Bradshaw’s Epic Rant Was Marketing 101, The NFL Doesn’t Care About Women

I love football and the NFL like the next armpit-scratching, man cave dwelling homosapien who grunts and throws chicken wings when the home team loses. But, when it comes to football, I like it well-played, coached like a fine-tuned classic Mustang and free of political nonsense. There is absolutely no reason to throw the cares of the world onto the field with Sunday warriors. We see that enough with the evening news and now we are seeing it as the National Football League is using Terry Bradshaw as a marketing tool.

Don’t get it twisted. Football is not a complete metaphor for life. It is not meant to be the cure-all for the ills of society. The world had problems long before the NFL decided to pick up the torch for Breast Cancer and Domestic Abuse. What about Lupus? That’s a serious disease that affects more than 1.5 million Americans and millions more worldwide. Of those who contract lupus, 90 percent are women. Some of those have to be football fans. Why isn’t the football giant of the world waving purple flags for this?

The NFL doesn't care about women or its own players' health & yet its strongest critic @BillSimmons is worried about Tom Brady. #RogerWins

— William Stacey White (@wswhite9598) July 28, 2015

The NFL itself had internal issues that went unreported before the Ray Rice scandal. Players like Greg Hardy, and Dez Bryant give a black eye to the game of professional football. Also, Aldon Smith has had problems before. This is just to name a few, and those men are still soldiers in the NFL. They are playing football with no repercussions. But, that’s part of the problem. They’re playing because the National Football League is about entertainment, not social issues. Why is Ben Roethlisberger still in a Pittsburgh Steelers uniform? The all mighty dollar makes the world go around.

Former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin may have summed it up best. He was gushing over the return of Greg Hardy and let his true feelings be known. In a statement from Pro Football Talk, Irvin portrayed that he wasn’t concerned about off-field issues.

“I know a lot of people are mad at this dude, but I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is the first game.’ To come back in the first game and do what that dude did, that was crazy,” Irvin said.

Was that a true indication of how a former football player feels? Is it safe to say that the bottom line is not about making America guilty about violence and disease, but stellar play and money? Irvin went on with his man-crush rant.

“I’m sorry everybody and I don’t want to be insensitive, but while everybody’s mad about the video, we should sign him to a long-term deal now,” Irvin said. “It was so impressive to see that, it was mind-boggling impressive.”

The NFL is about making money. It is a billion dollar entity that could actually care less about the social injustice that surrounds its universe.

Do you actually think the NFL would let Terry Bradshaw shame an empire? Wow. If you think it’s possible, you’re likely not familiar with Marketing 101. The National Football League is big business. Every company decides to reinvent itself, now and then. When that happens, it’s all about money.

Women watch football. In fact, there are more women watching football now than ever before. What was the most watched TV event among women in 2014? It wasn’t the Academy Awards. It wasn’t The Grammys, or the season finale of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. It was Super Bowl XLVIII, watched by an average of 45 million women. Overall, they make up 46 percent of all NFL fans. The Washington Post reports that the NFL is creating a business move dressed as equality and justice for women.

Meanwhile, football merchandise is flying off the shelves. Women are wearing football jerseys, putting on eye black and screaming in the stands. Looks like that marketing is really working. The Dallas Cowboys even opened a Victoria Secret Pink store in AT&T Stadium. I may be slow sometimes, but that sure sounds like catering to your female fan base. This has all been carefully researched and orchestrated to look humble and real. That’s why Terry Bradshaw’s epic rant is a ruse.

In reality, the NFL wants women to love football and spend money. Football isn’t the enemy. The NFL has jumped on to the social-cause wave and is riding it to the tune of billions. If every football player was suspended or kicked out for off-field problems, there wouldn’t be enough guys on the rosters to give a good product.

Terry Bradshaw is a good ole boy. Good enough to do what the National Football League tells him to do.

[Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images]