America's Pastime: 100 Reasons the NFL Is King of American Sports
There used to be no argument that baseball was America's pastime. But that's not the truth anymore—the NFL now is king of American sports.
The reasons for baseball's fall from the top are many, and they're not the subject of this piece, so we won't go into them here.
We are here to look at why NFL football is king, though, and the only place to start is at the bottom.
Here are the top 100 reasons football is the king of sports in America.
100. Beer Commercials
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Without football, do you really think companies like Budweiser and Coors would be motivated enough to spend the kind of money they do on some of these commercials?
There still would be beer commercials; they just wouldn't be as funny.
99. Field Goals
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What other sport gets everyone excited over a kicker coming out to boot a ball through some yellow uprights?
98. Draft Busts
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While the NBA has had draft busts, no one produces draft busts like the NFL.
When someone says the term "draft bust," does anyone other than Ryan Leaf and JaMarcus Russell pop into your head?
If those two don't, it's probably because you're thinking of an NFL draft bust on your own team.
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97. Kickoff Returns
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Admit it—every time you see a kickoff, you know there's the potential for a mass melee in the middle of the field that could end with your returner bursting through the pack and running for daylight.
Isn't it great when it actually happens?
96. He Hate Me
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Rod Smart may have had his nickname "He Hate Me" coined in the XFL, but without the NFL, there wouldn't have been an XFL.
So thank you NFL for giving us one of the most ridiculous nicknames for a professional athlete in the history of professional sports.
95. The XFL
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What other sport created competition brands? Not baseball; not basketball.
Only the NFL could create a consumer need so great that the offseason void has been attempted to be filled by the likes of Vince McMahon and the XFL.
*Sniff* Goodbye XFL—we hardly knew ye.
94. The Super Bowl Shuffle
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Only the NFL seems to come up with team-building activities like having players film a music video that becomes a pop culture sensation so big it's still talked about 25 years later.
93. Brian's Song
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The story of Brian Piccolo and his struggle with terminal cancer became one of the most successful TV movies ever made.
92. C'mon Man!
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The weekly "C'mon Man!" roundup on ESPN is a segment always worth watching. Endlessly entertaining.
91. Pacman Jones
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Could this guy have had a career in any other sport given how he conducted himself his first few years in the league?
No, I don't think so either. Thanks, football!
90. J-E-T-S Jets! Jets! Jets!
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The Jets are the only professional sports franchise I'm aware of that has a devoted fan lead the crowd in a spelling contest while wearing a fireman's helmet.
Thank you, Ed Anzalone, for being a Super Fan.
89. Preseason Games
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Only in football do you get some level of excitement over a preseason game so you can watch draft picks that won't play much during the regular season and future FedEx drivers play in the same game.
88. Jerseys as a Fashion Statement
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There's nothing like walking into a stadium and seeing 10,000 people all wearing the same jersey with the same name and number on it. How do you tell them apart?
87. Raider Nation
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No one dresses up like an Oakland Raiders fan. Cleveland Browns fans all dress up like dogs, and we'll get to that later, but the Raiders fans have a much broader theme with the skull logo to play off.
86. Quarterback Controversies
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No one is more popular on a team than the backup quarterback.
85. Lawrence Taylor
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Lawrence Taylor is the gift that keeps on giving year after year, and he's retired!
84. Deion Sanders
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This guy didn't earn the nickname "Prime Time" for nothing. Deion thrilled and entertained us on the field, and he continues to entertain us in the studio.
83. The Hail Mary
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There's nothing like watching a quarterback launch a ball 60 yards into a group of about 10 guys, all fighting to come down with the ball.
If your guy gets the ball, you win. If he doesn't, game over, man.
82. The Prevent Defense
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Nothing gets a fanbase riled up like watching their defense abandon everything that made the unit valuable for three-and-a-half quarters.
Want to watch a team lose a game in the final seven minutes? Watch any defense that goes into prevent mode, giving up the short pass for a 50-yard bomb for 50 years.
