Photo Courtesy of Paul J Everett, Flickr Creative Commons
In 2012, the NFL made a point to start scheduling more regular season Thursday night football games. Two seasons later, most Thursday night games are blow outs, with teams winning by 20 or more points this season.
Aside from Thursday’s game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Houston Texans, a 33-28 win for the Colts, every other game this season has been a blow out. The week prior, the Green Bay Packers defeated the Minnesota Vikings 42-10 and on Sept. 25, the New York Giants thrashed the Washington Redskins 45-14.
Ramapo students have mixed feelings about the 20 plus point victories, but most students will not stop watching Thursday night games, good or bad, because either way it’s football.
Other fans feel as though the 20 plus point blow out victories are a good thing to watch.
“It’s amazing,” freshman Jay Coleman said, “It just takes your mind off of everything else, you’re away from everything. It’s just football.”
Coleman said he will still watch Thursday night football games because of his dedication to the New York Giants, as well as the opportunity it provides to start friendships with other Giants fans.
“Yes, my entire life I’ll be watching football, dedication,” Coleman said. “It is just the greatest feeling to have such a connection. When I go anywhere and say I’m a Giants fan, and there’s another Giants fan, I can automatically have a friendship and conversation right there.”
Freshman Nakeem Gardner said that it doesn’t matter if a team gets beat by 20 or more points on Thursday and that a blow out can happen in NFL games on Sunday or Monday nights too.
“Just because they have a game on Thursday doesn’t mean they’re going to get blown out,” Gardner said. “It all depends on how the team is looking offensively and defensively. It would be the same way as a Sunday game, you get blown out on a Sunday game, you get blown out on a Monday night game. If you have a short practice, it’s a short practice, but I had a short practice and you had a short practice so what’s the difference.”
Despite the blow outs happening recently on Thursday night football games, Gardner said he would still watch the games because it’s football.
“I would still watch a Thursday night football game,” Gardner said. “It’s football. Why wouldn’t I want to watch it. It doesn’t matter what day it’s on, I’m just going to watch it. I love football.”
jgoldfar1@ramapo.edu
