The NFL will have two Christmas Day games on Netflix this year because of capitalism. Honestly, we should all be thankful that all involved parties couldn't get together to create such a reality before the final days of 2024. Anyone who doesn't care for the almighty streaming era and negotiating seven different apps to keep up with their sports is both righteously correct but completely helpless to so-called progress that will ultimately lead to further consolidation of power from non-linear entities. So it's easy to understand where Chris "Mad Dog" Russo is coming from when he rants at length about the situation on his radio show.
Here’s two wonderful, glorious minutes of Radio Hall of Famer @MadDogUnleashed destroying the NFL, Netflix and Christmas. pic.twitter.com/IOKvHW7ZK4
— Jimmy Traina (@JimmyTraina) December 16, 2024
Like Russo, you may really struggle to watch the Kansas City Chiefs play the Pittsburgh Steelers at 1 p.m. ET on Christmas Day. Honestly, you may be meant to struggle because that means there are things in your life that take precedence over a Week 17 NFL game. Even when someone has a throw pillow that has some combination of "football" and "family" knitted into it, the family part usually comes first. Credit to Russo for fighting the good fight—and for admitting that he doesn't much care for all the holiday revelry.
At the same time, the proliferation of whining about sporting events not being on at the exact opportune time over the past several years has been kind of interesting. As a society, we have never had it easy to catch every single game we want to see. If you went back in time and showed 1996 Chris Russo what the future would hold and how ensconced he could become in every sport under the sun with relative ease, it would have made his day.
Now, don't get it confused. Enormous corporations who care more about the bottom dollar don't need an advocate. Fans need to stick together. But ... like a protagonist in a rom-com movie, sometimes it's healthier to learn that try as one might, sometimes it's not possible to have it all.
NFL games are on Thursday nights, an occassional Friday, some Saturdays, Sundays of course, Mondays and, in some weather-related situations, also on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from time to time. Out of 272 opportunities, there may be a few that do not mesh well with one's personal schedule.
Football fans have had the opportunity to devote 40 hours per week to watching football for the last four months. The first-ever College Football Playoff with 12 teams will begin the weekend before Christmas. A few days after Christmas there will be another NFL weekend. Then the best football of the year makes January sing. Allow the thought that missing all or a portion of one game will not totally derail what's been an otherwise wonderful pigskin-watching year.
Russo and others are going to continue to offer their protestations. Those making the schedule, barring some sort of A Christmas Carol-esque intervention, are not going to listen at all. Please don't allow this harsh reality to ruin your holidays.
More of the Latest Around the NFL
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Chris Russo Torches NFL, Netflix for Christmas Day Games.