81. Metcalf Up the Middle
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AFC North fans know this phrase better than anyone.
Metcalf up the middle: A phrase used to describe the brain fart a head coach makes when it's 3rd-and-23 and you think that by running your smallest tailback up the middle of the line, you'll completely fool the other team.
This play was originated by none other than Bill Belichick while he was head coach of the Cleveland Browns.
It never worked.
80. The Snowplow Guy
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Remember this guy?
Mark Henderson can get a free beer or dinner anywhere in Boston. I think it's a city ordinance.
79. That Hole in Cowboys Stadium
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New stadium or old, that hole in the roof is about as iconic a "thing" as there is in any sport anywhere in the world.
78. The Frozen Tundra of Lambeau Field
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If there's any field "frozen tundra" is associated with, it's Lambeau Field.
No one wants to play there in the winter, except Green Bay Packers players.
77. NFL Draft Parties
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Only NFL football creates an unofficial holiday out of announcing names on a podium so said person can come out in a suit and shake hands with the commissioner.
76. Bill Parcells
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Bill Parcells IS football. Between his success on and off the field, Parcells is a name that doesn't exist in the public consciousness without football.
Besides, Parcells gave us quotes like this: "If they want you to cook the dinner, at least they ought to let you shop for some of the groceries."
75. Ron Jaworski
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If you don't like listening to Jaws talk about football, you're un-American.
74. Hard Hits
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Yes, the NFL is taking a new, tougher approach to some of the brutal helmet-to-helmet hits in the NFL, and this is a good thing.
But yes, we love watching these guys knock the crap out of each other.
73. Watching "That Guy" Fail
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Sorry, Dallas fans, but there's nothing more entertaining than watching certain players fail completely.
The player changes from year to year and depends on which team you claim as your own.
But watching Tony Romo throw interceptions always has been a highlight of the weekend for many non-Dallas fans.
72. Jimmy Johnson
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How did Jimmy Johnson get on Survivor?
Because he's JIMMY JOHNSON!
Only an NFL coach like Jimmy gets that call.
71. The Two-Minute Warning
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The two-minute warning is just one of many NFL-isms that have invaded daily life.
Plus, when they call for the two-minute warning, the game goes to commercial and you can run to the kitchen!
70. Mumbles
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Only the NFL could create a superstar out of a guy who mumbles his way through every press conference he's contractually bound to appear at, has been proven to be a cheater and generally is disliked by anyone who isn't a fan of the New England Patriots.
69. Marty Ball
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Marty Schottenheimer may be retired, but his legacy lives on. Marty almost always got his team to the playoffs before going conservative for no apparent reason and getting beat before he could even have a chance to win a Super Bowl.
Marty Ball still is played by offenses around the league. We won't disclose which teams they are.
68. The Super Bowl Halftime Show
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Ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous, and even sparking several lawsuits one year, the Super Bowl halftime show is as much a topic of conversation as the game itself.
67. Mike Mayock
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Just another example of having more success off the field than on the field.
Godspeed Mike Mayock!
66. John Facenda
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While these guys film the action, the dulcet tones of John Facenda (the voice of NFL Films) do their job, unseen in the background.
It doesn't matter that he died in 1984; his voice still can be heard today. It's magic.
65. Sal Paolantonio
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Big Sal up there has one of the most recognizable voices in the industry, and we love him for it.
64. The NFL Network
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If you want to keep up with the latest in the NFL and get top-notch analysis, ESPN isn't the only place to go to now.
The NFL Network—the only individual sports-focused network worth watching.
63. "The League"
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A TV series that revolves around a bunch of guys and their fantasy football league.
Yes, only football can achieve this.
62. NFL Sunday Ticket/Red Zone
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If I have to explain even one aspect of this slide title to you, you're on the wrong web page.
61. Thanksgiving Day Games
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What would Thanksgiving be without the refuge of football to take us away from Uncle Earl's endless stories about his time in the Army?
