Watch this film to explore the deeply ambivalent history of politics and football in the U.S.
Now that former high school coach Tim Walz has stepped onto the big stage as Kamala Harris’s running mate, football is suddenly all the rage in American politics.
“It’s the fourth quarter,” Walz declared during his rousing acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention last week. “We’re down a field goal. But we’re on offense! We’re driving down the field! And, boy, do we have the right team to win this!”
The next day, a CNN headline proclaimed, “Walz fires up DNC crowd with football-themed pep talk” — words that somehow seemed just as at home on the news page as the sports page.
For Nation magazine writer Dave Zirin, all this feel-good coach-talk makes this as good a time as any to reflect on the mythical status football holds in the American imagination, and to grapple with the game’s long, and often deeply contradictory, history as a reactionary political force in this country.
“Football, for better or for worse, is now front and center in both our sports world and our politics thanks to the current presidential campaign,” said Zirin, who co-wrote, co-produced, and hosts our bestselling recent release Behind the Shield: The Power and Politics of the NFL. “But we’ve been here before. For decades, both sides of the political spectrum have tried to claim football as their own. From Richard Nixon weaponizing the NFL to push back against Vietnam War protestors in the sixties to Donald Trump attacking Colin Kaepernick and other NFL players protesting police violence in 2016 to the Democratic Party’s embrace of Walz’s coaching career today to appeal to disaffected, right-leaning male voters and close the gender gap, football – especially NFL football – has long been at the center of some of the most contentious political and cultural battles of our time. It’s a fascinating story with huge implications, and it’s exactly why we set out to tell it in Behind the Shield.”
If you’re an educator looking to explore these issues more deeply with your students, be sure to check out Zirin’s electrifying, wide-ranging analysis in Behind the Shield.
Digging deep into the history of the NFL, and navigating a stunning excavation of decades of archival footage and news media, Zirin traces how the league, under the guise of “sticking to sports,” has promoted wars, militarism, and nationalism; glorified reactionary ideas about manhood and gender roles; normalized systemic racism, corporate greed, and crony capitalism; and helped vilify challenges to the dominant order as “unpatriotic” and inappropriately “political.”
At the same time, the film identifies an equally strong countercurrent within NFL culture, a history of outspoken athletes and league employees who have used their platform to challenge racism, sexism, homophobia, jingoistic patriotism, and war.
The result is a film that’s less about sports, football, or even the National Football League, than about America itself.
Behind the Shield is now available to purchase in a variety of formats. If you’d like to book a public screening of the film, please fill out this form and we’ll get back to you soon.
Praise for Behind the Shield
“Provocative and unflinching, Behind the Shield is not just about the NFL, but about who we are as Americans.”
— Julie DiCaro, Sports Journalist | Author, Sidelined: Sports, Culture & Being a Woman in America
“Behind the Shield is about so much more than football – it is about us, and where we are as a nation, and what lies ahead. If you love football, watch this film. If you care about justice, watch this film!”
— Eddie S. Glaude Jr. | Head of African American Studies at Princeton University
“An exceptional expose of why American football fans’ and the NFL’s demand that we shouldn’t insert ‘politics in sports’ is itself so political. A must-watch.”
— Soraya Chemaly | Author, Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women’s Anger
“If you’re feeling ready for some football – watch this film. If you think you know the story of Colin Kaepernick – watch this film. If you think politics don’t belong in sports – watch this film. Watch this film!”
— Melissa Harris-Perry | Host of WNYC’s “The Takeaway”
“Behind the Shield offers a stark portrait of the NFL that compels viewers to consider the power, pitfalls, and possibilities of its continued cultural impact. This film is sure to be an invaluable resource for those who teach critical sports studies, history and sociology of sport, sports journalism, and more.”
— Amira Rose Davis | Professor of African and African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas-Austin, Co-Host of the “Burn it All Down” podcast
“Whether you love professional football or hate it, if you want your students to understand the many ways in which the sports/entertainment industry shapes dominant ideology, this film is your new best friend.”
— Jackson Katz, Ph.D. | Gender Violence Prevention Educator, Creator of the Award-Winning Tough Guise Video Series
