I played a little more than a season of college football as a punter at Cornell University. The sport controlled me, stole my time, took my energy. Its culture manipulated my masculinity at a time when I had just begun to question it. On many fronts I felt unwelcome and unsafe, constantly coming up against words and actions I found unsettling. After a weightlifting session in the throes of the season, a teammate strolled past me in the locker room and, with the most malicious indifference, sneered, “Shut up, f****t.” This was the beginning of the end of my college football career. I would soon quit the sport for the same reasons the Democratic Party is now embracing it.
Observers across the political spectrum say we’re in a “crisis of men,” and the opposing presidential campaigns are competing for masculinity on the gridiron. Kamala Harris introduced her vice-presidential pick as “Coach Walz,” and indeed he is a former high school football defensive coordinator. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s political identity features his long tenure in the armed forces, his enjoyment of hunting and, most importantly, his connection to the pinnacle of national manhood: football. During the campaign, Walz has used a myriad of metaphors to link the upcoming election to the game of football. One stop on the campaign trail was staged at a high school football practice in the swing state of Pennsylvania, where Walz contextualized American politics through football. At the Democratic National Convention, Walz was introduced by his former high school players and then gave a pep talk. As the DNC crowd chanted “Coach!” he proclaimed: “It’s the fourth quarter. We’re down a field goal. But we’re on offense and we’ve got the ball. We’re driving down the field and, boy, do we have the right team.” Some reports suggest Walz will attend upcoming Friday night football games in key battleground states.
