The Pregame Warm Ups for Super Bowl XLIX: Soft Footballs, Crying Quarterbacks, and Other Offensive Formations

An excerpt from my post on the NFL and masculinity on the Justice Unbound website:

Super Bowl week is here! And the NFL is stretched out in all of its media glory for America to adore and, more now than perhaps ever in the history of American football, to dissect.

The scrutiny that football is under right now is, indeed, unprecedented. And the 2014 season has been one thing after another in the world of American football in general, not just for the NFL. From more talk about concussions,  to college players trying to form unions, to domestic violence, to lawsuits against the NCAA for academic fraud, the pressure is building for football to come clean about its problems.

But, human nature shows itself again and again to be agile when it comes to avoiding the big questions. We can say we’re sorry for the little missteps, but changing long held patterns, hallowed assumptions, and unconscious biases are not transitions we surrender to easily. (read full post)