Thanksgiving and football go together like peanut butter and jelly.
60. Saturday Night Live
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Peyton Manning and Joe Montana both had very memorable appearances on Saturday Night Live, along with Tom Brady.
If you're a successful quarterback in the NFL and you win a Super Bowl, chances are SNL will want you to host.
59. Mel Kiper's Hair
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Mel Kiper's hair defies the laws of gravity and physics.
His hair is perfect; accept this fact before it destroys you!
58. Chad Ochocinco
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Chad Johnson become Chad Ochocinco. Only in America.
57. Gus Johnson Touchdown Calls
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Gus Johnson's play-by-play is becoming a YouTube must-see.
Years from now, Johnson will be mourned by millions when his voice is silenced.
56. Crazy People Now Have a Place to Work
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Some people have a screw or two loose. That's why there's the NFL.
55. Gatorade Baths
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Would Gatorade baths exist without football?
No.
54. Madden Football
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Do any of the other sports have a video game whose cover boy becomes a national story?
No. Again, no.
53. The Pick Six
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The sight of your team's safety, corner or defensive back plucking the ball out of the air and running for the end zone is a feeling not experienced quite enough for most fans.
52. The Dawg Pound
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The Dawg Pound means business. They rallied to bring a team back from extinction and gave the Browns a marketable logo outside of the orange helmet.
51. Billy Johnson's White Shoes
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Billy "White Shoes" Johnson, nicknamed such for dying his shoes white in high school, earned his fame for his Funky Chicken touchdown celebrations.
There also were his white shoes, but why nitpick?
50. Al Davis Zombie Jokes
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It's well known that Al Davis actually died in 1997 and has been leading the Raiders from the grave ever since.
Davis is a larger than life personality, even though he sucks the life out of young virgins in order to maintain his undead status.
But it wouldn't be the NFL without him, and once Frodo and Gandalf dispatch Davis, it truly will be a sad day for NFL fans.
49. Cheerleaders
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Cheerleaders singlehandedly make bad games worth watching. The NFL turned watching girls in skimpy outfits do dance routines into an art and a profession.
All male readers of this piece will stand and acknowledge how important cheerleaders are to the fabric of American culture.
48. Peyton Manning's Pre-Snap Routine
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Watching Peyton Manning work the huddle (or no-huddle) and read the defense before the snap is a thing of beauty. It's like watching a maestro at work.
47. The Ickey Shuffle
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Ickey Woods started his own dance, the Ickey Shuffle, that got him a lot of attention. The league eventually made him do it on the sideline.
But you can see it on YouTube any time you want.
46. Parity
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The word "parity" now is in the public domain because of the NFL. In NFL terms, parity is the ability for any team to go from worst to first in the span of one or two years.
One day the Cleveland Browns and Detroit Lions will enter this league.
45. Cheeseheads
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A guy walking down the street in a dog suit could be on his way to a children's party. A guy walking down the street with a piece of cheese on his head is going to a Packers game.
44. The No-Huddle Offense
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When the clock is ticking and the offense needs to move, the game speeds up and the huddle goes away.
It's a thrill to watch the seat-of-your-pants movement of a no-huddle offense.
43. The Fake Spike and Pass
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When the quarterback is supposed to spike the ball and stop the clock but instead dumps a pass out to the flat for a touchdown, it's an awesome thing.
42. Offensive Linemen Wearing No Sleeves in December
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Offensive linemen like to man up and not wear sleeves in sub-zero temperatures in December.
Don't ask why. It's an offensive lineman thing; you wouldn't understand.
41. The Blind-Side Sack and Fumble Return for a Touchdown
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Its simplicity and beauty are unmatched. The defender comes around the quarterback's blind side and delivers a game-changing blow as the ball goes flying, and the offensive lineman who got burned wonders if he's going to be riding the bench.
