For those of you who said they were cutting back or eliminating watching the NFL . . .

Well, have you?

  • I am watching more NFL than before

    Votes: 2 0.8%
  • I am watching the same amount of NFL as before

    Votes: 21 8.8%
  • I am watching a bit less NFL than before

    Votes: 40 16.8%
  • I am watching much less NFL than before

    Votes: 105 44.1%
  • I have watched zero NFL this season

    Votes: 32 13.4%
  • I never planned to cut back

    Votes: 37 15.5%
  • I never really watched the NFL

    Votes: 1 0.4%

  • Total voters
    238
I'm now paid to present an NFL game every weekend, so I'm following the sport a LOT more than I used to. But that aside, I'd still be watching the NFL just as ravenously this year as I have every other year of my sporting fandom - and e.g. yesterday's Falcons-Redskins game, which I wasn't involved in at all, was utterly joyous to me in a way that few if any sporting events I've watched this year have been.

I wonder if it's easier for Pats fans to disengage from the NFL simply because your team has already achieved pretty much everything an NFL team can possibly achieve, and there are no worlds left to conquer - only to reconquer. But then, I'm generally quite fascinated by the mentality of Boston fans given everything the Pats and Red Sox and Celtics and even Bruins have achieved over the last few decades - a mentality which seems utterly remote from my experiences as an Atlanta fan first (with my Boston fandom generally being a very distant second). See this thread, for example.
 

FlexFlexerson

Member
SoSH Member
I voted "a little bit" - but largely because I've never been a massive NFL fan. I still watch Pats games as appointment viewing but now studiously avoid all other games and media coverage. I watched only a bit of that stuff before, but now I just systematically avoid it. I'm not ashamed to admit that once this Pats Dynasty run wraps up I'll tune out of the sport almost entirely. Too grotesque and I'd already be done with the sport if I were following a lesser team.
 

tims4wins

PN23's replacement
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
37,054
Hingham, MA
I selected much less, and as articulated previously and in other places, it is mostly due to life circumstances. I have three kids age 6 and under, I don't have the time to sit in front of the TV consuming pre-game starting at 11am all the way through SNF ending at midnight. I DVR the Pats games and watch them when I can. I don't stay up for night games, it's not worth the physical toll the next day. And I don't even watch most Pats games live, A) because of life, and B) I realized some time ago that watching them live isn't very good for my health - my heart rate and blood pressure rise a ton. So basically now I watch only the playoff games live and a few others here and there.

All that being said - I follow the league almost as closely as when I was watching wall to wall football. I still love it. I just don't watch as much as I once did.
 

JFS7

New Member
Jul 21, 2005
182
After vowing last year never to watch another NFL game, I have failed that goal but have cut back substantially. Only now watch Pats games, on DVR, don’t know the score, starting at half time, without the ads. Have not watched a single NFL game without the Pats.

Have only watched one or two college games this year, proud to say.

Would likely get to 95% of my goal of total NFL avoidance except that my wife loves to watch and it is something we do together
 

OurF'ingCity

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 22, 2016
8,469
New York City
Very selective in what I watch.

Pats yes; locals (Ravens and Skins) on in the background for noise and news if I am hanging around anyway.

Otherwise, it has to be Rams at Saints level to draw serious attention from me.
This is pretty much exactly where I am except replace Ravens and Skins with Giants and Jets - and they are both so terrible I don't generally watch those games either.

Even for the Pats, the detail with which I follow them has declined somewhat - I don't have Sunday Ticket and recently got rid of cable so don't have RedZone anymore, so for the Pats games not on national TV I will just follow on gamecast or what have you, and even the national Pats games I will generally start on my iPad while I watch a movie, TV show or play a video game and then move the Pats onto the TV if it's a close, good game.

Deflategate/anthem stuff/Kaepernick/concussions/etc. is part of it, but to be honest maybe not a big part - it's more just getting older and having more responsibilities/other stuff to do on Sundays and cutting cable and realizing I don't particularly like the NFL enough to bother looking into other ways to get more games. Also, the Pats' recent success is a pretty big part of the reason - it's basically a given in the Brady/Belichick era that the team makes the playoffs so it's hard to work up too much interest in a random Pats/Bills game or whatever.
 

