Throw on your favorite jersey, buy an unnecessary amount of beer and call dibs on your favorite couch spot. It’s that time of year again.

 

Students everywhere (unless you were at Juice Jam) geared up for the 2010-11 National Football League season this Sunday with pizza, wings and, of course, libations.  Baseball may hold the title of America’s pastime, but many would say football has surpassed baseball as the American sport. Football on Sundays has become engraved in pop culture. Even those who don’t particularly care for football wind up getting sucked into the mode of couch-slouching with a game on. When September arrives, football takes over.

 

Football Sunday captures viewer attention far and wide — and not just men either.  Some members of the fairer sex seem to have embraced this football-watching culture as well. Football, in all its glory, is a versatile sport to watch. After all, we all know what a stud Tom Brady is. We struggle to tear ourselves away from the games. TV shows have nothing on football. Even the weekly Nielsen ratings consistently show NFL games getting higher numbers than most big-time TV shows.

 

Fans will keep the TV lit all afternoon, intermittently getting up for bathroom breaks, snacks or a friendly game of catch.  A replica jersey, even if said athlete hasn’t touched the turf in years (I see you, John Elway faithful), carries with it a certain pride. There’s nothing quite like wearing your favorite player’s jersey and watching him take the field in crystal-clear HD. Kids buy into the season, too — if you haven’t seen Kenny Chesney’s ESPN special titled ‘Boys of Fall,’ you’re missing out on a sweet taste of American tradition.

 

On many occasions, it doesn’t matter what teams are playing.  Some people watch the games all day.  The first batch kicks off around one in the afternoon, the second after 4 p.m. and the last national game begins at 8 p.m. Not everyone can watch nine or more hours of TV a day, but NFL Sundays make it almost too easy.

 

Football can dominate on other days, as well. It has a strong hold on Thanksgiving, when viewers settle in to watch (of all teams) the lowly Detroit Lions, which wishes it still had Barry Sanders to make the team good again. If the Lions can draw viewers in so easily, then football clearly has an influence in pop culture. Monday Night Football gives weekend warriors the ultimate Sunday cooldown.

 

There’s no denying the lure of a day of ultimate relaxation. Something is very gratifying about doing next to nothing with a plate of wings and stacks of devoured pizza boxes next to you.  And who needs real exercise when you can watch ripped professional athletes clean the clocks of other goliaths with bone-jarring hits and tough tackles?  New England fans love seeing Peyton Manning get tossed into the ground just as much as Colts fans love seeing Tom Brady throw a pick-six.

 

Football Sunday is just one of those ‘things to do.’  Even if there’s someone who doesn’t care for it, they’ll be hard-pressed to have a football-free Sunday.  You can try to avoid it, but there’s a strong chance a friend or family member’s cheers will encroach your day.  All of the scores and postgame wrap-ups will hit the news the next day, but you saw it all live.

 

And don’t forget the commercials. What warm-blooded person can resist a good beer ad? Beer commercials glorify the experience of watching a game with a group of friends.

Football Sunday, at its best, promotes camaraderie, togetherness and family.  At its worst, it encourages unhealthy eating and sedentary behavior.  Wherever your preference falls, there’s no denying Football Sunday has a tight grip on popular culture.  

 

Seth Crockett is a junior television, radio and film major and the pop culture columnist. His columns appear every Tuesday, and when he’s not praising a Tom Brady touchdown, he can be reached at srcrocke@syr.edu

Published on September 13, 2010 at 12:00 pm