This year, I watched a couple of hours of NFL football. My viewing has dwindled to almost none, due to lack of interest and lack of access. Still, the Super Bowl was this past weekend and I was looking forward to watching the first half and hopefully, some clever commercials.
I made it through about 20 minutes before turning it off. The commercials I saw were surprisingly lame. In fact, many of them I had already seen before.
But what really turned me off were the performances of players after they made a big play or scored a touchdown. It’s quote common now to see a bunch of teammates race to get in front of a cameraman to perform “the Griddy”. Or, worse, to perform some pre-scripted skit they came up with in advance. Even simple tackles or a decent running play usually end with a superman pose or “300 flex and scream”.
It all seems performative, excessive and ostentatious to me. Clearly the players are mugging for the cameras in the hopes of going viral on Instagram or TikTok.
But I recognize the problem is not them. It’s me.
I’ve never been performative. It’s not my style. Don’t get me wrong – I love being recognized and rewarded for my accomplishments. I relished having a reputation as the go to guy at work and the over achiever at school. But I preferred quiet recognition from my peers.
The football players are all much younger than me. They are mostly Generation Z, in their 20s and early 30s. They have grown up on social media. For them, I suspect going viral, being performative and being “on camera” all the time is desirable.
So, I won’t criticize them. Due to age and disposition, I have no interest in spending time in the attention-driven social media world. And so, barring an invitation to someone’s super bowl party next year, I think I may have watched my last NFL Game.
I’m sure they will be fine without me.