Super Bowl LII(E), One Versus All: Another Bad Day For the National Religion

(Deadspin)

Bob Costas will not work the Super Bowl this year.  (For the record, he won't be at the Olympics either:  Mike Tirico will head that crew.)

That, in and of itself, means not that much.

It's why.  From Sports Business Daily, through the Deadspin article:

“The decision was mutually agreeable, and not only do I not have a problem with it, I am actually happy about it,” he told THE DAILY via email. “I have long had ambivalent feelings about football, so at this point, it’s better to leave the hosting to those who are more enthusiastic about it.” [...]

“I have been making the same points for several years, often on NBC. In halftime commentaries, interviews with Roger Goodell and other prominent NFL figures, appearances on CNN and elsewhere, I have addressed the issue of football and its undeniable connection to brain trauma many times. Why? Because the evidence is overwhelming and the effects are often devastating. It’s the elephant in the stadium at every game whether others choose to acknowledge it or not. And it’s not going away. So the idea that I am only now finding my voice on this, or that NBC was taken aback by what I said at Maryland is just wrong. It’s all simple and straightforward.”

The Deadspin article then asks if we can still blame the NFL...

OF COURSE WE CAN!!!

Bob Costas, one of the most respected sports voices in this country, is effectively walking away from football.  Maybe not completely (we might find that out next year), but the fact is that his feelings for what the sport does to people have made him so ambivalent (his own word) to football that he can't cover the Super Bowl and shill for it anymore.

And that's on the NFL, among others.