[[File:Pontiac Stadium misery.jpg|right|thumb|Pontiac Silverdome (Detroit), host to a Super Bowl, in miserable disrepair prior to its demolition.]]
'''Unplug the NFL''' is advocated by ''Conservapedia'' in response to the NFL's [[paganism]], its lack of true athletic competitiveness, its promotion of [[gambling]] rather than sportsmanship, its predictable outcomes in playoffs due to obsessive coaching, and its [[Blacklisting Tim Tebow|exclusion of Tim Tebow]] apparently for quoting the [[Bible]] too much.<ref>The slogan "unplug the NFL" was created by ''Conservapedia'', with this entry. Others are welcome to use this slogan with attribution.</ref> Collusion among owners and coaches makes the NFL more like rigged professional wrestling than genuine athletic competitions like the [[Olympics]]. Additional reasons for unplugging the NFL include how it bilks taxpayers for an estimated $1 billion annually and even got the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] to waste more money by searching for a player's jersey in [[Mexico]] in 2017.
Obsessive coaching dictates who wins. Watching an NFL game today is like watching other people (coaches) play a [[video game]], which is a waste. Players are cut from NFL squads based on what they say on [[social media]], and the [[Super Bowl]] no longer showcases the top talent. Additional reasons for unplugging the NFL include how it bilks taxpayers for an estimated $1 billion annually and even got the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] to waste money by searching for a player's jersey in [[Mexico]] in 2017. Coaches increasingly seem to prefer players who cheat rather than the best athletes. Herschel Walker, one of the greatest athletes ever, is excluded from the NFL Hall of Fame despite having had a tremendous career. The top recruits out of college rarely realize their potential by playing in the NFL anymore, and almost none of the top athletes in the league get to play in the [[Super Bowl]]. The NFL panders to the [[liberal media]] and encourages "[[fantasy football]]," a form of [[gambling]] and false worship.<ref>"From very early times gambling was forbidden by canon law. Two of the oldest among the so-called canons of the [[Apostles]] forbade games of chance under pain of [[excommunication]] to clergy and laity alike." See [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06375b.htm Catholic Encyclopedia], which continues to observe: "The 79th canon of the Council of Elvira (306) decreed that one of the faithful who had been guilty of gambling might be, on amendment, restored to communion after the lapse of a year. A homily (the famous "De Aleatoribus") long ascribed by St. Cyprian, but by modern scholars variously attributed to Popes Victor I, Callistus I, and Melchiades, and which undoubtedly is a very early and interesting monument of Christian antiquity, is a vigorous denunciation of gambling. The Fourth Lateran Council (1215), by a decree subsequently inserted in the "Corpus Juris", forbade clerics to play or to be present at games of chance. Some authorities, such as Aubespine, have attempted to explain the severity of the ancient canons against gambling by supposing that idolatry was often connected with it in practice. The pieces that were played with were small-sized idols, or images of the gods, which were invoked by the players for good luck."</ref> Genuine fans—as opposed to gamblers—are mostly irrelevant to the NFL profit model.<ref>[httphttps://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/01/rams-chargers-raiders-move-to-los-angeles-london-nfl-owners-proposal When will fans realize that NFL owners don't care about them?]</ref> Beginning in 2016, the NFL has allowed displays of defiance against the [[National Anthem]]. '''''Search on "demonic" and "NFL" on the internet and see a half million websites discussing it'''''.
The Washington Redskins cut one of the finest safeties in the [[NFL]] because he publicly criticized its awful coaching, and he pointed out that he probably watches more game films than the coaches do.<ref>https://ftw.usatoday.com/2018/12/fans-are-outraged-redskins-cut-d-j-swearinger-after-he-criticized-team</ref> Fans were furious how coaches cut this star, but genuine fans are irrelevant to NFL profits. This and other moves by the NFL shows that is more like professional wrestling, where participants are expected to puff up the product, than a meritocracy.
Much of what the NFL does is fraudulent. While star NFL player Aaron Hernandez committed murder and later reportedly hung himself in prison when serving a life sentence for it, his team the New England Patriots gave outspokenly [[Christian]] [[Tim Tebow]] a phony tryout, apparently to deflect from the scandal. The public is further misled in how NFL players are promoted as superstar athletes, but many are actually in poor aerobic shape from a medical perspective and have reduced life expectancies. Often the better athlete—such as a quarterback with a stronger arm—is benched in favor of a weaker athlete who can "read" defenses and throw sissy short passes, as [[Tom Brady]] does.
