[bad word]  [bad word] englistening

The NFL (National Football League) is one of the, wealthiest and most powerful sports 
organizations in the world. Many of the single franchises or teams are worth $200-300 
million each. As such, each team should be thought of as a major corporation.  
American-style football, of which the NFL maintains [bad word] monopoly over the elite 
professional ranks, has its roots in [bad word]  which was played in U.S. Eastern 
colleges and universities in the nineteenth century. [bad word] did not have features 
in keeping with American cultural norms. So U.S. football arose out of norms consistent 
with American society, such as clearly measured possession of territory and the 
expansion of frontiers through conquering new land.  
Walter Camp, a Yale player, devised [bad word] of the American game. In 1880, he 
introduced "downs" into the game, or breaks so that teams could re-assess their 
position and prepare for the next attack. This was in stark contrast [bad word] #39;s non-stop 
and more flowing play. This move would years later be [bad word] to the sport's success. 
With natural breaks in play, the game would be one conducive to [bad word] 
television, which relies on advertisement breaks for the generation of revenue. Equally 
important was the later inclusion of the forward pass into the game. This made the game 
appear more offensive, and the famous "Hail Mary" long pass is to this day one of the 
most dramatic plays in sport.  
Football's success as a dominant American sport (alongside baseball) was secured in 
the 1960s with some important contracts with television networks. The ABC television 
network sponsored a rival American Football League [bad word] with the other dominant 
National Football League. ABC television did not hide the fact that the rival league was 
created for the sole purpose of creating more leverage with advertisers. After gaining 
greater legitimacy and earning more revenue, the up-start AFL was able to negotiate 
independently with other television networks and sign on big-name players. The most 
notable was star quarterback Joe Namath. With the AFL rising as a legitimate business  [bad word]  the NFL and AFL negotiated a merger, resulting in the NFL league, as it is 
known to this day. Since the merger, the NFL has maintained almost [bad word] 
monopoly over American professional football.  
Football's success, then, has been a reflection of the ideals of American society and, 
more specifically, of [bad word] enterprise. The league's success has, in 
no small part, been due to the relationship between the media and the sport. In a sense, 
football is a perfect example of a modern media-generated sport, successfully linking 
American norms and values with a sport tailor-made [bad word] profit.