BigSoxFan

Member
SoSH Member
May 31, 2007
47,083
I don't live in MA anymore so I will make a point to watch any Pats game that is on tv. Sometimes family stuff gets in the way of the 1pm games so I actually prefer the primetime games. Have 2 kids under 4 so free time is now gone but, at a minimum, will check scores of other games, mostly due to fantasy interests. I used to watch tons of college football but now I only watch my alma mater BC if they're on. The inevitability of Bama/Clemson dominance is definitely making an impact there.

I've soured on the NFL as a whole but not enough to make any material impact on my viewing habits. This is mostly because of the Brady/Belichick dynamic. They are both so good at what they do that I'm going to watch as much as I can for as long as they're around. I know a rebuilding effort is coming in a couple years and am fine with that. When that time comes, it'll almost be a relief in that I'll be able to watch without obsessing about how a Week 5 game might impact the race for the 1 seed. Yes, first world problems, I know.
 

thehitcat

Member
SoSH Member
Nov 25, 2003
2,376
Windham, ME
I'm still watching alot of college football on Saturdays as I still enjoy the spectacle of it all but I'm watching almost none of the ancillary shows like pre-post game, the rankings show, mid-week MAC-tion or Thursday and Friday night games. I have watched only 3 total NFL games including the Patriots (of whom I am a fan) this entire season. My Sunday's have suddenly freed up almost entirely and it is enjoyable. Yesterday as an example the only NFL I watched was the last 5 minutes of the first quarter and the entire 2nd quarter of Pats-Packers before checking out completely. I am moving to a point where I plan to be done with the NFL completely when B&B leave the scene.
 

Lose Remerswaal

Experiencing Furry Panic
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
So far about 190 out of 200 replies have cut back. Nice job thinking about something like this and following through. I'm impressed.

Wonder who the 1 is who is watching more after planning to watch less!!?!?!
 

accidentalsuccess

New Member
Jul 15, 2005
310
I used to watch nearly all day sunday and almost every MNF. I went down to just the pats because of the Ideal Gas bs + the head injury/mental health issues. Last few seasons I probably watched 5-6 games, including playoffs. This year I've watched parts of 2? 3?. Don't really miss it and I'm still on the 'i'm out when B&B are done' track.

Some of the recovered time is family time. Sports watching has drifted to EPL/MLS but the overall hours is way, way less.
 

Shelterdog

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Feb 19, 2002
15,375
New York City
Watching much less. I really only watch the Pats game now and once this run is over I don't see myself watching more than a couple of playoff games a year.
 

Norm Siebern

Member
SoSH Member
May 12, 2003
7,123
Western MD
Pretty much have stopped watching any game other than Patriots, and honestly have stopped watching all the Patriots games as well. I'm surprised at myself, to be truthful. Thought I would keep watching the Patriots, but I have missed two games, (Bills and Packers) and I didn't really miss it. I think the NFL is boring. Some of that is sports overload after the World Series, but if the NFL is losing me, they are in trouble.
 

Nator

Member
SoSH Member
I have DirecTV, and have opted to go without the Sunday ticket. I have enjoyed watching nearly all the Pats games due to their heavily nationally televised start. (Out here in Chicago market, and so far the only game that hasn't been on was the Dolphins game, DTV gives you week 1 free of the Sunday Ticket, so I was able to catch the week 1 Houston game that would not have been available out here). I know most SOSHers are happy with the return to 1pm kickoffs coming up, but I have been kind of spoiled and am considering my options for the next few Sundays, because the team is starting to get good again during the heart of the season.

Will casually watch SNF & MNF while doing other things around the house. Usually forget all about TNF until the 3rd quarter is well underway most weeks. Since the Bears are more watchable then they have been in over a decade, I'll catch a bit more of their games with my wife, but only as our schedule with the 3 kids allow. College ball is just background noise, and haven't sat down to watch more than a snap or two here and there.

I haven't watched pre-game shows in over 5 years, and don't miss them at all.
 