NFL-promoted "[[fantasy football]]" has grown from only 12 million participants a decade ago to an estimated 56 million, mostly men, today. In addition, the NFL advances the [[homosexual agenda]], such as with its halftime shows at the [[Super Bowl]]. Gambling on the Super Bowl topped $4.7 billion (not million) in 2018.<ref>httphttps://www.foxbusiness.com/features/2018/01/30/super-bowl-betting-total-to-top-4-7b-with-97-bet-illegally.html</ref> [[Timothy McVeigh]] lost his life savings by [[gambling]] on his hometown Buffalo team in the 1993 [[Super Bowl]], and in his despair turned his obsession to the [[Branch Davidians|Branch Davidian]] standoff, according to ''Politico.com''.<ref>https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/09/02/how-football-fed-timothy-mcveighs-despair-219625</ref>
'''''If the NFL does not want [[Christians]] who quote the [[Bible]], then Christians should not want the NFL'''''. There are many alternatives for sports fans, including high school and college football, golf, NASCARthe [[Olympics]], wrestling, baseball, basketball , golf, [[NASCAR]] and, outside the [[U.S.]], [[soccer]], [[tennis]], [[rugby]], [[ice hockey]] and cricket. There is also the option of spending less time watching televised sports, and spending that time more productively instead such as reading or studying mathematics, science, literature, religion, foreign languages, and/or history.
Much of the appeal of the NFL is the illusion that it is merit-based, like the Olympics, and has the best players. But the exclusion of Tim Tebow proves that the NFL is not really based on merit, but on [[political correctness]].
There is also a growing concern that watching or supporting the NFL may be immoral, in light of a study revealing that 96% of deceased NFL players test positive for [[chronic traumatic encephalopathy]], or CTE.<ref>httphttps://www.forbes.com/sites/dandiamond/2015/09/18/96-of-surveyed-nfl-players-test-positive-for-brain-disease/</ref> Other studies suggest that the "average life expectancy of a retired NFL player is 55 years," and that "retired NFL players suffer from Alzheimer's at a 37 per cent higher rate than average."<ref>http://www.cbc.ca/strombo/news/the-average-life-expectancy-of-an-nfl-player-is-55-years.html</ref> Some have compared watching NFL games to what the Romans did in watching the brutal gladiator fights, which is widely recognized to have been immoral and harmful to the society.<ref>The NFL exaggerates its audience sometimes. For example, the NFL exaggerated ratings for its internet streaming, initially claiming that "33.6 million" watched a worldwide live stream of a Bills-Jaguars game in late October 2015, and then downgrading that estimate to less than half, or 15.2 million, which is still probably an exaggeration. [http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/10/27/nfl-exaggerated-sundays-bills-jags-internet-numbers/]</ref>
==Health concerns==
Chris Borland, one of the top rookies in the NFL in 2014, abruptly retired before the 2015 season due to safety concerns. "I just honestly want to do what's best for my health," Borland said. "From what I've researched and what I've experienced, I don't think it's worth the risk."<ref>http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/12496480/san-francisco-49ers-linebacker-chris-borland-retires-head-injury-concerns</ref>
The late NFL star quarterback Ken Stabler "had Stage 3 [[chronic traumatic encephalopathy]] ... widespread throughout his brain, with 'quite severe' damage to the regions involving learning, memory and regulation of emotion."<ref name="CTE">http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2016/2/3/former-nfl-quarterback-ken-stabler-had-cte-brain-disease.html</ref> A professor of neurology at Boston University, Dr. Ann McKee, observed that "we've now found CTE in former NFL players who played every position except kicker."<ref name="CTE"/> Of the 34 NFL player brains that McKee examined, 33 had CTE.<ref>httphttps://www.npr.org/books/titles/228921701/league-of-denial-the-nfl-concussions-and-the-battle-for-truth#excerpt</ref>
=== Premature Death ===
In 2014, multiple articles explained that the NFL was grossly exaggerating any local economic benefit of hosting the Super Bowl, and one economist estimates that the economic benefit is zero. See, e.g., "Super Bowl 2014: Economist says NFL is full of it about local benefits of hosting game."<ref>http://www.nj.com/super-bowl/index.ssf/2014/01/economist_on_local_impact_of_hosting_super_bowl_the_nfl_is_full_of_it.html</ref> Meanwhile, government workers at taxpayer expense spent two years preparing for the event. After the Super Bowl in New Jersey in 2014,<ref>Played in an outdoor stadium in February, generally a bitterly cold time of the year.</ref> local businesses complained about the lack of boost in customers.
