Asylum.com posted an interesting article about Colts’ star Peyton Manning “spearheading an effort to have football included in the Olympics.” Manning is reaching out to the public to sign a petition to help his cause.
But should American football be part of the games? In 2012, baseball and softball will be dropped from the Olympic roster, and it seems the IOC owes America at least one event, football or otherwise, in which the U.S. would be among the gold medal favorites. Let’s consider the options …
Pro: NFL preseason games sell out in Mexico and Japan, and last year a regular season game in London was the hottest ticket in town. The rest of the world sees in football the qualities that have made it our number one sport, and including it in the Olympics would only widen its appeal (and allow for a few more friendly wagers, of course).
Con: A 160-pound Namibian wide receiver who learned his craft from a Jerry Rice coloring book goes over the middle and is flattened by a 240-pound throat-slash-gesturing strong safety from the University of Miami. If football becomes an Olympic sport, that scene gets repeated for like the next 60 years.
Tell me that video couldn’t be a SNL skit? Love the music, Peyton.
It’s hard to imagine Jamaican wide receiver Usain Bolt going over the middle against Ed Reed without shuddering a little bit. While I wouldn’t mind seeing the U.S. dominant another Olympic event, I don’t know if introducing football to the summer games is such a good idea. It would no doubt have an affect on training camps and what if a marquee player got hurt and had to miss an entire season or even worse, the rest of his career?
