’ve seen players make good tackles, or sack the quarterback, and then carry on like they’ve just won the super bowl. A team can get penalized for excessive celebration, but the call is rarely made. The game would be better off if the players would just play the game, instead of turning football into a circus.