16 Weeks Without Football
By Byron Hurt
Week #1
Before the 2017 NFL season began, I decided to not watch a single game.
Not one.
I did so for all of the reasons I wrote about in my Colorlines.com article, contextualizing why I have chosen to stop watching the sport I’ve loved since I was a young boy.
How did week #1 without football go, you ask?
Giving up my seasonal habit of watching football all day Sunday, and on Monday and Thursday nights wasn’t as difficult as I imagined. In fact, it’s been liberating. So much so, that I’ve abstained from watching college football, too. I’m not alone in this, others have decided to boycott the NFL, and the numbers are growing.
I support the #NFLBoycott, and the diverse people who are participating in it. However, I recognize that many fans do not support the boycott, dismissing it as a fruitless endeavor. I’ve heard and read posts and comments on social media expressing doubt and skepticism about the effectiveness of an NFL boycott because it doesn’t have a sound strategy, meaningful asks, or a pointed end game. This viewpoint is staunchly held by unmovable, doubting critics, despite numerous calls to protest, like this one by writer/activist, Shaun King, which clearly outline asks and action items, and the fact that the NFL opener was widely reported as a ratings disaster. The common belief — that boycotting is a waste of time — appears to be cover for football lovers who lack the desire, or discipline, to stop watching a sport in which they derive pleasure, self-gratification, and seek escapism throughout the 16-week NFL season, playoffs, and the Super Bowl.
I get it.
I really do.
A year or two ago, as a die-hard fantasy football player and NFL fan, I, too, might have been that person. Today, though, because NFL ownership so blatantly showed its racist hand in its blackballing of Colin Kaepernick, football fans (I among them), are rightfully upset. As a consequence of the NFL’s collusion to keep Kaepernick off of rosters that could use a quality, veteran quarterback, we are using our only recourse: individual and collective power to, in return, black out the NFL. Social media has become our biggest platform, with countless NFL boycott pages and hashtags. The NFL has made its message loud and clear: NFL players are only meant to be seen on the field; their issues, not heard. Consequently, many of us (even if reluctantly) are changing the channel, giving up our NFL Sunday Ticket packages, and are finding other activities to do with our time.
So, what did I do with my time during week one of the 2017 NFL season? Last weekend, I spent quantity time with my daughter, went to a family-friendly cookout in West Orange, New Jersey, attended a New York Liberty WNBA playoff game, and started reading, Invisible No More: Police Violence Against Black Women and Women of Color, a new book by Andrea J. Ritchie.
With no NFL or college games to watch this season, I have lots of free time to do other, more productive things. I am, in the words of Congresswoman Maxine Waters, reclaiming my time.
Byron Hurt played quarterback at Northeastern University. He is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, and activist whose films include, “Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes,” and “Soul Food Junkies.” Hurt is currently directing and producing “Hazing,” a PBS film that shines a light on secret, underground and dangerous hazing rituals.
