Tim Walz and the politics of football: Democrats tackle the manhood game

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. 

Democrats have deftly embraced this traditionally masculine sport, long identified with red states and small towns. Beyond Walz, Rep. Colin Allred of Texas, a former Tennessee Titans linebacker, is using his NFL experience to run against Sen. Ted Cruz; Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a former collegiate wide receiver, recently suited up for a practice; Democrats have even flown campaign banners over big college games at Michigan, Penn State and Wisconsin (all of those in swing states). 

The Republican response has seemed defensive and inconsistent, belittling Walz’s coaching experience, questioning his military service and dispensing the stale and misogynistic epithet “Tampon Tim.” In other words, to stake their claim for American men, Republicans have tried emasculating their opponent. 

After Walz’s performance at the DNC, MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough remarked on “Morning Joe” that Democrats “seem to be the party of the NFL now.”

“It’s the party of football,” concurred sportswriter…