KiltedFool

has a terminal case of creeping sharia
SoSH Member
Dec 22, 2005
2,400
Last night was the first game I've watched all season. We've basically cut the cord, mostly netflix/hulu/amazon prime type stuff, and live sports is one weakness of that approach. Haven't even cared to go to the bar to watch any games, I watch the highlights online the next workday. The Panthers/Steelers was streamable on Amazon Prime, so I watched it live. Yay I guess. Caring less and less about football the older I get.
 

dbn

Member
SoSH Member
Feb 10, 2007
7,785
La Mancha.
Slight diversion here, but it seems that one -- IMO -- reason to hate the NFL that has seemingly been somewhat forgotten after having been in the forefront not long ago is the use of the "R"-word. I no longer use the racial slur that is the Washington football team nickname. Last month I moved to the metro DC area, so it's all around me now. I don't bring up the issue in public, but I do refuse to use the word myself.
 

Murby

New Member
Mar 16, 2006
1,790
Boston Metro
If it wasn’t for my wife, no football would be on my television. She cares about her hometown team and the SuperBowl.
 

axx

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 16, 2005
8,126
I am watching less, but in fairness I have watched nothing else on TV outside of a small amount of sports while at a relatives house. Didn't even watch the World Series. I have a hard enough staying up that late for the Patriots, and the NFL is killing me with all these night games.
 

Pitt the Elder

Member
SoSH Member
Sep 7, 2013
4,417
I haven't lived in New England since high school (18 years ago now) and so it's always been a challenge to watch non prime time Pat's games, but I would always put in a ton of effort to do so, which typically meant going to sports bars, pirating them, or, as I've earned more money, buying Sunday ticket. However, over the past 3+ years or so, I'm watching less and less football. I still follow every game, but, in total, I've probably watched only watched 3 complete games of football of the 9 the Pats have played, though I'm often following online or listening to a radio stream when I'm not watching. The Red Sox playing into October the past three years have been a big part of my reduced watching, especially this year - I only have so much time to watch sports, and Sox playoff baseball will always win out. Besides that, family life has become a higher priority, especially when I need to get stuff done on the weekends. When I was single in my 20s, I could spend 3 hours on a Sunday afternoon watching football, but now I need that time to Adult.

Honestly, the Pats perennial success has something to do with it, too. I'm pretty confident they'll be playing meaningful football in January, so I don't mind letting half a season play out before checking in for the home stretch and the playoffs (this is pretty much what I do with the Celtics when they're good enough to make it that far). And when Brady retires and the Pats finally have a bad season? I'll probably disengage from the team and the NFL even further. I'm already at the the point I'm seriously considering cutting Sunday Ticket and if the Pats start to suck I'm just not sure how much of my time and money I'd be willing to spend to watch.

Ultimately, I just don't enjoy the NFL product as much anymore. The concussions, CTE, deflategate, the commercials, the pace of play, the politicization of the kneelers, and the race dynamics between largely white owners and tv executives making tons of money on the backs of (often minority) players without guaranteed contacts that are destroying their bodies and are often in the precipice of being out of a job... It's just not something I enjoy that much anymore. I grew up loving the Pats and the team has given me some of my best sports memories, and I've been lucky enough to have a rooting interest in arguably some the best super bowls of all time (and hey, we even won some of them) but my current interest in the NFL is Patriots-exclusive (I do not enjoy watching any game not involving the Pats) and due mostly to inertia.
 

Lose Remerswaal

Experiencing Furry Panic
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Today will be tough for me. Wife is away this weekend, and I emptied the DVR yesterday. I have brunch plans that will get me home right around 1PM. Any warmer out and I'd head to Castle Island or someplace similar for a nice walk and people/boat/plane watching.

I did watch a big chunk of the BC game last night, first football of any kind I had watched all season, and I really enjoyed it and the game thread(s) here.
 

Lose Remerswaal

Experiencing Furry Panic
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Record is still clear. Went to bed early last night after lots of shoveling and scraping. Was around halftime per score check on my phone. Woke up around 11 and checked my phone, wife asked what happened, told her "the football groundhog saw his shadow, so two more weeks of Patriots' games".

SuperBowl is going to be hard for me to skip.