Football: Fun or Fatigue?

Football: Fun

Football is long. It’s brutal. And above all, it’s entertaining. 

Whether it’s watching decades-long college football rivalries or one-of-a-kind professional athletes play to their fullest potential, you can never go wrong popping a football game on the TV. 

Growing up, I hated football. I cheered for my younger brother’s recreational team, and, frankly, I didn’t like my family putting all their attention on him instead of me. I found the game to be long and boring, especially when the team was losing. I held that grudge for eight years until I slowly learned how the game worked. 

Through hundreds of questions pointed at my mom and dad, I finally learned how first downs worked and each position’s job. When you take the time to understand the game, it’s so much fun. 

During my sophomore year of high school, our football team remained undefeated and was the best in the state of Pennsylvania. I attended the games every Friday. Instead of sitting in the student section, I was up in the stands with my family, taking in every ounce of energy surrounding the wins. 

I traveled to Hershey, Pa. for the state championships, and even in the freezing weather and pouring rain of a Saturday in early December, I was excited for the three hour game ahead of me because I knew it would be an exciting watch, no matter the outcome. 

Watching football isn’t just about the game, but the culture around the sport. Tailgates and barbeques before games create a comfortable atmosphere and get fans ready for the day ahead of them. 

Admittedly, football games are long. But when you are around people who love the sport as much as you do, the day goes by in a blur. The elation of watching your team score a touchdown or snag a fumble is amplified when you’re surrounded by fans feeling the same emotions. 

In America, football has been the most popular sport since 1972, according to a Gallup survey taken in 2024. 41% of Americans chose it as their favorite sport, according to the same survey. The Super Bowl remains the most-watched sporting event of the year — Super Bowl LVIII averaged 123.4 million viewers, according to Operations.NFL.com — and the college national championship game averages 22.1 million viewers, according to collegefootballplayoff.com. 

Football is a true American sport built around fan culture, and it’s not going to stop being entertaining any time soon. With an increase in viewership, schools and leagues can afford to pay their players more, which provides an incentive for better play. 

At the end of the day, football reigns supreme. 

Claire Bovino is a staff writer the The Loyola Phoenix

Football: Fatigue

I went to my first-ever football game on Oct. 11. My sister attends the University of Notre Dame, where football is a prominent part of student life. 

My key takeaway from the experience was that the game was unimpressive. It made me realize how football, in fact, is incredibly boring. 

We started the day off tailgating and exploring the campus. I met all of my sister’s friends and parents. We had good food and talked among one another, with a general feeling of “hurrah” in the air. 

I wanted to stay there the whole day. But when it was time, thousands of people piled into the stadium in anticipation of a thrilling, engaging and short game — actually not. 

We had to leave the fun area with friends, family and food to go attend a long and boring football game. It made no sense to me.

Without an understanding of the rules — a thing many people don’t have — football is a long game made longer. The rules are almost incomprehensible unless someone grew up learning about them. 

I understand the general sense of each team running to one side and attempting to score, but that’s about it. There are countless moments of stopping and starting and standing in the stadium for three-and-a-half hours eventually wears you down. There are so many rules to the game that it gets so confusing to even attempt to learn a little bit. 

I understand it’s a good chance to build community with family and friends. Football is tied to tradition. However, what’s more valuable in this instance is the relationships and connections themselves. 

The conversations with one another are usually better than the football game playing in the background. 

Plus, the game isn’t even a chance to connect with the players on the field because they’re so far — I had to squint to even catch a slight glimpse of the ball. 

The Super Bowl is also an important topic to mention. It’s an American phenomenon, a yearly event which the country waits in anticipation of. 

However, the halftime show is the only part worth watching to be honest. 

In 2025, Kendrick Lamar amazed the U.S. with a political exclamation of red, white and news. This was ironic, considering how a plethora of football players in the NFL support the Republican cause. Out of 1,663 players, 97.7% donated to Republicans and 2.3% donated to Democrats, according to Medium.com. 

The halftime show usually receives more views than the game itself, according to Push Promotions. This proves the music and art is far more exciting than the game. 

More so, football is so commercialized, it’s just a chance to show ads and take advantage of capitalism. Even trying to remain interested in the game is a lost cause — it’s far too easy to disengage with stops happening every other moment. 

Essentially, it’s clear football doesn’t deserve all of the support it seems to get. It’s time for the United States to start appreciating other sports, instead of just the same long and boring game. 

Rania Woodward is a staff writer for The Loyola Phoenix