Re: “Commentary: What is it about Americans that makes us football addicts?” (Jan. 7):

I disagree that we football fans all groove on the violence of pro football. I love to watch the games, but not for the sight of giant guys smashing each other (or smashing littler guys). The players contest, and we fantasize about struggling and winning along with them.

For fans like me, there are few thrills equal to that of seeing a human rabbit dodge multiple ambushes for multiple yards to achieve the big Six-O. Likewise, the astounding sight of a football launched high and far from a mighty arm to drop magically between opposing players and cuddle far, far away in the arms of an outnumbered receiver – our guy.

How can they do that? They go like a scared deer, or a locomotive rolling over, around, through all those evil other guys. Besides being faster and stronger, our guys also are smarter and trickier. Boy, do we love ’em. Except when they screw up. When they lose. How can they betray us like that? They ignite emotion in a way unlike anything else available to your typical paunchy old guy.

In short, either way, in a couple of hours of a Sunday afternoon, I have a life.

If they come up with a way to eliminate the damage without killing the thrills, I’ll be just as fascinated. I have no need to watch my action hero motionless on the ground, or being loaded into an ambulance. Sure, I empathize with his misfortune. But I grieve for my own.

Jim Milliken
Portland

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