No, I Won't Be Boycotting the Super Bowl

by Julian Spivey

One of the most common posts I’ve seen on various social media sites leading up to Sunday’s Super Bowl LIX has been a variation of “I’m boycotting the Super Bowl” or “Boycott the Super Bowl.”

There are numerous reasons why people want to boycott the Super Bowl this year. President Donald Trump will be in attendance, the NFL is removing the phrase “end racism,” which has appeared on the end zones the last few years, there is a (wrong) perception that the Kansas City Chiefs are being helped by unfair officiating, Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker is a controversial misogynist, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce gave a diplomatic answer this week when asked about playing in front of the President, and I’m sure a plethora of other reasonings.

I agree with many of the reasons people want to boycott the Super Bowl, except for the “NFL is rigged” one—those people are bonkers.

If you want to boycott the Super Bowl because of any or most of these, I applaud you for being that strong.

However, I’ll watch the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles battle in Super Bowl LIX.

It’s been a hard few weeks for many of us. But we should try to enjoy the things in life we enjoy. One of those things for me is watching major sporting events, and though it may not be my favorite, there aren’t any bigger in this country than the Super Bowl.

The NFL, at times over the last decade, has driven me insane with some of the stupidity in which it operates, mainly the Colin Kaepernick controversy that should never have been controversial at all. I find both President Trump and Butker to be heinous, despicable men with harmful ideas and statements. I wish Kelce had given a better answer than the basic one he did.

However, I wouldn’t hurt the NFL, President Trump, Butker or anybody else if I don’t tune in to the game tonight. I would merely be depriving myself of something I enjoy.

And if I boycott the Super Bowl. I’d have to boycott next weekend’s Daytona 500, an event more significant to me than the Super Bowl, because President Trump is rumored to be attending the event for the second time in the last six years and attended last year’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. I’d probably have to give up country music, a genre I enjoy. There’s no telling what I’d have to boycott over the next few years.

Maybe this makes me weak? Perhaps somewhat complicit.

But here’s one thing I know to be true. It will be a challenging four years, at least, for many of us in this country—perhaps the majority of us—so we need to take care of ourselves as best we can.   

For me, that means enjoying what I like.  

You do what you must to get by.