40. Playoff Games in the Snow
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If you don't like NFL playoff games in the snow, you're not an NFL fan. There's nothing like a LOT of snow to make a playoff game just that much more interesting and separate the men from the boys.
39. Jon Gruden's Coaching Camp
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Jon Gruden's Coaching Camp is must see TV for any football fan. It's entertaining AND informative.
While his job is to be nice to all these players, there's no doubt he finds things to correct in all their games.
38. The Onside Kick
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The onside kick—a desperation play, usually in the fourth quarter, to get the ball back after a score to try to tie or win the game before time runs out.
Never a dull moment.
37. The Lateral for the Win...or the Loss
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The lateral to win the game, or lose it, as the case usually is. Players throw the ball left to right, back and forth as they try to find a hole to run through and win the game.
36. The NFL Betting Lines
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How Vegas took an underground betting thing and made it mainstream is an epic story.
There is no sports without betting. Las Vegas bookmakers have had a very healthy lifestyle because of it.
35. Frank Gifford's Monday Night Football Introductions
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Frank Gifford's taped introduction to the Monday Night Football games is a great way to connect younger fans with the heritage of the game. Frank Gifford is football.
34. The Ray Lewis Celebration Dance
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What is that dance? Is that a celebration of a sack, or the fact he's not sitting in jail?
33. Larry Fitzgerald Catching Passes in Traffic
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If there's one thing Larry Fitzgerald does well, and he does a lot of things well, he goes in the middle of the field and grabs that pass out of double coverage.
Fitzgerald makes a difficult pass play look easy.
32. Touchdown Celebrations
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Nobody does a celebration like Terrell Owens, not even his teammate Chad Ochocinco.
Owens delights in the attention he gets from breaking the rules, and expect that to be a reason to continue watching the guy.
31. Deep Ball
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When you see the defense spread out and the quarterback load up for a deep pass, your adrenaline starts pumping, your heart begins to race and you get that feeling at the pit of your stomach that something good may happen.
If John Elway was the quarterback, chances are something good would happen.
30. Chris Berman
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Love or hate him, Chris Berman is as much a part of the football landscape as Howard Cosell was.
His catchphrases put him on the map, and his solid presence on TV has kept him in the business for more than 30 years.
29. Troy Polamalu's Hair
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Troy Polamalu's hair is insured for $1 million.
Carry on.
28. Gutbusters
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Fat men in tight clothes. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the NFL lineman.
27. Dick Vermeil
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Dick Vermeil did a lot of crying, but he did a lot of winning. There never has been and never will be another person like Vermeil.
26. The Telestrator
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The Telestrator—where would modern sports be without it?
How would we know which hole the running back just burst through without the telestrator?
25. The Lambeau Leap
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The Lambeau Leap: often imitated, never duplicated.
24. Rex Ryan's Mouth
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Is there a better quote machine in the NFL than Rex Ryan? Between his press conferences and HBO Hard Knocks, Ryan's legacy in the NFL and America is secure.
Now let's go eat a God#$@*& snack!
23. HBO Hard Knocks
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Speaking of Rex Ryan and the Jets, only football would inspire the creation of the show Hard Knocks, which isn't just television—it's compellivision.
22. The Peyton Manning Sour Face
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A comedy to most, a tragedy to Colts fans, the Peyton Manning Sour Face has become legendary mostly due to Bill Simmons making fun of it, but you can't deny the inherent comedy in his reaction to a bad play.
21. Chris Johnson in the Open Field
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Chris Johnson ran for more than 2,000 yards last season, and if you give the guy an inch, he'll take 150 yards.
Running backs like Johnson don't come along every year, so enjoy watching this guy run.
20. The Chicken Wing Industry
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Wings, brats and burgers go together like eggs and bacon. Certainly these foods would be popular without football, but would there be restaurant chains specifically geared toward wings and football without the game?
I think not.
19. Tailgating
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Speaking of food, football created tailgating as we know it. All hail football!
