By Samson Schneider
Some people believe football is a cult because of its intense and passionate fanbase. While football is beloved and followed by many it is fundamentally different from a cult in many ways. A cult has generally been known to involve devotion to someone or some sort of ideology. They usually include people being forced into doing activities that they don’t want to do. Football is, and has always been, a sport that’s built on values like selflessness and inclusion.Those involved in Cult-ish ideals are often forced into things, which differs greatly from how anyone can choose to be a fan. In many ways, football could not be more different from a cult in the way that it fosters inclusion rather than coercion.
Football has long been a sport that brings people together. Activities like tailgating and watching games together are shared by people all over the country from every demographic. Events like these promote positive social interaction between fans. This could not be further from a cult, which isolates people from normal society.
In America, football is one of the largest entertainment industries, and it is deeply embedded in the mainstream flow of culture. For many families, sitting down to watch a football game is a weekly opportunity to spend quality time together. Football’s cultural importance adds to the long list of significant differences drawn between football and a cult.
Football promotes positive values like discipline, teamwork and accountability. These values are seen at all levels of football from pee-wee ball all the way to the NFL. In my own experience playing football at our school, I have found that there are a lot of positives that come from the team aspect of the sport. This year football gave me the opportunity to grow and learn while being around my teammates. Throughout the season I came to realize that whether playing or watching, football is something that helps lift up both its players and its community.
While there may be some ugly moments between players and fans, it is important to remember the positive impact that football has. The sport unites people all across the country and helps them to forge lasting and meaningful relationships that go way beyond football itself.
By Axel Blake
The culture of football is extreme, more so than any other sport. No other sport has the United States Air Force fly over college games. No other sport has halftime shows with theatrics that Broadway can’t buy and world famous artists. No other field sport has quite the body count. The fans’ devotion to football is unmatched, and fights between team fanatics reach far beyond petty brawls. People have lost their lives to the game, even people who have never put on the helmet. Football is, for lack of a better term, a cult.
No doubt this is an unpopular take. Obviously the word cult has a terrific negative connotation, as it should, but there is still an argument to be had. Fans of the sport wear paraphernalia, cover their houses in flags and merchandise, and get tattoos of their teams. Most of this is harmless, though. However, when fans get into fights with each other, it can be lethal. 53 year-old Dale Mooney lost his life in a stadium over a game-related fight in 2023.
The stands and the streets aren’t the only place where lives are taken. The field is without a doubt far more dangerous than the surrounding seats. According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), 2 players die every season on average. The only sport with a higher body count is boxing. The NIH also states that 1.2 million players get injured every year on the field. Most of these might be scrapes and bruises, but there’s also the concussions, permanent brain damage, broken bones, among other things.
Our school’s team is no Superbowl. But we do have our own issues. The admissions are far more regulated than any of our other sports, and security guards are often stationed near the gates because students have tried climbing over them to get in for free, or smuggle in food and drinks. The crowding is remarkable too, with each group of people getting a section on the bleachers. Band and color guard get benches, so do families, and students are organized by subgroups. There are sections for each grade level, ranging in quality. The upperclassmen are always packed tight together in one area of the stands. However, the freshman side of the bleachers are deserted. If you walk all the way down to the left, you’ll find barely five kids scattered around in the empty seats, because all the crowding is reserved for students who already have personal connections to the game. People go to our football games for many reasons, whether you’re related to, friends with, or otherwise connected to a player.
Any sport can get over-involved, heated, out of control, but only football gets this amount of fans in on it. A pickleball player might be very passionate, but if you ask a pickleball fan if they’d fist fight someone that supported an opposing team, they’d look at you like you’re crazy.
Of course, I’m not suggesting we shut down one of America’s favorite sports, but there has to be more safety measures, something other than greasing street poles. A cult is a group of people that worship one object, person, or concept, even if it puts themselves in mortal danger. People commit themselves to this sport to the extreme, sometimes to their own detriment. Cult is a strong word, but in this case it’s reasonable; there are an alarming amount of similarities.
