It is delusion, not money, not clout, not entertainment value, that is the actual driving force behind the success of the NFL as a product. The delusion of hope. The delusion of, say, winning a parlay from the funds you sourced via a child’s first communion envelope. The delusion that the first-round pick’s jersey you just purchased on NFL Shop for $175 will not be simply ironic streetwear for hipsters in a matter of three years. It literally powers a billion-dollar business.
But there is also the delusion associated with hubris, which convinces these franchises that they are the purveyors of some mystical culture or algorithm and not, simply, a bunch of adrift businesses randomly slamming their ships into generationally talented players once every two decades and crafting a narrative around that dumb luck compelling enough to sell T-shirts (Do Your Job … and Buy One!).