18. Trash Talking
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If there's one constant in the NFL, it's that there will be trash talking. While professional wrestling has raised trash talking to an art form, no one pays more attention to trash talk like an opposing NFL team that just got dissed on ESPN.
17. Monday Night Football
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Is there anything on Monday nights worth watching when the NFL isn't in session?
I'm sure there is if you thought hard enough.
16. The Two-Minute Drill
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Similar to the no-huddle, the two-minute drill is a no-huddle on PEDs, to use the parlance of our times.
Nothing like watching a team try to do its thing at three times the normal speed.
15. Mike Singletary
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Other than Rex Ryan, there's no NFL head coach who can command a press conference like Singletary.
It's too bad his win-loss record doesn't reflect his passion.
14. The Stiff Arm
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Nothing like an arm to the face to keep a run going. The stiff arm is a classic trick, but it works and is very fun to watch.
13. Jared Allen
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Jared Allen has developed a larger than life personality, but in a good way despite legal troubles early in his career. He's become an integral part of the Vikings team and a good reason to watch football.
12. Ed Hochuli's Biceps
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Not only does Ed Hochuli have a free pass to any NFL game he referees, he's got two tickets to the gun show.
11. Tim Tebow Mania
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You cannot stop it; you cannot contain it. It's Tim Tebow, and his fans will not be stopped. Tim Tebow takes over offenses, coaches' mindsets and Internet searches.
It's what he does! It's ALL he does!
10. The Best Playoff Setup in America
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Forget the BCS—that's a joke. Basketball and hockey playoffs go on for about four months, it seems, and begin with what feels like half the league.
Baseball playoffs always seem to involve the Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers and Phillies.
Give me the NFL football structure any day.
9. The Buildup to Sunday
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An NFL week isn't a bunch of downtime with a game on Sunday. Each day has its own story line as part of the buildup and aftermath of Sunday's game.
The offseason represents a break from a welcome routine the summertime only makes an NFL fan long for.
8. The NFL Draft
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We talked about draft parties earlier, but the actual draft itself is what makes those parties happen.
The baseball draft? You have to be really dedicated to even want to see the first round of that event.
Basketball? Once you get past the first dozen or so picks, nobody cares anymore.
The NFL? A three-day, must-see event.
Winner? The NFL.
7. The Super Bowl
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Other sports have championship games, and baseball has the World Series, but the NFL has the Super Bowl, the biggest unofficial holiday in America.
It's bigger than most official holidays and generates billions in revenue.
6. Dick Stockton's Senility
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It's Dick Stockton. The man is certifiable, and it's all because of football. Hooray, football!
5. John Madden
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The pure genius that is John Madden's ramblings over the years already is sorely missed. Madden truly loved the game, and there's nothing he loved more than bringing that game home to the viewer.
Madden games were fun even when the teams were terrible.
4. Matt Millen on ESPN
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Matt Millen first becomes a major reason for the complete and abysmal failure of the Detroit Lions for the past decade, and then he becomes an analyst for ESPN.
This does not happen in hockey.
3. Made Drinking on Sundays Fashionable Again
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Sundays aren't just for church anymore. Sundays are for football, which means eating a lot and drinking in moderation because that's what we promote here.
There's nothing like a cool, refreshing adult beverage to soothe the wounds of a loss, or to celebrate the victory.
2. Brett Favre's...Extremity
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The cult of personality that the NFL created around Brett Favre now has created a monster, or maybe not depending on what you thought of Brett's alleged...text.
We'll leave it at that because this is supposed to be a family site. There've been naked pictures of athletes before, but none of them created the buzz that Favre's did.
1. Fantasy Football
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Without the NFL, there would be no fantasy football, and I'm not sure I want to live in a world where there is no fantasy football.
The NFL inadvertently created one of the country's most passionate hobbies, as NFL fanatics everywhere obsess over stats and scores to the point where they want to watch every game and every down so they can track how well their fantasy team is doing.
It's the single most brilliant marketing move in the history of professional sports, and it happened almost by accident.
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