Taylor’s Takes: LX’s Halftime may mean End Times for NFL

When I first heard of Bad Bunny, I assumed people were talking about Jelly Roll’s wife. It turns out that her name is Bunnie Xo. Forgive me.

I first laid eyes on Bad Bunny when I watched Happy Gilmore 2. I was unaware that Adam Sandler’s caddie in the film was the world’s biggest pop star, and I actually enjoyed his performance. I thought he was one of the better parts of the movie. His comedic timing was, for the most part, spot on.

Since the announcement of Bad Bunny as Super Bowl LX’s halftime entertainment, I’ve become more aware of who he is, as most others have, as well.

Sure, it makes absolute sense to have the most up-and-coming pop star since Taylor Swift perform at halftime. But what sense does it make to have that entertainment if it’s not in English and features a man in a dress?

There have been plenty of people making fun of folks like me for being “triggered” by the NFL’s choice in half-time entertainment. They say it’s stupid to get upset over something as trivial as a watered-down concert during a sporting event.

It’s not stupid.

And I’m not triggered.

I’m perplexed.

Most football viewers are American men. Men who speak English. Men who take pride in their masculinity. Men who bristle at the thought of another man in a dress.

Why marginalize most of your viewing audience with an ultra-woke performance from a man who also disavowed the United States and canceled all domestic concerts because of the Trump administration?

I’ll tell you why.

The NFL knows that men aren’t going to stop watching football because of a sissy half-time show. They know that men can’t give up football.

They’re appealing to the women.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Business is business, I get it.

What’s that saying about the inch and a mile? The catering won’t stop with a half-time performance.

Much like the post-George Floyd NFL, we’ll soon start to see teams and players taking up female-specific political and social causes. Not because they believe in them. But because they want to boost that demographic and garner more ratings and sell more merchandise.

Hey, God bless ‘em. This is America. Do what you want.

But this will not bode well for the longevity of the NFL.

More and more viewers will become like me. Ever since the “End Racism” and “It Takes All of Us” slogans started popping up in endzones and on players’ helmets, I’ve become a much more casual NFL viewer. I may have watched four complete games all season, whereas pre-2020, a Patriots football game was appointment viewing.

Football is a luxury. It’s an escape. People don’t want to be lectured. And when you begin to cater to a specific demographic, you have to appeal to their causes. And that means lecturing the rest of us who are either ignorant of or apathetic to their causes. And that’s when we check out.

So, enjoy your non-English-singing, cross-dressing, America-hating half-time show. It’s a shadow of things to come.