The most gloriously subversive show on TV. Not a single mention of climate change, racism, misogyny, or gender ideology. Just a story of a great American game and three men who play at the top reaches of the NFL.
I walk in the valley of film critical theory and so am well versed in the pervasive anti-patriarchy and neo-Marxism ascribed to sports, film, and – well, all of culture. Ask me anything about the terrible male gaze, but football is a mystery.
These three QBs, Patrick Mahomes, Kirk Cousins and Marcus Mariota, in career and family both, exhibit the fitness, courage and self-control, as well as service to community that were demanded of men from the time of the ancient Greeks and Romans. Each of the three have achieved varying degrees of domination in their field; Mahomes is obviously at the top of the league. But all three appear to live life in similar manner: They work to maintain peak physical and mental fitness and study their teams and their opponents relentlessly. They accept the responsibility of leading their team emotionally and physically. They love and respect their wives and families.
This is no “Real Quarterbacks of Hollywood.” There are no simmering rivalries within the team or with opposing teams. If there is a problem, they talk it out. Everyone is miked up, so we can hear Mahomes and an opposing lineman “discussing” some possibly unfair late hits. “Hey, dog…” as Mahomes quietly makes his point. We listen to locker room talks and physical therapy treatments and family life. And at least two of the wives are athletes themselves so understand and support the demands of this life.
It’s not a soap opera or denunciation of violence. This is a paean to the men who play a game most compared to war. One side loses, and one side wins, but in our tradition, we treat the opposing warrior with respect. The winning QB always meets the losing QB on the field to honor his game well played and to wish him further success. This is sportsmanship, the ethos we believe in, or believed in, and which still leads our former foes in the real world, on the battlefield of war, to become our staunchest allies.
A breath of fresh air. Produced by Peyton Manning—well done.