The overall economic return from hosting a Super Bowl may actually be a loss. As observed by the ''Daily Beast'':<ref>httphttps://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/01/30/the-nfl-s-super-bowl-con-hosting-the-big-game-isn-t-an-economic-score-for-cities.html</ref>
{{cquote|Typically, according to Baade’s research (PDF) and supported by related studies, Super Bowl host cities see a negative rate of return. 'If you do a pure economic evaluation, we may be able to cover the explicit costs…but we can’t make the argument that accommodating the Super Bowl is actually better than anything else.'}}
At best, only a handful of warm-weather cities which are tourist destinations in and of themselves possibly benefit from hosting a Super Bowl. An example of a city that has done so successfully is [[New Orleans]], which has a large indoor stadium (the Mercedes-Benz Superdome) that has hosted numerous large-scale events, including six of the seven prior Super Bowls held in the city. Yet the NFL decided '''''not''''' to award Super Bowl LII in 2018 to New Orleans—which was celebrating its tri-centennial that year, and was clearly able to host both it and the Super Bowl—and instead awarded it to cold-weather Minneapolis-St. Paul as they were able to connive taxpayers into building a new stadium for the Minnesota Vikings franchise.
The 2018 Super Bowl showed an attendance anomaly -- attendance was reported at 70,081, nearly 3,000 '''''fewer''''' fans than attended the MLS Cup (Major League Soccer final) in the same stadium two months prior, notwithstanding that 1) the Super Bowl was played in Atlanta, home to the world's busiest airport (thus, travel to and from the game would not have been an issue), 2) the Super Bowl featured two large-market teams -- the Los Angeles Rams and the New England Patriots, and 3) the general lack of interest in soccer among American fans, especially in the American South where football is widely popular.<ref>https://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/super-bowl-fails-to-draw-more-fans-than-mls-cup-final-at-same-stadium?fbclid=IwAR3D0_K6N4RiP649kmiqpQhcmZKu9ajxlf7URdDNQxkoxobW9fuIvGjBjOY</ref><ref>It should be noted that the MLS Cup featured a local franchise, Atlanta United FC, in the final.</ref>
== Super Bowl politics ==
[[Liberals]] attempted to force relocation of the [[Super Bowl]] from [[Houston]], the 2017 edition's host city, to pressure that city to cave in to the [[homosexual agenda]]<ref>[httphttps://www.wnd.com/2015/11/lesbian-mayor-vows-to-keep-pressing-for-transgender-law/ Lesbian mayor vows to keep pressing for transgender law] at WND.com</ref> as revenge for losing to conservatives 61% to 39% in Houston's recent referendum involving Houston's [[leftism|leftist]], [[feminism|feminist]] and openly lesbian then-mayor [[Annice Parker|Annise Parker]]'s attempt to force the city to cater to the [[gender confusion|gender-confused]] by allowing them to use restrooms of the opposite gender (i.e., "transgender" men insisting on using women's restrooms).<ref>[httphttps://www.wnd.com/2015/11/houston-voters-reject-lesbian-mayors-transgender-agenda/ Houston voters reject lesbian mayor's LGBT agenda] at WND.com</ref>
== Objectionable Super Bowl shows ==
The gambling drives television viewership up, while actual attendance by fans at football stadiums has generally not grown. With the NFL's exclusion of Tebow—who is very popular with fans at stadiums—the NFL may be saying that genuine fans (as opposed to gamblers and television viewers) don't really matter to the NFL's business model.
=== Catholic Christian position ===
The Catechism of the Catholic Church does not address whether gambling violates the First Commandment against idolatry (gamblers worship uncertainty and fall prey to superstition).<ref>http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s2c1a1.htm</ref> The Catholic Church has stated that gambling becomes morally unacceptable when they deprive someone of what is necessary to provide for his needs and those of others. The passion for gambling then risks becoming an enslavement.<ref>[http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s2c2a7.htm Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 2413]</ref> The early church excommunicated people for gambling, and theologians today generally consider gambling to be morally licit under certain conditions.<ref>http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06375b.htm</ref>
Among Protestants, fundamentalists are the most stringent opponents of gambling, believing it to be wrong in all cases. Evangelicals and Pentecostals/charismatics have generally opposed it as well, though not as stringently as fundamentalists. Mainline Protestants -- consistent with their generally liberal theology -- generally have only provided token opposition.
