According to a new Fox News poll, the National Rifle Association is more popular than the National Football League. Shocker, right?
The Breakdown
The NFL's favorability rating has dropped considerably over the last four years. In 2013, 64 percent had a positive view of the league. Fast forward to 2017 and that number has dropped 18 points to 46 percent.
“If the NFL were a political candidate, alarm bells would be going off in campaign headquarters,” said Democratic Pollster Chris Anderson who conducted the Fox News Poll with Republican Pollster Daron Shaw.
The poll confirms what the average American already knew: that conservative white men are more likely to disagree with football players kneeling in protest during the National Anthem. On the other hand, the poll also confirms that minority liberals are more likely than their counterparts to think that kneeling is an acceptable form of protest.
But even more surprising: the NRA is more popular than the NFL. 49 percent of those who were polled favored the gun rights group.
The Takeaway
There are two things that make America significantly different than other countries. For one, we love our sports, especially football. Sports are the one thing that everyone can come together over. It doesn't matter what race, ethnicity or political background you come from. You can come together with your fellow man (or woman!) to cheer on your favorite sports teams.
But unlike other countries, we also feel the need to make everything — and I do mean everything — political. The days of having a beer and watching the game with your neighbor without fear of political talk are long gone.
And we have idiots like Colin Kaepernick to thank for that.
If it wasn't for these hot shot, do-nothing multi-millionaire football players trying to turn a game into a stage for political discourse, this one segment of American culture would be unharmed. We would be able to put down our "conservative" and "liberal" labels for three hours while we watch our team duke it out.