Masculinity In American Football

Football - probably the most loved and sought after sport, and definitely the most popular in America. Undoubtedly, this powerful sport has taken American culture by storm after the baseball craze and has become a mega moneymaking business worth billions of dollars. Though I basically know nothing about football, I definitely know that it is seen to encourage unity when it comes to teams, games, and seasons and that the game brings much positive vibe. When a player scores, the crowd goes wild and cheers. When a player tackles another and knocks him unconscious, the crowd also goes wild and cheers. Yes, football is a game in which people get excited to watch in order to see which team scores and wins, but this objective seems to carry along

with it, an unconscious excitement to watch violence take place.

Although the surface image of football depicts a game where players try to score as much as possible for their team, there are many underlying objectives and aims that are secretly, or maybe not so secretly, encouraged to achieve. In Against Football: One Fan’s Reluctant Manifesto, author Steve Almond says that “The ultimate badge of honor for pro football player is not that he play fair or that he play hard but that he play hurt.”(49) Whether a player admits it or not, it is inherent that in order to achieve the goal of increasing scores, he would have to take down the opponent standing in his, or his teammate’s way.

Violence has always been the salt and pepper in football games. Tackling an opponent to the ground is the only way to stop him from scoring. This fact, plus the adrenaline from the game, and aggressive team spirit, gives the player the natural instinct to “take it all out” on the opponent with the ball. The result, is a full-blown, violent tackle that leaves the opponent in a defeated state. And this, is exactly what is encouraged on field.

The typical position in which a successful tackle has taken place can similarly resemble to that of a stance of a dominant victory portrayed in the animal kingdom by the alpha male over the inferior male.

Now, does that make football sound more like a game to show who is the alpha male? After all, the immediate connection when people think of football players, is masculinity; and if a violent tackle gives a player that thrill of success and dominance, it could potentially become his personal reward. Some players are bold enough to admit the thrill they obtain from tackling an opponent, as Almond quotes Michael Strahan, who says, “It’s the most perfect feeling in the world to know you’ve hit a guy just right, that you’ve maximized the pain he can feel … You feel the life just go out of him.” (135)

Now, football itself and its players aren’t the only ones who encourage these violent aggressive behaviors. It’s the fans. In psychology, there is something called positive reinforcement in the process of operant conditioning. This is when a particular behavior is positively reinforced with a reward. In this case, the football players’ action of violently taking out his opponent is positively reinforced with the reward of the massive cheerings from fans. This is where football builds the bridge of influence of excitement in violence between players and

fans.

According to Almond, fans tend to be less forthcoming than players about their hunger for violence (137). Many fans may deny that a huge contribution to the excitement of watching football is the violence but trending videos show that this is true. This is portrayed by the simple economic rule of demand and supply: where there is demand, there will be supply, and in this case, the supply is the constant replay and popularity of watching clips of football players getting grusomely injured.

It would already make the situation a lot better if whatever happens in the fields, stay in the fields. However, how can anyone suddenly turn off their tough act completely once a game or event is over, especially with all the “approvals” and encouragement received by performing these acts? Just like what Jeffrey Kluger wrote in his article: “Why On-Field Violence Continues Off-Field”, “When you’re paid to hit people, it’s not always easy to stop at the end of the day.”