Football and Politics: Friday Night Lights vs. Mitt Romney

There’s seemingly no escaping politics during a presidential election year, even in football. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney unofficially adopted the pep talk mantra of Friday Night Lights protagonist Coach Eric Taylor, “Clear eyes. Full hearts. Can’t lose.”

The fictional Taylor can’t object, but FNL creator Peter Berg can and did. His scathing letter to the Romney campaign goes down a rabbit hole that compares the former Massachusetts governor to morally questionable supporting character Buddy Garrity. This isn’t Berg’s first tussle with someone from the political realm, either. You may recall Berg fired verbal shots at unemployed color commentator, failed Senatorial candidate and helicopter dad Craig James last spring.

Such a strangely meta-theater of politics, football and entertainment more bizarre and fascinating than any fiction is unfolding.

And while the Dillon Panthers and East Dillon Lions only clashed on our televisions, the real world of Texas high school football that begat Buzz Bissinger’s book, that begat the 2004 film adaptation, that begat the series, that begat the forthcoming movie could enter the political realm. A proposed voucher system in Texas sparked discussion over its impact on the most sacred of Lone Star traditions. Talk about playing on emotions — few things are as likely to incite outrage as a challenge to the state’s football.

In the last few years, we’ve had Utah threaten an antitrust lawsuit against the Bowl Championship Series and Pres. Obama endorse a college football playoff system not long before its institution. Are the flood gates opening for increased politicizing of America’s Pastime (apologies, baseball fans. Until further notice, football has usurped your position)?

For those of us whose Facebook timelines have devolved into dumping grounds for fallacies and vitriol from both ends of the political spectrum, the prospect of A-1 spilling into our Sports page might initially make us recoil. It is worth noting, though, that the modern version of football we enjoy wouldn’t be possible without government intervention.

Teddy Roosevelt threatened to shut down college football at the turn of the 20^th century inspired vital changes such as the forward pass. Roosevelt was spurred on by safety concerns, as on-field deaths mounted at an alarming rate. Today, we are dealing with the complex issue of head trauma. With former NFL players suing and the NCAA dragging its feet in addressing the problem, political intervention might not be far behind.

Hopefully if (when?) that bridge is crossed, it will be more tactfully handled than the laughably silly Congressional investigation into steroids in baseball. And to that end, let’s hope all discussion remains in the non-fiction realm. We don’t need to see John Boehner invoking Steve Lattimer on Capitol Hill.