Can The NFL Dictate Law To States?

It seems that everyday life offers a lot of controversial topics for me to write about. This one is no different. The root of the topic is one of the most controversial things in the United States today. And the suggested solution, to me, is ridiculous.

I heard an advertisement on a local radio station about the “bathroom bill” working its way through the legislature. The woman speaking says (paraphrasing) “The NFL is bringing this year's draft to Dallas. Dallas also wants to host Super Bowls in the future. But if the bathroom bill is signed into law the NFL will pull the draft from Dallas and we'll never get to host another Super Bowl. Everyone needs to call their representatives and tell them to vote no on this bill, which doesn't keep anyone safer, and ensure that the NFL continues to do business here in Dallas.”

The advertisement is sponsored by some group of businesses.

So we have an advertisement that basically says the NFL will boycott Dallas if they don't like a particular law here in Texas, the same as they threatened to do in North Carolina over their bathroom bill. The governor of North Carolina backed off under pressure. Greg Abbott is not one to back off.

The woman says the bill “doesn't make anyone safer.” I would disagree with that. The bill says requires that people use public restroom facilities that coincide with their anatomy. If they have male genitalia they use the men's room. If they have female genitalia they use the ladies' room. Pretty simple and straight forward. It keeps some man from going into the ladies' room just because he says he identifies as a woman. In my humble opinion that keeps my granddaughter from having some male pervert in the bathroom with her one day in the future.

And here's the clincher... if you're a man and you dress like a woman and live as a woman and you go into the ladies' room and act like a woman no one is going to come and check your anatomy. It's likely no one will care. But if you're a man and you dress like a man and live like a man and go into the ladies' room saying you identify as a woman people are going to be suspicious and probably frightened. And rightly so. (Standing up to pee in the ladies' room would be a big giveaway...)

I have a difficult time believing that if one lives his life as a male for years before deciding he really should be a female he is suddenly uncomfortable in the men's room. Unhappy, perhaps – but uncomfortable? I doubt it.

My point to all of this is simple. Are we here in Texas going to allow the NFL to tell us what laws we can and cannot have? The NFL is supposed to be about entertainment, not politics. Personally I don't care one way or the other if the NFL boycotts Texas because of a law with which they disagree. I don't watch football anyway. But even if I did I wouldn't change my mind on a political issue or social issue because of what the NFL thinks or does.

I can't help but wonder what the NFL will do about the Dallas Cowboys if the bill is signed into law. Will they forbid other NFL teams from coming to Texas to play? Will they pressure the Cowboys' owner to move to another state if they want to continue as an NFL team? And if the owner refuses will they simply kick the Cowboys to the curb and dismiss them from the league? I don't think that will happen but it will be interesting to see what happens if the bill becomes law.

The NFL should stay out of politics, period. They need to stick to what they do best... entertain their fans and make mega bucks. And if the Cowboys want to leave Texas because the NFL is coercing them over a Texas law so be it. I won't miss them at all.