== Exclusion of Tim Tebow ==
The season generally begins the second week of September. Some players choose to wear cleats themed with patriotic images of [[9/11]]. League management insists that if you choose this honor you will face stiff fines for violating uniform code. The police union offered to pay the players fines.<ref>[https://www.policeone.com/police/community/articles/220218006-NFL-player-wears-9-11-cleats-police-union-offers-to-pay-fines/ NFL player wears 9/11 cleats, police union offers to pay fines, PoliceOne.com, September 12, 2016]</ref> At the very last minute, due to negative publicity, the NFL relented its decision. However, when DeSean Jackson had anti-police, black supremacy themed cleats, the NFL allowed it free of charge.<ref>http://dailysnark.com/desean-jackson-cleats/</ref>
Many liberals hold open contempt for their country. Colin Kaepernick blames the USA for abuse of black people by police (while ignoring that most police and law enforcement forces also employ black officers) and decides to sit during the [[National Anthem]], to wear socks at practice mocking police as "pigs", and to wear a [[Che Guevara]] shirt, creating a national firestorm. Instead of publicly admonishing his actions, the liberal NFL management decided it was acceptable free speech. That image of disrespect now becomes a negative influence on other players. Boycott the NFL would be a top trending hashtag on [[Twitter]]. Sponsors abandoned players that supported this act of disloyalty to the nation. Videos of people burning Kaepernick's jersey went viral. The police union considered boycotting their presence at stadiums. Instead of wielding their undue influence, like they do on a regular basis, and protect the image of the NFL by fining or suspending those players making the sport look bad, NFL management would issue a weak press release stating they don't agree with Kaepernick's position. Like a good liberal, Goodell praises the protest against the National Anthem and encourages activism for social change.<ref>[https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2016/09/18/roger-goodell-commissioner-national-anthem-protests/90633952/ Roger Goodell praises player demonstrations for going from 'protests to progress' USAToday, September 19, 2016]</ref> NFL ratings are at seven-year lows after two weeks into the 2016 season.<ref>[httphttps://www.forbes.com/sites/brandonkatz/2016/09/19/nfls-sunday-night-football-tumbles-hard-in-ratings-yet-again/#60d776c41ad5 ] NFL's 'Sunday Night Football' Tumbles Hard In Ratings Yet Again, Forbes, September 19, 2016</ref>
While overseas, NFL players stood and honored "''[[God Save the Queen]]''",<ref>[httphttps://insider.foxnews.com/2017/09/24/nfl-players-kneel-anthem-stand-british-god-save-queen NFL in London: Ravens, Jaguars Stand for 'God Save the Queen', Kneel for 'Star-Spangled Banner'], [[Fox News]]</ref><ref>[https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2017/09/unreal-nfl-players-stand-god-save-queen-kneel-us-national-anthem-london/ https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2017/09/unreal-nfl-players-stand-god-save-queen-kneel-us-national-anthem-london/], [[Gateway Pundit]]</ref> even though it is Britain's fault that [[slaves]] were brought to America in the first place. NFL players and their supporters like to proclaim that the entire episode is specifically about race.<ref>[https://www.cnn.com/2017/09/27/us/nfl-anthem-protest-race-trump-trnd/index.html The #TakeAKnee protests have always been about race. Period.], [[CNN]]</ref>
== Exploitation of cheerleaders ==
In a demonstration of [[liberal hypocrisy]], the NFL has exploited cheerleaders with below-minimum-wage compensation, despite how fat cat owners are making billions at taxpayer expense. For example, the New York Jets are valued at $2.6 billion but the "Jets cheerleaders were given only $150 per game, and weren’t paid for any practice time," and had to sue just to obtain minimum wage for practice and travel.<ref name="Cheerleaders">httphttps://www.forbes.com/sites/thecut/2016/01/29/new-york-jets-cheerleaders-win-324000-settlement-over-unpaid-work/#3b7c58663436</ref> In addition, onerous conditions are imposed on NFL cheerleaders as to hairstyle. If a conservative-owned business engaged in such unequal pay, liberals would be enraged and would call the owners "misogynistic."
== NFL Hall of Fame bias? ==
== See also ==
*[[Blacklisting Tim Tebow]]
*[[Lifespan of NFL players and fans]]
*[[fantasy football]]
*[[Liberal corporate tyranny]]