Sermon Illustrations
What Off-Season? Pro Football Goes Year-Round
The New York Times reports that the NFL Draft used to be a "sleepy roll call for football insiders that took place in smoke-filled hotel ballrooms." Now the draft is part of the NFL's "marketing machine that feeds the seemingly insatiable desire for information about the nation's most popular sport." Jim Steeg, the guy who used to run the draft, said, "Every time you think it can't get bigger, it gets bigger."
In 2020, for instance, the first two days of the NFL Draft averaged 11.6 million viewers (+37%), on pace to obliterate the all-time record for the event — last year’s 6.1 million.
Possible Preaching Angle:
At some point someone needs to ask: Is this getting just a tad out of hand? Is this bordering on obsession—or maybe even worship? And as a follower of Christ, we can also ask if all of the time and money and energy spent on following football is a distraction to more important things.